The Dominican Republic Free Methodist Church became a general conference in January 2001. The conference has three annual conferences, publishes its own adult Sunday school material, and sponsors more than 20 elementary schools, a lay leadership training institute and a university-level seminary. The church also oversees work in a nearby creative access country.
A Free Methodist layman, Samuel E. Mills, began the work in the Dominican Republic in 1889. He was the first missionary of any denomination to minister to the Spanish speaking population of the island. Seven years later he saw his first convert. The “evangelicals” were treated with contempt and some hostility for many years. Very early the need to educate converts was seen. Schools were established to assist in the training of pastors and to influence the community for Christ.
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