Northern Triad

You are currently browsing articles tagged Northern Triad.

Faith Awakened in Mexico, a Voice Found in the Dominican Republic

August 10, 2026 in DominicanRepublic, Mexico, Ministry by Dave | No comments

When the Northern Triad Area was formed in 2024, bringing together Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, one of the primary goals was to foster greater collaboration between missionaries across national borders. We believed that by strengthening relationships and working together, we could create new opportunities for the gospel to advance. Recently, we witnessed a beautiful example of that vision becoming reality.

Ismael with Angela and Cory Hogan in Guanajuato, Mexico. What began with a quiet student showing up to Bible study has grown into a life of discipleship and ministry.

A little over two years ago, a quiet university chemistry student named Ismael began attending social events hosted by Chi Alpha missionaries Angela and Cory Hogan in Guanajuato, Mexico. Over time, he joined their weekly Bible studies. He rarely spoke about his spiritual background, but week after week, he kept coming—even on nights when he was the only student there.

Then an unexpected opportunity arose. Ismael was accepted into a semester-long university exchange program in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Recognizing the opportunity, Angela and Cory connected Ismael with fellow AGWM missionaries Jamie and Berly Bello, who lead a university ministry in Santo Domingo. Although Ismael arrived knowing no one, the students of UConexión welcomed him as family. He began attending church for the first time in his life, joined a discipleship class, and met weekly with a Dominican believer named Victor, who faithfully opened Scripture with him and walked alongside him.

When Ismael returned to Guanajuato, he surprised everyone. Pulling a well-worn discipleship manual from his backpack, he smiled and said, “I’m ready to help lead here.”

A few weeks later, another student asked if he was a believer. Without hesitation, Ismael answered, “Yes, I am.” Later, when Cory asked when he had made that decision, Ismael simply replied, “About a year ago, when we were studying the Bible together.”

You could say faith was awakened in him in Guanajuato and his voice was found in Santo Domingo. Today, he is actively discipling other university students.

Stories like Ismael’s remind us that collaboration is far more than an organizational strategy—it is a means by which God is drawing people to Himself. Thank you for partnering with us as we strengthen relationships across the Northern Triad so that more lives can be transformed through the gospel.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Make New Friends…

October 12, 2024 in Ministry, Prayer, Progress by Dave | Permalink

…but keep the old,
One is silver and the other gold.

Do you remember that old song? It’s a chorus that describes our past month well as we begin the process of integrating the Northern Triad, the new area we lead, a union of Assemblies of God World Missionaries who labor in Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, and continue our advocacy work here in the US.

1
2
3

We took our first step in the integration process when we met with both the Dominican Republic and Cuba teams for the first time. These virtual sessions were a moment of transition for each team as they said farewell to their former area directors and welcomed us into our new leadership role. It was eye-opening to hear of the ongoing work in each country, from church planting, construction, and Bible distribution under extreme circumstances in Cuba to young adult ministries and ministries of compassion to refugees in the Dominican Republic. We left these meetings encouraged by their efforts and optimistic about what these new friendships can achieve.

At the same time we experienced multiple moments of affirmation on the itineration trail as old friends like veteran missionaries Rich and Jenni DeMartino advocated for us to speak at their home church in Ephrata, PA; our former youth pastor, Jim Grove, hosted us for a Wednesday night service in Erie, PA; and Kevin and Taurina Smith graciously named us as featured speakers during Northland Cathedral’s Missions Experience in Kansas City, MO. We are humbled by the open doors these friends and so many others have given us to share about the work in the Northern Triad and to influence their congregations.

Old friends and new, as we work together, we believe the best is yet to come. Thank you, faithful ones, for standing with us with your prayers and support and for welcoming these new members to the team!

Photo Captions:

  1. Dave shares about our expanded leadership role as Northern Triad Area Directors during the opening service of Northland Cathedral’s Missions Experience.

  2. Kelly shares her story with the ladies of Northland Cathedral.

  3. Our time with the DeMartinos in Ephrata, PA also included a ride in their convertible!

Tags: , ,

Introducing the Northern Triad Area

September 14, 2024 in Mexico, Ministry, Missions, Progress by Dave | Permalink

After the release of our June newsletter, titled “Unfinished Business in Mexico City,” several people asked if our role in missions was changing. At the time, we reassured them that we were only leaving the field to start itineration. Little did we know how accurate their suspicions were—our role is indeed changing, dramatically.

Dave joined LAC Regional Director, David Ellis (right), to discuss the Northern Triad Area with Mexican Superintendent, Enrique Gonzalez, during a special trip to Mexico last month.

On Friday, June 19th, our Regional Director, David Ellis, pulled us into the storage closet of the Latin America Caribbean (LAC) Satellite Office (for lack of a better meeting room) to ask us if we would be willing to serve as directors of a newly formed area that would join Mexico with Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Of course, the question caught us completely off guard. At the time, we were preparing to teach the Bible to the nearly 200 global workers (GWs) who had gathered in Springfield, MO for Pre-Field Training. We certainly hadn’t contemplated a regional restructure of this nature!

However, as the reasons for the change were explained, our reaction shifted from speechlessness to agreement. Throughout his tenure, David Ellis aimed to restructure the LAC to eliminate one-country areas like Mexico in the interest of fostering cross-country collaboration and fellowship among GWs. However, the right configuration eluded him until this summer when Caribbean Area Directors, David and Kristen Speer, proposed merging Cuba and the Dominican Republic with Mexico. This would enable them to focus on opportunities in the 29 non-Spanish-speaking nations of their area without neglecting the important work in those Spanish-speaking islands. With our yes, the Northern Triad Area was conceived.

We say conceived because we’re still in the birthing process. While we’ve spent 18 years in Mexico, we’re still students of the people and their culture. Now, extending our leadership to these additional countries, virtually unknown to us, we feel a tremendous responsibility to learn and grow for the sake of the GWs we’ll be leading and the national churches with whom we’ll be collaborating. There are still many meetings to attend, teams to integrate, and relationships to form. The new structure will be formalized on October 1st, but the work will have only just begun.

Although we feel the burden of this new role, we’re not overwhelmed because we sense God’s direction and the backing of colleagues and friends like you. We’re confident that as our responsibility increases your prayers and support will rise to meet our needs in this critical season.

Note: this post is just a portion of what we share in our quarterly newsletter. If you’d like more information from the Godzwas or would like to print this update, take a look at the full PDF version of our quarterly newsletter or, better still, sign up to receive our newsletters direct to your inbox!

Tags: , , ,