Apostolic Faith Work in the Dominican Republic

The Apostolic Faith work began in the West Indies through the distribution of literature around 1920. The initial church leaders, Clifford Austin and his wife, from Havana, Cuba, began visiting the neighboring islands and holding evangelistic services. In 1956-57, four missionaries went to the Islands from Portland, Oregon: Forrest and Sally Damron, and Melvin and Lorena Frost. They spent several months there and visited fifty-two locations on fifteen islands. The people who lived in the islands were thrilled to have this personal contact and over the years, ministers and workers from our U.S. churches have made periodic trips to worship and fellowship with the Apostolic Faith Churches in the West Indies.

The Dominican Republic in the West Indies encompasses two-thirds of Hispaniola Island, with Haiti occupying the other third. In November of 2008, Reverend Earl Phillips and his wife, Sylvia, spent seventeen days in the Dominican Republic, visiting several of our churches and viewing some of the new churches under construction. When the Phillips first went to the Dominican Republic around eighteen years ago, there were about forty churches, and now there are sixty-one. The churches vary in the size of their congregations, and the attendance at the services where the Phillips visited was anywhere from sixty-five to six hundred people. Some of the churches are in the middle of sugar-cane fields, and the congregations were thrilled to have their first visitors from Portland. Although some of the congregations may be small, most of their Sunday schools are quite large. Many of the churches have no rooms for Sunday school classes, so they conduct their classes in the church sanctuary—maybe four teachers all teaching different classes at the same time. Even the churches in the outlying areas may have as many as 220 children—one of the newer churches has 20 people in the congregation and 160 children in its Sunday school.

At the present time, seven churches are being built in the Dominican Republic, some because the congregations have outgrown their current facilities. One particular church has around 135 in the congregation, but only a portion can get inside the church for services, so the remainder has to stand outside. The congregations who are building new churches work on them a little at a time as finances are available, so it can take quite awhile to complete the construction and make them available for services.

The elder members have been faithful to uphold the Biblical doctrines of the Apostolic Faith Church and to set the example for the younger ones. As a result, the churches in the Dominican Republic are filled with young people and young married couples and families. All ages love to come together to sing and worship the Lord, and this is reflected in their church services. Many live within walking distance of the church. Some have motor scooters, and the Phillips say that they have seen as many as five people on one motor scooter, and as many as seventeen in the back of a pickup truck!

There were many outstanding testimonies of how the Lord had saved souls and delivered from sin. One man shared how alcohol had ruined his life. He drank alcohol for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—he said food would spoil in his house because he drank instead of eating. Friends took him to San Pedro de Marcoris to see a witch doctor. After his visit, the witch doctor said he was cured, but on the way home, he saw a bar and asked to be let out of the vehicle—he spent all night in the bar. One day, he heard about the Gospel and that Jesus Christ could deliver him from sin and the bondage of alcohol in his life. Now that he has prayed and surrendered his life to God, he loves to tell how his life was changed and what a wonderful life he now has.

The Phillips felt blessed and privileged to visit the Dominican once again, and the presence of the Lord in every service was wonderful. The enthusiasm and dedication to the Gospel that they witnessed while they were there was an inspiration and assurance that the Lord is continuing to do great things in that part of the world.