Team Maps Romans Road In Dominican Republic

A Tennessee mission team found a new way to have a lasting impact by giving away Spanish New Testaments that included  hand-written messages and a “map” through the Romans Road. This series of Scripture verses in Romans is often used for evangelizing because it presents the Gospel message so clearly.

The idea for inscribing the Bibles came to team leader Grace Goostree of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville just a few months before the trip. Her pastor gave a sermon on missions and taught her church how to share the Gospel using the Romans Road method. God used that Sunday sermon to inspire Grace and her team.

“We use the Romans Road method so much in the field we thought why not share it?” said Grace.

One hundred Spanish Bibles were ordered, and team member Erin Holloway translated the message that each team member carefully copied. Inside the front covers reads, “God bless you and your family. Turn to page ~ and read John 3:16.” Once in John, the verse is highlighted and another hand-written note points to Romans with “Turn to page...” At each stop in Romans the verses are
highlighted, leaving a map for lasting reference.

Once in the Dominican Republic, the team was intentional about personal connections as they handed out food and hygiene supplies and interacted with animal balloons, Bible-themed crafts and skits. Advanced preparations were a tremendous effort. The team brought in the maximum amount of supplies to the country, and Grace joked that she “nearly broke their backs going in.”

No less effort went into the Family Fun Day event, which included carnival games and a variety of activities that

Mission team from First Baptist Church of Hendersonville (Tenn) along with four others from Indiana, Iowa and Canada who were in the Dominican Republic during the same week.

entertained more than 350 children and adults. During the three-hour event, family photos were also taken. Those families were given one of the special New Testaments along with their family photo tucked inside.

This was Grace’s fourth mission trip to the D.R. She credits the team members and many others who provided behind-the-scenes support...including the church’s children’s ministry and VBS, which collected $2,000 for food and more than 2,000 toys and hair accessories.

“Our primary focus is to reach others with a one on one personal connection, but we know it’s the Holy Spirit working through us–we are just the vessel.” said Grace.

~Terri Starcher, Contributing Writer