Las Buenas Obras de Angelita (Angelita’s Good Works)

The Salvation Army had been unable to establish its mission in the Dominican Republic—until a soldier from Queens Temple, New York, answered a calling especially for her.

The Spanish word obra can have different meanings. An obra can be a work of art or a performance (una obra de arte), or someone’s collected finished works (las obras completas de Shakespeare). Obra also refers to the creation of a new home or building (una obra en construcción). In the Bible, there are references to the buenas obras, or the good deeds, done by King David, Ruth, the Good Samaritan, and others.

When Salvation Army soldier Angelita Rosario talks about the time she spent establishing the first true presence of The Salvation Army in the Dominican Republic, she calls it “la obra.” Not her obra, but rather that of the Lord working through her and The Salvation Army. Nonetheless, Angelita deserves credit for her part in the Army’s obra there, in all its definitions. Like the best art, it brought inspiration to the communities she served. Corps buildings and even a school were created through her and her family’s efforts. Her finished works are still seen today in the thriving ministries of The Salvation Army in the Dominican Republic.

Porque somos hechura de Dios, creados en Cristo Jesús para buenas obras, las cuales Dios dispuso de antemano a fin de que las pongamos en práctica.

—Efesios 2:10

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

—Ephesians 2:10

“When this was proposed to me, I was shocked,” says Angelita, now retired. “Officers from Jamaica and the Caribbean had tried to start a ministry in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. But they had not been able to make it work.”

She still had family in the Dominican Republic but had lived in the United States for decades.

“And although I started attending the Queens Temple Corps before I even understood English, I had only been a soldier for about three years. I didn’t know anything at all about running a church, much less starting one.”

A flag and a calling

Majors Angelo and Antonietta Rosamilia, officers at Queens Temple Corps in the early 1990s, knew that Angelita Rosario would often return to visit her home country. She’d told them that, while there, she went to a local Catholic church to keep her personal connection with Christ.

“I would have walked through a storm just to pray in front of an altar,” recalls Angelita. “But there were no Salvation Army corps there for me to attend.”

“You could start one,” the Rosamilias suggested.

“Angelita had been a part of Queens Temple for so long. My husband and I saw that she had the ability to serve in her own way and answer her own call from God,” says Major Antonietta Rosamilia. “Even if that calling was one that an officer would usually answer.”

“My duties at Queens Temple were mostly cooking and cleaning the bathrooms,” says Angelita. “I always thought there was more I could do for The Salvation Army, but never anything like this. And if it had been hard for officers, how could a soldier do it?”

Despite her personal doubts, Angelita wanted to see The Salvation Army in her home country. She prepared before her official start, including taking a trip to visit The Salvation Army in Jamaica for lessons in running a corps. These sessions are usually three months long; Angelita was able to complete them in one month.

The Rosamilias prepared Angelita with the supplies that she would need for her ministry abroad, including one very special item: a Salvation Army flag, which was blessed and prayed over by the whole Queens Temple congregation.

Prayers for the people

In early 1994, the Dominican Republic was in the middle of a chaotic national election season, with accusations of pre-election fraud, weaponized racial fear, and threats of violence in major cities.

“One of the first things I did was host people at my home. Everyone I met was nervous and scared about what could happen due to the elections. Together, we prayed for our country, its people, and its leaders,” remembers Angelita.

(Above) “People were always coming to eat and pray,” says Angelita. “Some also asked if they could take food home to their loved ones.” (Below) “People were always coming to eat and pray,” says Angelita. “Some also asked if they could take food home to their loved ones.”

Angelita’s ministry relied on the Army’s oldest and most well-known traditions, such as singing in the streets, visiting the sick, and feeding the community. Every day, more and more people joined her. Together, they walked to visit their neighbors, prayed with them, and shared information about the new church that had arrived.

“In Hispanic countries, if you mention that you want to feed others, they are going to show up,” says Angelita. “About 50 people were coming to the soup kitchen in my home, but we always had to make enough for more, because many of them came from large families and asked to take food home to them.”

