Witness Trips

Resonate’s work in the Dominican Republic focuses primarily on working with Haitian immigrants and people of Haitian descent. Haitians are marginalized in the Dominican Republic and often live in communities that lack electricity, running water, schools, and businesses where they can purchase food and necessities. When we sent a group of ministry leaders on a Witness Trip to the Dominican Republic, the itinerary included:

• Touring a colonial city to learn about the history and ministry context of the Dominican Republic.
• Worshiping with a local church and working alongside the congregation to host an evangelistic outreach event.
• Spending time with ministry leaders who are working with Resonate’s partner JET to: learn about the challenges Haitians face living in the Dominican Republic, visit children and teachers at schools, and learn how JET works with government and private agencies to provide much-needed services to underserved communities.
• Having fun and debriefing while swimming in the pool at the base of the Sierra de Agua Waterfall.

Montréal, Québec is one of the largest cities in North America. Beautiful old church buildings populate the landscape, but very few people are Christians. Protestant Christians make up only 2.6% of the city’s population, and while Catholics make up a little more than one-third of the population, many of them no longer attend mass. Resonate sent a group of ministry leaders to Montréal to experience what being a witness for Christ looks like in a very post-Christian context:

• Going on a walking tour of the city led by a native Montréal woman who has no association with a faith community to gain a better understanding of the political, social, and religious history and how that has shaped their present.
• Visiting The Ministry to Seafarers, a Resonate partner, for a bus tour of the port and to learn how these ministry leaders build relationships with seafarers who are at sea for months on end.
• Spending time with Resonate partner Mission Montréal to experience holistic gospel witness in the city and go on a prayer walk through one of the neighborhoods where the ministry is working.
• Gathering with young adults and other members of First Christian Reformed Church of Montréal for dessert to learn about the church’s work within the congregation and their presence in the community.

Colonization, civil war, immigration—these are a few of the challenges the people of El Salvador have faced in the past and continue to wrestle with today. But the country also has beautiful, warm, hospitable communities. This Witness Trip designed for university students included:

• Touring the capital San Salvador’s historic downtown and Rosario church to learn about the country’s history.
• Spending time with ministry leaders working with Resonate partner Casa Semillas to learn about their work and ministries.
• Visits with churches to see hospitality ministry to migrants in action, experience incarnational ministry in communities, hear from former gang members who decided to follow Christ, and learn how churches are intentionally discipling children of all ages.
• A day to swim and debrief at the beach on El Salvador’s Pacific coast.