Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad

Ministry Partner: Angel Cardoza

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Angel and Yamel Cardoza were married in 2010 and moved to Los Angeles to attend seminary in 2012. They have five children: Noa, Abi, Ana, Manu, and Mateo.

Where are we now?

• The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Republic of Haiti.
• According to the World Bank, 40.4% of the population live below the poverty line
• Unemployment, government corruption, and inconsistent electric service remain major problems.

Religion

• The Dominican Republic is mainly nominal-Catholic.
• According to the Joshua Project, 85.5% of the Dominican Republic population is Roman Catholic and 9.2% is Protestant.

The major problems within the evangelical churches in the Dominican Republic

• Lack of sound doctrine being preached
• Big influence of prosperity gospel
• Untrained pastors doing ministry

The prosperity gospel has been growing in the last ten years. One of the biggest churches in the country is a prosperity teaching church, but at the same time, our country is experiencing a great awakening in the evangelical world. A handful of churches have stood against error, prosperity gospel deceivers, the faith movement, and other charismatic movements. We think we are at the beginning of a great awakening.

The church in Santo Domingo: Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad

Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad, is situated in a strategic avenue with good public transportation access, surrounded by twelve small communities with great need of the gospel and also economic needs. In 2008, 250 households of the community were visited and interviewed by the church, and the monthly income of 62% of the families was found to be lower than $340. The main social problems identified in our community are water shortages, blackouts, poor drainage, crime, drugs, unemployment, and domestic violence.

This church was planted in 1984 by Cristobal Cardoza (Angel's dad). It started with just a couple of families. Currently, this church has 240 members with an average Sunday attendance of 340.

What work will Angel be doing?

1. Leadership/ Development: Discipling a group of men from the church once a week, teaching them theology and equipping them for the ministry.
2. Preaching/Teaching:
   • Occasional preaching on Sunday mornings
   • Teaching a Wednesday night Bible study
   • Teaching the youth group each week
   • Leading a small home Bible study once a week
3. Bible Institute: The church has asked Angel to create a plan to start a theological training program for church leaders from our community.