Rob Arms still remembers the missionaries who visited his childhood church on Sunday nights. Rob made sure to sit on the front row, watching slideshows and listening to different people talk about sharing the gospel with different cultures.

 “I was enthralled,” Rob said, about that time. “I knew I wanted to do that someday.” Now, Rob and his wife Beth are doing just that through their work with New Missions.

Rob and Beth first heard about New Missions in the summer of 2008 through a family member who had recently traveled to the Dominican Republic. They decided to take their own trip to the DR that December, where they experienced firsthand the work New Missions is doing there. Rob said that he and Beth knew they wanted to continue serving “after learning the heart of New Missions and how they are so invested in the children.”

Their opportunity to serve increased greatly on June 1st, 2017, when Rob sold his motorsport company of twenty years. One week later, he and Beth were back in the DR volunteering for a week. In January 2018 the couple returned for a longer stretch of time, where they did everything from repairing maintenance issues, to taking pictures of sponsor children, to grilling hot dogs for movie day at Colegio Nueva Vida. And even more trips to the DR are in the couple’s future. 

In June 2018, Rob and Beth trained to become missionary team hosts. In this role, they will be traveling to the DR with mission teams and hosting the teams while they’re in country. “We’re there as a help,” Rob said, of this new role. “We’re there to answer questions, to support... we’re a servant.” They'll be serving visiting teams at New Missions in the Dominican Republic.

Beth’s hope for these teams is simple: “To experience the love of the people and to develop a relationship with them. To understand that adding churches and schools to the communities will impact the Dominican Republic people... and then to go home and be open to the opportunities of how to share God’s love.” 

Rob agreed. “Come with an open mind an open heart,” he said. “Let’s just see what God does... let’s see where God shows up.”

This approach to missions is also how the couple approaches their walk with God. “I believe as we walk with God he opens doors on where to serve,” Beth explained. “And by serving we are showing others God’s love.” 

Doors upon doors have definitely opened for Rob and Beth to serve in the DR. Rob estimates that he and Beth have spent a total of 40 to 45 weeks in that country since their first trip in 2008. With all of these trips completed, the couple could create a slideshow of pictures--the same kind of slideshow that inspired Rob’s passion for missions as a child. Now, Rob is fulfilling that childhood dream alongside Beth, and together they are impacting the lives of many through New Missions. ~Sammie Bennett

Listen to this interview on the New Missions Podcast.