Santo Domingo - "Beisboll bin beddy, beddy gud to mi."

Santo Domingo - "Beisboll bin beddy, beddy gud to mi."
  It's 9:00 pm, and I'm watching my Cards play the Pirates in Spanish. One more night in the DR, we're in the Colonial District, the oldest part of the oldest city in the New World, home to 3 million plus. Baseball is king here, and over 70 Dominicans play in the Major League.
  Mission teams usually have a day to unwind or play tourist before heading back to their homes, so this morning we left San Pedro de Macoris and headed for the Capitol. After navigating the smog filled highways and streets, we checked into our hotel and played tourist.
  Cristoval Colon Plaza (how do we get Christopher Columbus?) with the statue of the explorer pointing West, the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Incarnation, the oldest fort, the oldest castle, the oldest everything, the Museum of National Heroes (used to be a Jesuit church, now an eternal flame, plaques & tombs, guards and intervals with the National anthem) and cigar stores with master craftsmen at work - most of it, most of us had seen before, but we traipsed through the tropical heat simply preparing ourselves for "re-entry."
  In reality my ministry continued with some of the team - I have already mentioned how disparate this group was, and I had spent as much time on the trip praying about my pastoral role with them as with the Dominicans, so while we sat in the shade, shooed the pigeons and hung out at a cafe, I had searching discussions with several.
  One of our Catholic members (quite devout) could not understand Christians being so judgmental towards gays, "when they were born that way." I spoke of our universal brokenness, different proclivities and brought her to Scripture, while challenging how she had been conditioned by our secular media into buying misinformation and accepting things that she admitted to being uncomfortable with.
  When one brings people to the clarity of God's word, it is not long before arguments of straw are exposed, but it also shows how biblically illiterate the average church goer is. Being illiterate, people become content with crafting their own theology and ethic, unwittingly using these to defend their own self-willed, wounded nature. So much of my trip has been navigating how to lovingly and prayerfully speak truth and grace to religious Americans.
  Another team member, searching deeply and in a bad relationship back home, is trying to find God's will for their life, while having been raised in traditional and "boring" (their words) churches that reinforced the dichotomy of the secular and the sacred. Another describes me as "over the top" because of my passion and desire to see everything as sacred, while another lectures me on the twenty minute limit to good sermons - I smile and say nothing, knowing that they can scream for three hours at a Clemson or Carolina game.
  Well the Cardinals have won, and I'm less than a day away from reuniting with Jane. As I lay my head down tonight, I am mixed with hope and deep concern. I ever hope because the finished work of the cross and an empty tomb, but I am deeply concerned for our nation, the western church and the spirits loose in our land.
 For now, it's late; I know that the Lord is on his throne and "mercy triumphs over judgment." I'll edit and post this, turn out the lights, and think this is an amazing day in which to be serving the King.