By Angela Ramírez de Hernández, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Finding ways to bring people to Jesus Christ and share our vision and mission can be challenging. But sometimes we find great surprises and blessings.

Several months ago I heard about a congregation in the Dominican Republic Mission Center. It has a family that is bringing great joy to services. I wanted to know how it had come to the congregation.

Everything started when the pastor and congregational members visited a young man who had been coming to spiritual family retreats and had been dedicated to prayer. He was charismatic with youth.

Through him they began to meet and get to know the rest of his family. A few months later family members became involved in a conflict with a neighbor. The neighbor was a policeman who disliked their small dog.

One day as the neighbor was coming home, the dog started barking, and the man began to beat him. The dog then bit his shoe. An argument between the neighbors ensued, and the situation spun out of control.

The policeman, who often was verbally abusive, swore a complaint against this family. There was an order of arrest for four family members.

The family decided to pray. It prayed several times a day, asking God to do justice. A few days later several policemen came to the house with the arrest warrants. They took three family members: two women and the young man.

Though incarcerated, they continued to pray. The older of the two women described the situation to other women in jail, and they all began to pray.

On the third night in jail she closed her eyes. While sleeping she saw a decorated church. In the morning she remembered her dream and said this was the church God wanted her to attend.

The next day they went before the judge. The judge found discrepancies and falsehoods in the policeman’s statement.

The family went free.

When they arrived home, a young woman from the congregation was waiting. She suggested they all go to church to give God thanks. The woman who’d had the dream in jail had never been there.

When they arrived, she realized the church was decorated just as in her dream. She’s been a fixture ever since.

Recently she, her sister, and her son, were baptized. Other family members come to the congregation, too, and happily join in the services.