After 20 years of pastoral service, is it surprising that the Salvatori family is answering the call to serve in the Dominican Republic as missionaries? Most of our friends have answered emphatically, “No!” Most people who know us well thought God might use us in intercultural ministry.
However, our ministry call story begins long before we met each other, as the legacy of serving others for the Gospel of Jesus Christ began in our families of origin.
For Franco, his story started as a young boy when Jesus radically transformed his family. His father, an alcoholic and addict, came home one day reporting a new faith in Jesus had changed him. It would only be a few short years before his parents began working in the local church and eventually became the executive directors of a local mission.
Stacy’s legacy of ministry runs even deeper. Her maternal grandfather was a Methodist pastor in rural Kentucky, and her father’s family spent two generations in foreign missionary service in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a martyred missionary, her grandfather’s legacy sent all three of his children into full time mission service and Stacy’s parents still serve in the Democratic Republic of Congo as career missionaries.
As a family, we have often prayed about opportunities to serve interculturally. For years, God led us to serve in local churches and pastoral roles. At this time, it is the training, education, and pastoral ministry experience that will be central to our role as missionaries. Bold Hope International has invited us to join their team in the Dominican Republic in three main areas: Development, Pastoral Training, and Advocacy.
These three points of interest have led us to serve in the Dominican Republic:
- There are migrant workers (primarily Hatians) who have found asylum in small sugarcane villages (bateys) that allow them to survive, but not thrive.
- Approximately 85% of pastors globally have never received any theological training.
- We believe the good news of Jesus Christ overcomes this lack of resources and we want to be part of the solution.
In the bateys, our family will work alongside the child sponsorship and educational initiatives to help bring hope in these villages. We will work to strengthen and develop the pastoral networks to provide the training and resources that pastors and churches need to further the gospel. And we will help partner individual bateys with churches and organizations in the Dominican Republic and abroad to offer long term investments and impact in these communities.
We believe in the hopeful news that God offers humanity through Jesus. We believe in the work of Bold Hope International. And we believe God has been preparing us for this for a long time.
We are excited about the opportunity God is calling our family to and ask you to partner with us in prayer. If you would like to offer financial support or become a partner organization in a batey, please visit our website at The Hopeful Endeavor.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.