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Learning to Trust
April 4 2008 / ShareHim in Dominican Republic A, Mar. 14 - Mar. 29 '08 #273by Robert Parrish
Personal Testimony of Robert Parrish.
My name is Robbie Parrish. I’m 22 years old. I had the wonderful privilege of going on the Dominican Republic ShareHim trip, because I’m the taskforce Assistant Chaplian at Thunderbird Adventist Academy. I’m a junior at Southern Adventist University majoring in Religious Education.
I came down to Dominican Republic late because I’m also an assistant coach on the acrobatic team. I came down on Monday, March 17. I didn’t know if I would be preaching or just sponsoring.
The biggest thing that I’ve learned this trip is trust. I had to trust the guy that was taking me to the bus. I don’t speak any Spanish, so I had to put complete faith in this guy to get me to the bus. I came out of the Santo Domingo International Airport, and I saw hundreds of people. Then I saw something that vaguely resembled my name. I put full trust in God that this was my driver. That whole day was a trust test. This whole experience has helped me learn to trust God in a new and deeper way.
I preached at the La Guama Seventh-day Adventist Church. This church is located in a little village near the city of La Vega. This little village has a single dirt road. There are some beautiful homes and some homes that are merely bricks with a roof. The people were very sweet, and the church was small but loving. I was blessed by preaching at La Guama.
First, God blessed me with an amazing translator. He was very excited which got me even more excited. Secondly, God worked each night in big and small ways. There were little things like making my projector work and keeping the kids quiet. Then there were big things like turning the electricity on, bringing people to the meetings, and most of all, keeping the Devil outside of the church. The Devil was working hard, but God was working harder.
The greatest experience I had was the night that I spoke about Hell fire and the destruction of the wicked. Now you would think that Hell fire would not be a great night for a personal testimony, but I had been feeling that I wasn’t relating to the people so I told them my testimony. I told them that I had failed and made many mistakes but that God never left me. I told them that even when I was trying to run away, He was right there next to me calling me back. That night there were a few guys that were big into drugs, and their friend Eddie had brought them to the meetings.
Ironically, that night, no one had come early to the meetings. People usually showed up at about 7:45 but by 8 there was hardly anyone. I was getting worried. Then God taught me a lesson. He reminded me through my translator that these meetings are worth it if only one person comes the accept Christ.
I think that God is funny because that night He brought lots of people to the meetings including the guys who had been doing drugs. I gave my testimony, and I saw my story getting through to them. Then I played the song “By the Power of Your Love.” I made a call for people to come down to accept Christ as their personal Savior and start a relationship with Him. No one came up. Then my translator began to make the call, and for the first time in my life, I could actually see God working on people’s hearts. I could see it on their faces. I could see the struggle. People began to come up one-by-one and accepting Christ as their Savior. It was amazing! I continued making the call; I couldn’t let it stop. I could see it on their faces that they needed to come give their lives to Jesus. They wanted to come up, but they wouldn’t give up. I told them that I could see them struggling, and one-by-one, more people began to come up. Then an older lady in the church stood up and gave her testimony. I was seeing the Holy Spirit working all around me. The Devil wasn’t winning; he was losing one-by-one. By the end of the call, about 14 people were at the front of the church, including two of the guys who were doing drugs. It was simply beautiful. The night had started with everyone coming late. Then I learned the lesson that, even if only one person gives their life to Christ, the meetings are worth it, and it ended with 14 people giving their lives to Him.
On this trip, I learned that I must trust in God. No matter what happens and no matter where I’ve been or where I’m at, I must trust Him. He wants to do amazing things in my life, but if I don’t trust Him, then He can’t do the great things that He has planned. Won’t you entrust your life to Him today?
I came down to Dominican Republic late because I’m also an assistant coach on the acrobatic team. I came down on Monday, March 17. I didn’t know if I would be preaching or just sponsoring.
The biggest thing that I’ve learned this trip is trust. I had to trust the guy that was taking me to the bus. I don’t speak any Spanish, so I had to put complete faith in this guy to get me to the bus. I came out of the Santo Domingo International Airport, and I saw hundreds of people. Then I saw something that vaguely resembled my name. I put full trust in God that this was my driver. That whole day was a trust test. This whole experience has helped me learn to trust God in a new and deeper way.
I preached at the La Guama Seventh-day Adventist Church. This church is located in a little village near the city of La Vega. This little village has a single dirt road. There are some beautiful homes and some homes that are merely bricks with a roof. The people were very sweet, and the church was small but loving. I was blessed by preaching at La Guama.
First, God blessed me with an amazing translator. He was very excited which got me even more excited. Secondly, God worked each night in big and small ways. There were little things like making my projector work and keeping the kids quiet. Then there were big things like turning the electricity on, bringing people to the meetings, and most of all, keeping the Devil outside of the church. The Devil was working hard, but God was working harder.
The greatest experience I had was the night that I spoke about Hell fire and the destruction of the wicked. Now you would think that Hell fire would not be a great night for a personal testimony, but I had been feeling that I wasn’t relating to the people so I told them my testimony. I told them that I had failed and made many mistakes but that God never left me. I told them that even when I was trying to run away, He was right there next to me calling me back. That night there were a few guys that were big into drugs, and their friend Eddie had brought them to the meetings.
Ironically, that night, no one had come early to the meetings. People usually showed up at about 7:45 but by 8 there was hardly anyone. I was getting worried. Then God taught me a lesson. He reminded me through my translator that these meetings are worth it if only one person comes the accept Christ.
I think that God is funny because that night He brought lots of people to the meetings including the guys who had been doing drugs. I gave my testimony, and I saw my story getting through to them. Then I played the song “By the Power of Your Love.” I made a call for people to come down to accept Christ as their personal Savior and start a relationship with Him. No one came up. Then my translator began to make the call, and for the first time in my life, I could actually see God working on people’s hearts. I could see it on their faces. I could see the struggle. People began to come up one-by-one and accepting Christ as their Savior. It was amazing! I continued making the call; I couldn’t let it stop. I could see it on their faces that they needed to come give their lives to Jesus. They wanted to come up, but they wouldn’t give up. I told them that I could see them struggling, and one-by-one, more people began to come up. Then an older lady in the church stood up and gave her testimony. I was seeing the Holy Spirit working all around me. The Devil wasn’t winning; he was losing one-by-one. By the end of the call, about 14 people were at the front of the church, including two of the guys who were doing drugs. It was simply beautiful. The night had started with everyone coming late. Then I learned the lesson that, even if only one person gives their life to Christ, the meetings are worth it, and it ended with 14 people giving their lives to Him.
On this trip, I learned that I must trust in God. No matter what happens and no matter where I’ve been or where I’m at, I must trust Him. He wants to do amazing things in my life, but if I don’t trust Him, then He can’t do the great things that He has planned. Won’t you entrust your life to Him today?