In six months, there were 35 people and their families coming to Angelita’s house to worship, learn more about The Salvation Army, and accept Christ as their savior. Major Angelo Rosamilia sent officers from Jamaica and the United States to train the new Salvationists to be soldiers. With these graduated soldiers and a new rented space, the first corps in the Dominican Republic was established in Cotuí, one of the oldest cities in the Western Hemisphere.

“From there, it was decided that the Dominican Republic would work with Jamaica to train cadets, because there were soldiers who wanted to become officers,” says Angelita. After two years of hard work, she returned to the United States.

School days

In the years that followed, new Dominican corps, an officer training college, and even an elementary school for children were in the plans by Salvationists on the island. Angelita continued to support the ministry she had helped create, traveling to Puerto Rico to meet with officers who were connected to the Dominican Republic. But in 1999, she once again answered a call in Cotuí.

“The officers were having trouble getting their elementary school operating,” says Angelita. “There was already a building set by the Cotuí Corps, but they needed someone to run the school.”

This time, there was no month of training for Angelita. She had to find an administrative staff and teachers for kinder­garten through the fourth grade. Jamaica and Puerto Rico again helped with supplies, and Angelita became the principal of the Colegio Cristiano Ejército de Salvación.

“I had to make decisions that I never thought I would be making and meeting with the local school board and the super­intendent in Cotuí. They were very helpful in showing me the process of making the school official, and integrating it with the Cotuí Corps. They knew that I was doing this work in the name of The Salvation Army and the Lord,” says Angelita. “Even my teenage son Christian worked as both the school’s janitor and its English teacher. He taught English lessons with an old encyclopedia.”

For Angelita, the role of principal was another obra done in His name. Though it was new work for her, it was still ministry, which she knew well. She engaged the community not just through the children who came to the school but also their parents and new families who had made the Cotuí Corps their church.

“I remember meeting a couple who saw our school and mentioned how much they wanted to start a family. We prayed together, and I shared the story of Ana, the woman who dedicated her life to worship, immediately recognizing baby Jesus in the Temple as the Messiah. Sometime later, the couple became pregnant. We were all overjoyed.”

In 2006, Angelita returned to the United States. The Colegio Cristiano Ejército de Salvación was thriving in the community, educating children and hosting fundraisers to keep it operating. For a second time, Angelita had answered the call to serve.

A commitment with God

In 2015, a retired Angelita Rosario was attending the Schenectady Corps in upstate New York. The corps’ pastor, Major Mike Himes, asked Angelita for help starting a ministry for the growing Spanish-speaking population in Schenectady.

“Majors Mike and Cathy Himes were so kind, and I could see they wanted a ministry to serve the Hispanic community. And I still wanted to be part of the obra, but I couldn’t do it alone,” says Angelita. “Christian agreed to help me again.”

Together, they planned out what a successful Hispanic outreach in Schenectady would look like. For it to grow like Angelita’s past obras, it had to be more than simply Spanish-language sermons on Sunday.

“We took the time to speak with Hispanic families about what they needed from their Salvation Army corps. We learned that it wasn’t only food or spiritual guidance but also counseling to deal with personal issues in their lives, such as having a loved one in jail,” says Angelita.

Angelita (second from right) welcomes new soldiers.

Thanks to the efforts of Angelita and Christian, over 40 new members began coming to the Spanish-language Sunday service and programs at the Schenectady Corps. She had done it twice before in Cotuí, and she’d done it again.

“It wasn’t easy, but that’s how the Lord works. He brings the challenges to us,” says Angelita. “My kids say that I’ve given three or four times as much as was expected to The Salvation Army. But I don’t see it that way. All the obras were me entering a commitment with God, even when I didn’t think I was experienced or strong enough.”

We aren’t all called to serve in a different country, or to take up a new, unexpected career. But there are challenges in our lives that can make us feel greatly, almost dangerously, unprepared. Angelita’s ministries in the Dominican Republic and New York are a reminder to anyone who goes into a task unsure of their own skills or abilities. We must never forget that our efforts see success only through God, and even our most difficult obras can be accomplished, and thrive, when they are done in His name.

“Angelita is an example of how the Lord can work His obras through each of us, if we are willing to serve Him,” says Major Antonietta Rosamilia. “We all have the ability to be tools and instruments for good works in the hands of God.”