Wyatt

McCabe Ministry Update

Hi! First off, I want to thank you so much for supporting me financially and prayerfully during
my time serving in the Dominican Republic. I wanted to write this letter to personally thank you
for your support as well as update you on what God is currently doing in my life. However,
before that, I want to recap the last five months and share what God has done throughout my
time in the Dominican Republic!

October
On October 4th, I flew to the Dominican Republic and began my internship here. I remember
feeling so many different emotions, and I was mainly eager, curious, and expectant as to what
the Lord would do in my time here. As I began working on getting my new apartment near the
church, Iglesia Bautista Eveangelica de Macorís (IBEM), setup, I spent the first week staying with
Gary and Allison Hale in their home.

On my first weekend in the Dominican,
I went to youth group (a ministry that I
would be serving in) for the first time
and also experienced my first church
service at IBEM. Going to youth group
and church at IBEM greatly excited me
as I was able to see what God was
doing with these ministries, and I
began to think and pray about how I
would play a part in this.

Overall, ministry began very quickly for me upon my arrival to the Dominican. Within my first
week, I experienced a Dominican funeral, which was very different from what I am used to
experiencing in the US. The day that the death of the man in the church occurred, we went to
the family’s home and spent a great deal of time with them. Following this, we went to the
funeral home for the viewing. Viewings are always on the same
day in the Dominican, due to different styles of embalming. The
next day was the actual funeral which began with a graveside
ceremony. To the left is a picture of men sealing the tomb that
the casket was placed in. Several days later, a memorial service
was held, honoring the life of the man who passed away. This,
too, is very typical in Dominican culture. This experience was
definitely unfortunate, but was a good lesson in helping me to
begin to learn the culture that I would be serving.

Within my first couple weeks of ministry, I began substitute teaching at the Christian school
here, Las Palmas Christian School. I taught several different grades the subjects of Math,
English, and Science. Due to the fact that my Spanish is definitely subpar, I was thrilled to know
that I could teach my subjects in English, due to the fact that the school is bilingual and teaches
half of their subjects in English and the other half in Spanish. I loved teaching and have
continued substitute teaching
throughout the majority of my time
here. It has been a huge blessing and
has helped me to grow in a lot of areas
in my life. To the left is a picture of me
with the 3rd grade class that I taught
for a week, and to the right is a picture
of the main building of Las Palmas
Christian School.

Also, within my first month in the Dominican Republic, I made friends with a guy named Manuel
Frias Cabrera. Manuel is close to my age and works as a guard on the property of one of the
ministries of the church. Manuel and I went to
dinner one evening and quickly became close
friends. I have been able to spend a lot of time here
in the Dominican hanging out with Manuel. He has
even invited me over and shown me hospitality by
cooking dinner for me. Being away from home in
another country, it has been helpful to have a friend
who is close to my age who I can hang out with and
talk to.

All in all, October was a very busy month from beginning ministry in the church and the school,
setting up my apartment, and getting established in the country overall. There are other parts
of ministry that I got to do as well in this time,
such as beginning filming camera shots with my
drone for videos that the ministry in the
Dominican would be putting together. This was
a great month, and l definitely enjoyed
beginning my ministry in the Dominican
Republic.

November
Beginning in November, I finally began to feel more established in the country. I was beginning
to get to know more and more people and find my way around town more comfortably using
motorcycle taxis. The newness and the overall foreign feel of everything began to wear off, and
I started learning more of what it was like to actually live in this culture.

One of the most impactful parts of the month of November was a retreat that Gary Hale and
Doug Hodges took to the Northern coast of the country, to a place called Sabana de la Mar. In
Sabana de la Mar, we had time to spend on our own, studying and reflecting on God’s Word
and what He was currently doing in each of our lives. We also read a book, The Missionary Call,
that discussed finding your place in God’s plan for reaching the world with the Gospel. This was
a very impactful time for me, because not only did I get more
insight on what God was already showing me in my life, but I
was able to discuss these things with Gary and Doug, and I
learned a great deal of things as I simply listened to them
reflect on what God has shown them throughout the course
of both of their ministries. On our trip to Sabana de la Mar,
we also got to have some fun, and Gary and I took a boat
onto the sea and were able to explore caves that had
markings in them from pre-Columbus times. This was an
awesome experience!

Throughout the month of November, I also continued teaching in the school multiple times. I
continued to enjoy it more and more every time, although I never imagined that I would
actually like being a teacher! With the youth group,
I was able to experience my first baseball game
since I had been in the country. Baseball is by far the
biggest sport in the Dominican Republic, and some
people even call it their life. Baseball gives many
people hope for a better future of being drafted
into the Major Leagues in the United States. This is
not a far off aspiration, given that a huge amount of
Dominicans have been successful in this endeavor.
Sammy Sosa is even from San Pedro de Macorís, the
city that I have been living in!

I was grateful to be able to spend
the last week of November
celebrating Thanksgiving with my
family back in the US. This was a
great week from having multiple
Thanksgiving dinners, going deer
hunting, and I even got engaged!
Needless to say, this was a very
hectic week, but one that allowed
me to refresh for a bit before
returning back to the Dominican
Republic for more ministry!

