Ears to Hear Ministries is a missions effort to establish a Christian radio station to a new place where none exists in Barahona, the Dominican Republic. Two members of the small missions team involved there are our good friends, Shawn and Jen.

I remember talking to Jen a few years ago about Ears to Hear. She would talk about their shorter missions trips to the Dominican Republic and how they felt like they were being led to a longer service there. She would show me field radios that looked like they had come straight from the Vietnam War and describe with enthusiasm how they were solar powered and indestructible. About two years ago, Shawn and Jen and their five kids moved to Barahona, to work on Ears to Hear and other projects- building and teaching at a school, a drinking well, a garden and general “mission-ing”. Being a mission in the Dominican Republic, as you might imagine, is not exactly an extended vacation. They have experienced many challenges in the past two years that would have chased me back to the US a long time ago, but still they persist.

When I received their most recent update, I felt a burden on my heart to share their story. I have to confess that sometimes think they’re a little nuts- they do too much, it’s unsafe there, and that I would gladly (umm, somehow) pay for their plane tickets back to the States. But here’s the thing: their faith tells them that Barahona is where they are meant to be. They are making progress.

Now perhaps you, like me, are kind of squeamish about the idea of missions and missionaries. “Us”, traveling around the world, trying to pursuade people away from their local culture and so on. This is a view that is easier to hold if you are not acquainted with actual missionaries. My friends, living among the DR locals, through their daily interactions are presenting their neighbors with a choice to follow Christ or to not follow him, but it’s a choice that they would not be so conscious of if it were not for Shawn and Jen and the team that they work with.

In the past (and on a continuing basis), God has used my friends to change my own stubborn, smartass heart. If he can do that with me, then this DR mission will surely bear fruit! Please pray for them. Pray for their health and safety. Pray that God would provide the resources that they need to set up the radio station and get it running sustainably. Pray that He would be glorified through their work there.

Thanks!