The Dominican Republic is located 900 miles off the coast of Florida and shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The Dominican takes up the eastern two-thirds of the island while Haiti occupies the western one-third. The Dominican Republic attained its independence from Spain in1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later restored their independence in 1865. The Dominican Republic is part of a beautiful tropical island with a warm and inviting culture. The country suffers from remarkable income inequality between those that live below the poverty line and those that don’t. The economy is highly dependent upon the US, the destination of nearly 60% of their exports.
Our Partnership – G.O. Ministries
Eastview has partnered with G.O. Ministries in the Dominican Republic since 1996. What started with an initial high school trip has become a Global Partner for Eastview. G.O. Ministries seeks to empower national pastors through partnerships with American churches to transform their communities.
In 2009, Eastview and G.O. Ministries began to partner on the Central Church Project. A church that will serve as the flagship hub for the ministry, a training ground for holistic ministry and a seminary for future pastors. The Central Church will equip and launch Dominican church planters all over the island.
Eastview personally partners with Pastor Eduard Gabrielle. Eduard is the President of G.O. Ministries and one of the lead pastors in the Central Church. Eastview’s high school ministry also partners with two Dominican G.O. pastors: Richard and Indress. Eastview members Brian and Josanne Johnson recently joined the staff of G.O. Ministries. Brian oversees pastor and staff discipleship, pastor teaching and equipping, and is developing the future seminary. To learn more about Brian and Josanne Johnson’s ministry, visit: http://briandjohnsonministries.org/. To learn more about this Global Partner visit http: //www.go-ministries.org/.
Get Involved
Short Term Mission Trips
Each year Eastview sends 3 or 4 teams to the Dominican Republic to work alongside G.O. Ministries and specifically our pastoral partners. Our teams work alongside these pastors through sports outreach, men’s and women’s conferences, medical trips, construction trips, and an Eastview family trip. If you’re interested in learning more about these trips click here or contact Julie Probst at julieprobst@eastviewcc.org
Child Sponsorship
You can make a huge difference in the life of a child through the G.O. Ministries child sponsorship program. Over 25 children are sponsored by members of Eastview Christian Church. This is a great way to involve your whole family and one day visit your sponsored child. Visit http://www.go-ministries.org/ or contact Diane Miller at diane.miller@go-ministries.org for more information.
GO Prayer Team
We need people that are willing to commit to praying for our Global Partners in the Dominican Republic. We need people that are willing to pray for G.O. Ministries and Pastors Eduard, Richard and Indress. We need people willing to pray for our very own people, Brian and Josanne Johnson and Dave and Cherry Schwulst who are serving in the Dominican. If you would like to learn more about our partnership with the Schwulst family, visit http://www.daveschwulstfamily.blogspot.com/. If you’re willing to serve in the GO Prayer Team ministry area, please contact paulfey@live.com