December
Overall, December was a month of going deeper in the ministry that God had given me over the
course of my first couple of months in the Dominican and build more upon the relationships
that I was beginning to form. At the beginning of the month, Manuel and I continued to hang
out with each other, and I got to experience another Estrellas baseball game with him at the
stadium in my city. I also made another friend this month, Daniel, a little boy who lives in the
house next to me. After meeting Daniel and his family, Daniel has come to my house multiple
times, and I have been able to make him dinner and play video
games with him. When I walk out on the balcony of my apartment,
I frequently see Daniel in his
backyard, and he will yell up at
me, “Fortnite! Fortnite!”
Needless to say, we’ve spent
plenty of hours playing Fortnite
on my XBOX. Overall, Daniel and
I have had many conversations
about Christ, and I am praying
that he and his family both come
to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

I brought a drone and camera with me when I arrived in the Dominican, and I quickly found
myself being asked to work on various video projects for people. This month, I filmed and
edited videos for missionaries to show to their supporting churches, made a video for the
Christian school’s 5k and bazaar that they had to raise money for a building project, and I took
pictures and videos for a Christmas party outreach for children in the city.

I was also able to serve with a Christmas party for the students in the
youth group where we provided them with a Christmas dinner. This was
a great time and opportunity for
students to come and grow deeper in
their faith in Christ. I continued
working in the school and got an
opportunity to go as a leader on a
field trip that one of the classes took
to a National Park and beach. This,
too, was a great opportunity and was
really fun to get to hang out with the
students. Overall, this was a great
month with so many opportunities to
serve in various capacities of ministry. At the end of the month, I was able to come home for
Christmas and spend the holiday season with my family, which was a huge blessing.

January
At the beginning of January, due to the fact that I was still in the US, I was able to go to the
Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia with Lewis Memorial’s college group. There were many
speakers and musicians over the course of the three-day conference, which served as an
extremely encouraging time for me and helped me to grow in various aspects of my faith. I
have gone to Passion for the past three years, so I was excited to get to return this year.

I also left this month to head to Ecuador for a couple of weeks with Doug Hodges. This was
something that was intentionally built into my internship to give me experience to ministry in
another country as well. The first part of this trip was spent in a Quechua village in a rural,
mountainous part of the country, with a Daystar
Missionary, Will Lyon. Quechua villages do not eagerly
accept outsiders into their communities, so it took Will five
years of living in Ecuador before he got his first invitation
into a Quechua village. Now, he and his family are living in
one of the villages, doing various sorts of ministry that is
focused on church planting and discipleship. We visited
one of the local churches, and I was given the opportunity
to share my testimony and teach that evening. This was a
huge blessing for me.

February
My time in Ecuador continued into February. During the tail-end of my time in Ecuador, we
continued doing ministry in the Quechua villages near where Will is living. We went to another
church plant, and we were able
to be there for its first official
service. There were many
adults and children who
attended, and it was a great
encouragement. One thing that
will continue to stick with me
are all of the smiling faces of
the kids who came eager to
learn about Christ.

Overall, one of the things that greatly impacted me about the ministry that Will is doing in the
Quechua villages is his commitment to the people and the task that God has called him to. This
is something that we can all model, regardless of whether we are a pastor or missionary. We
must all ask God the question of who he wants us to serve and be faithful to serve them and
share the Gospel with them as we can.

While in Ecuador, I also got to visit another part of the country
called Cumbayá, which is a suburb on the outskirts of the capital
city, Quito. Doug pastored a church in Cumbayá for 9 months
before, and we were able to visit that church. This ministry is much
different from the ministry in the Quechua villages due to the fact
that it is much more urbanized. It was a great experience to see
what ministry in both urban and rural parts of Ecuador looks like.
Returning to the Dominican Republic from Ecuador, I quickly began
working on the new piece of property that IBEM purchased next door to
the church building. This new property will expand classroom space and
allow the church to continue to grow more and more. The first thing
that I began working on with this was the construction of a doorway that
would connect the two properties. There was a wall in between the two
pieces of property, so a doorway was much needed. Creating this
doorway was a slow process, but I finally got the job done.

Overall, I’ve had an exciting time approaching the end of the month! My
friend Ana got married, and my friend Jordan was able to come visit for
a week. The week with Jordan was a great time, and I got to show him
all of the ministry that I am working in here, and he was even able to
serve alongside of me.













Upcoming Plans
Originally, when I left for my internship in the Dominican Republic in October, I had planned to
stay until May. However, due to the fact that the funding I have raised only lasts until the end
of February, I will be returning at the beginning of March. I will continue finishing my seminary
degree, and I am seeking God’s will for what facet of ministry He will have me to serve in next.
Please be in prayer that God will guide every step that I make as I begin working and continue
to seek His will for my life.

Thank you so much for your interest and support in my ministry. I could not have done any of
this without you!



In Christ,

Wyatt McCabe