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For many 07/07/07 was
truly the perfect day in God’s glorious kingdom. In Santo
Domingo it was a historical day that brought hope for a better
future and the healing of forgiveness. On July 7th, 2007 Chappy
Dave, was on day two of his four day workshop to train over 300
local pastors on effective prison ministry upon the request of
Dominican Republic prison officials. “This gathering of
pastoral leaders from all the different evangelical
denominations is a first for our nation … the hand of God is
moving in our country” said Rev. Carlitos Trinidad
Campechano, Presidente Nacional Association Nationalde Iglesias
Penteniarias (ANDIP).
MOTE’s prison ministry
model has proven itself effective at La Mesa prison in Tijuana
Mexico for over 12 years resulting in the rehabilitation and
changed lives of thousands of inmates, and is now expanding to
the Dominican Republic.
Chappy Dave’s training
workshop was attended by Senator Celeste Gomez Martinez of the
Senado De La Republica Dominicana. On July 7th Senator Martinez
arrived with a photo of her brother and a story of love,
respect, honor, and murder. Her brother was a former senator
that was loved by the people because he stood for honesty and
stood up against the drug cartel. Six years earlier her brother
was assassinated and she, as an attorney at the time, prosecuted
her brother’s murderer. Senator Martinez was soon to experience
a blessing that would bring spiritual healing to her and her
brother’s murderer.
Soon after the senator’s
arrival an inmate approached Chappy Dave asking to receive
prayer for courage. Serving a thirty-five year sentence for the
murder of the former Senator Martinez, this inmate had
surrendered his life to Christ and has been taking steps to turn
his life around. After praying with Chappy, the trembling and
sobbing inmate turned to Senator Celeste Gomez Martinez (a
Christian woman) and asked her to forgive him for the
assassination of her brother. The senator, filled with the
Spirit of Christ, met her brother’s assassin face to face and
took his hands. “This truly was a Corrie Ten Boom moment”
said Chappy Dave. The senator forgave her brother’s assassin for
his crime, and spent an hour with him on her knees in prayer.
“It was God who sent her there and only God who could put
forgiveness in her heart” explains Chappy Dave.
The goal of the MOTE
four-day workshop was to edify, equip and strengthen believers’
in their faith and deed focusing specifically on connecting the
local churches outside the prison walls with the churches inside
the prison walls of La Victoria Prison in Santo Domingo. There
are fourteen little churches inside La Victoria prison, each of
them struggling with the excessive violence within this very
large maximum security prison. This particular workshop was Part
II of a four-part series and was centered on the topic of
Creating-Sustaining-Expanding Effective Prison Ministry.
Chappy Dave said “It is evident that we are moving with
the authority of God, so we just keep moving as He leads us. Our
goals are being met and God is throwing in miracles that we
would never have anticipated. What an incredible joy to
witness.”
The budget for this
four-part workshop series is over $35,000. If you would like to
be a part of this effort to help change a nation through
effective prison ministry please contact MOTE for more
information or visit our secure donation center online at
http://www.mote.ws/donation.htm.
About
MOTE
MOTE stands for Missions On The Edge.
MOTE, a 501(c)3 non-profit Christian organization was founded in
1995 by Dr. David Walden (aka Chappy Dave). MOTE ministries
include a lay chaplaincy training program for state hospitals
and convalescent facilities; faith-based after-school home-work
clubs; inner-city Christian sober living facility for men;
homeless feeding programs; and cross-culture prison ministry
programs in La Mesa State Prison, Tijuana, Mexico and Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic. Chappy Dave is also a teacher and
faculty associate professor at Bethel University and Seminary
San Diego, and author of the book Wipeout, a true
story of winning. |
