Varsity Bible Church and T.E.A.R.S Ministries Partnership
T.E.A.R.S Ministries and Varsity Bible Church have agreed to develop a long-term relationship with the community served by T.E.A.R.S and to open doors to share the gospel. This initiative resulted from an exploratory trip to the Dominican Republic in May 2003. Visits were made to an orphanage, schools, churches and local leaders in various parts of the country. These meetings were very instructive and the 6 participants returned with a better understanding of the country, its people and their material and spiritual needs. Different options were considered, and a decision was made to partner with T.E.A.R.S.
Since then, Varsity has sent one to two mission teams a year to partner with the ministry. Each trip has given them a deeper heart for the people and has strengthened their relationship with the locals. These trips have made all more aware of God at work.
Varsity Bible Church supports T.E.A.R.S’ expand its ministry opportunities by emphasizing short-term mission trips, fundraising and support for the T.E.A.R.S school and the El Camino Church in María Auxiliadora.
Short-term mission trips include outreach into the community through El Camino church, camp ministry, church planting, teacher training with the TEARS School, general construction, and other community-based programs such as medical, eye care, dental clinics, and water quality projects. The focus and duration of each trip reflects the giftedness and availability of the participants and the area of ministry they wish to be involved in. Preparation for such trips includes team-building meetings in Canada, coordinating and priorizing needs with TEARS and the local community and fundraising. Adults, children and youth are encouraged to consider being part of a short-term trip as a means of developing a close relationship with the people of María Auxiliadora. The experience is mutually life-changing and life-giving for all involved. The objective is a long-term partnership between the local and Canadian community aimed at a long-term relationship that will empower people in a holistic way and result in improved local living conditions.
Vision & Mission
Vision
To glorify God by training leaders and facilitating holistic communities of worship in developing countries of the world.
Mission
It is our mission to plant churches and also enable churches to achieve community, interdependency, intimacy and accountability by becoming gospel-centered, disciple-producing bodies that are proactive in their communities and autonomous in function. Our main focus must be building Christ-centered relationships, discipleship, evangelism, and training believers in the discovery and development of their gifts, talents and vision for the enhancement of their communities and the advancing of the Kingdom of God.
To get involved, go to http://tears.org/get-involved
DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS WORKING IN LA VEGA AREA
World Team began work in the Dominican Republic as the West Indies Mission in 1939. Cecil Samuels, a Jamaican who had trained at the Cuba Bible Institute, was sent to open a work in the Spanish speaking Dominican Republic.
As of 2000, there are three World Team missionary units assigned to the Dominican Republic. They have planted one cell church in the city of Santiago that is thriving and growing. Other cell churches are growing with different cells focusing on ministry to believers and others on evangelism. In addition to adult ministries, many children are now enrolled in Sunday school programs. In the Iglesia Fraternidad Cristiana church in Santiago, members have even traveled to other countries on short-term assignments to teach the concept of the Cell Church in their respective areas of ministry.
World Team owns the La Vega Christian Conference Center where most church teams stay and this is where the Varsity Bible Church children’s camp is run. World Team plans to expand the La Vega center to include new housing for missionary training in a program called Casa Yada. This training centre would serve to train Dominican church planters for ministry both inside and outside of the country. The same center likely would be used to train prospective church planters and leaders throughout Latin America.
World Team's hope for the Dominican Republic is to create a movement of reproducing churches by planting cell-based churches in Dominican cities and encouraging them to multiply.
Opportunity International Implementing Partner in Dominican Republic
Based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, OI Dominican Republic, known locally as ASPIRE, was started in 1982. Today, ASPIRE is operating a very strong, transformational program. As of June 2006, ASPIRE was serving 4,834 clients, 78% of whom are women. Their loan portfolio was over US$1.6 million and the overall repayment rate is at 96%.
Expanding a Restaurant while Feeding the “Poor”
Thanks to 3 loans from ASPIRE, Ana María Ramirez (single mother of two -6 and 2 years old) has been able to grow her restaurant  business and triple her profits.
She used the latest loan to buy a freezer, blender and a radio for the restaurant facilities. She dreams of expanding the current space to start a second business on the side (a fruit stand). Ana María feels that God has blessed her with talents and success, so she feels the need to contribute back to her community by feeding those less fortunate. She provides free food to poor people in her community.
ASPIRE is regulated by a General Assembly of 11 professionals of different fields such as economists, engineers, accountants, educators and physicians. The services they render to ASPIRE are on a voluntary basis. The General Assembly is ASPIRE’s top authority and it is accountable for appointing the Board of Directors annually and establishing all governing regulations within the organization.
Geraldo Orozco, Executive Director
aspire@codetel.net.do
C/Juan de Morfa #67 Villa Consuelo
entre la 27 de febrero y Juan Pablo Pina,
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Phone: 809-688-5101; 809-566-8987
Fax: 809-688-6086
It is the objective of World Servants to be involved in mobilizing a global network of people to impact the World for Jesus Christ by responding to physical and spiritual needs of people.
World Servants began its work in 1986 when it took 200 Senior High School students to the Dominican Republic. The students and their leaders worked on building four churches and doing children’s ministry in the surrounding communities.
World Servants places a high value on preparing people as servants and learners as they interact with one another. World Servants believes that this kind of short-term mission experience provides an opportunity to organize people in a community around a common task that benefits the wider community, while providing short-term mission volunteers with the opportunity to participate in what God is doing in His world.
All of World Servants short-term experiences are designed to have a long-term impact on individual churches, organizations and communities
Today, World Servants continues its tradition of building structures and building hope in places like Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Belize. Our ministry has broadened over the years to include Junior and Senior High, College, and Adult mission trips. Some of our mission trips are focused for families and special projects designed for disabled participants. World Servants recently organized a group of 30 young people from The Netherlands who helped to complete the third floor of the T.E.A.R.S school in María Auxiliadora.
Daniel Rodriguez serves as Executive director of World Servants and is a director of Aspire, the local implementing partner for Opportunity International Network.
Daniel Rodriguez
Presidente Comité Ejecutivo
Iglesia Evangélica Misionera, Inc.
Apartado 600
Santo Domingo, R.R.
Office: (809) 563-1423
Cell: (809) 223-1968
E-mail: drodriguez@verizon.net.do
The Mission
Aguas de Unidad and Healing Waters International work to reduce water-related illness and death in developing countries by building self-sustaining projects that make safe drinking water accessible to the poor and empower local churches to bring physical, social and spiritual healing to their communities.
Aguas de Unidad is the Dominican organization that TEARS, El Camino Church and Varsity Bible Church partnered with in 2005 to provide a water purification system to serve the church, the TEARS school and the community. Varsity provided funding to put up a building to house the system. Healing Waters International is the US organization that supplied the funds to purchase and install the equipment, and Aguas de Unidad installed it and provides ongoing training and maintenance.
The Healing Waters Concept:
Four Keys to Sustainability
There is a great need in urban and rural communities to make safe drinking water affordable to those who don’t have the resources to buy the water sold in the stores. It is this specific need that Healing Waters International is working to address.
- Using a local church to distribute the water
- Offering great tasting water at a very affordable price
- Offering water for free to local schools and charities
 Providing churches with ongoing project management support
The result is that the school children have access to free clean drinking water, the church can offer water to the community at a reduced cost, and this opens the door for more community outreach and healthier children and families.
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