The three Pioneers of Dominican Republic

THE THREE PIONEERS OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

In the 11th edition, number 4 of the magazine Buenas Noticias, we find an article titled “Dios más una mujer” about how Angelita de Rosario was the instrument God used to bring the ministry of the Salvation Army to Dominican Republic, but did you know, there were two prior tries?

The first time was in the twenties. According to the magazine “War Cry” on September 3, 1928, a salvationist, Envoy O’Neal, immigrated to the Dominican Republic with her husband and went to reside in the city of San Pedro de Macoris. As a good salvationist, she immediately started conducting meetings. A few salvationists that had also immigrated there joined in. An Officer from the Territorial Headquarters in Jamaica went to visit and see the work and decided to officially recognize it as a place to conduct Corps meetings.

Thanks to the Envoy’s husband an adequate place was prepared with the necessary furniture to inaugurate the Corps. When Brigadier Charles Smith came to visit, 22 soldiers were enrolled and 10 Junior Soldiers. A total of 150 people were regularly attending the meetings. We then might ask, what happened? No one knows for sure, but the work did not last.

The second attempt

In the same article we read about another attempt to start the salvationist work in 1971 and it also did not last. In the Caparra Corps in Puerto Rico in the years 1967 to 1970, there was a young man that came weekly to the meetings, especially the Bible Studies, named Moris. Suddenly, the young man was arrested as he was in Puerto Rico illegally, he was originally from Dominican Republic.

The Corps Officers could not speak on his behalf since the authorities had decided to deport him. However, they took on the responsibility to make sure he left the country on the proper date. After some time, they released him to give him time to resolve details related to his apartment and job. It is interesting he had always refused when asked to become a soldier, but once he was released from jail he accepted and was enrolled as a soldier. Surely, knowing his status he had refused to avoid dishonoring the name of The Salvation Army.

Before he went back to his country, he asked what could he do to help the Salvation Army arrive in his country? The Officer responded, “start a Bible Study, but you must not call it The Salvation Army. After writing to the Headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico to request someone to open the work there”. Moris was not the adequate person to lead a Bible Study therefore he did the most feasible things. He developed several community centers for the youth and placed a big sign that read, The Salvation Army. The authorities were alarmed, they thought it was a military invasion of some sort. Once more, Moris went to jail. And again, pastors who knew the work of the Salvation Army advocated on his behave and he was released.

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Shortly after, Moris wrote to the Officers in Caparra not the Headquarters in Puerto Rico. The Officers were not in the position to do anything and therefore they sent the letter to salvationist leaders and after some time it reached the Headquarter in Jamaica, they decided to investigate the possibility. The Territorial Leader of Jamaica flew to this Caribbean Island with another Officer who served as a Spanish translator. Moris was not able to lead a Bible Study, but he could do public relations. The Officers from Jamaica were surprised when they arrived at the airport in Santo Domingo and found reporters waiting. The leader of the Red Cross, other pastors were present and even a Government Official showed up to apologize for putting Moris in jail.

As a result of that visit, the Headquarters of Jamaica sent a female Officer and cadet to take over the work Moris had started in Moca. Unfortunately, they were sent back less than a year later. For the next 25 years, Moris continued to ask when the Army would return to his island. It wasn’t until Angelita Rosario started the meetings on her own around 1990. Moris had a strong character and was not always in agreement or wanted to comply with the Officers plans, this created tension. Nevertheless, he always considered himself a salvationist and continued to try and move the work of the Army forward. In 2010, he was commissioned Sergeant of the Social Work for the Moca Corps. A year later, Moris was promoted to glory on July 27, 2011. The salvationist were not the only ones to honor him, so did municipal authorities and others of the community. Moris always fought for the marginalize through the Salvation Army or any way possible.

—Good News! Vol.17 No.9 Published March 16, 2015

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