An end and another new beginning :)

It has been a while since I have posted an update... things have been just a tad bit busy :) Last week we did camp in the afternoon at a local church. It was probably my most favorite camp of the summer! I felt like I was looking into the face of Jesus through those precious children. The last day I spent most of the afternoon holding a two month old baby girl. That alone would have made my week :) But God had other little blessings in store for us. Wednesday afternoon the pastor invited us over to her house for cokes and crackers. In the DR we have to be careful with EVERYTHING we eat outside of the orphanage because of parasites. When we got to her house she had the cokes in glasses with ice already in them. Ice is something that we are constantly aware of because it could be made with bad water. After talking with her about the cokes and ice, she assured us that they were fine for us to drink. I sat back down with the interns, spoke a disclaimer about drinking at your own risk and proceeded to drink my glass of coke :) Some drank theirs, others didn't and we went home joking that the next day there would only be five interns who weren't sick to run the camp. Though suspicious of getting sick, most of us agreed we would rather be sick then to turn down the hospitality this woman was showing us. We thought that that was an amazing gift, but the next day she invited us over to her house once again for cokes and crackers. This time, however, the cokes were still in sealed bottles (they had been sitting in ice so they were already cold) and the crackers were still wrapped. This may seem meaningless to some, but the fact that she took the time to show us that we wouldn't be getting sick was one of the most humbling acts I have ever seen. I saw the beauty of hospitality and Jesus shining through this woman who was using her precious resources to buy cokes and crackers for 15 Americans... twice. We were overwhelmed by her gift to us and left that day overwhelmed by the sacrificial heart of the Dominicans who are living in poverty, yet still giving all they have to us.

We spent Friday at the mangroves in Monte Cristi. Mangroves are one of two kinds of trees that grow in salt water. We celebrated Morgan's birthday by watching the sunset on a pier and eating at a local pizza place.

Rachel, Page, Morgan and me at the mangroves!

We spent the weekend planning and preparing for the Olympics that we started with the boys that live at the orphanage on Sunday afternoon. We broke them into 4 teams and they have been competing in different games all week long. It has been so much fun! Tonight when we announce the winners, we have a medal stand and a festival afterwards to celebrate. The boys' favorite thing we have done all summer was a festival that we are recreating tonight. Yesterday we got to take the boys to the beach for the first time! It was so much fun seeing their faces and watching them sprint out of the bus and jump in the water. These boys have become so precious in my heart.

Alex at the beach!

Part of me has not wanted this week to come all summer. Saturday is the end of the official summer internship/Bible camps program. The interns that have been here the whole summer are leaving on Saturday. I will be so sad to see them go, yet at the same time, I can't wait to hear all of the stories about how they are changing the world back home. I have been so humbled and blessed to be able to see people's lives changed here. I have been given the gift of investing in girls and seeing their whole world change. They have fallen more in love with Jesus and that is everything I have prayed for. God is so faithful! Also, this week ending means that I move to Monte Cristi in 1 WEEK!! How crazy is that?!? I am so excited to be with those kids over there that have become my family!

One major prayer request I have is for a little boy named Danis. Danis is 11 and just got to the orphanage last night. His 4 younger brothers and sisters still live with his mom in another city. I think it's sometimes hard for us to grasp the concept of why some children stay in their homes and others get placed in orphanages because this never really happens in America. This morning I heard crying from up in my room so I walked down and found Danis sitting on a curb sobbing. I sat down next to him, rubbing his back, crying with him, and praying that God would bring him peace and show him love. Danis misses his family like crazy. Please pray that he would feel the Father's love in unexplainable ways and that he would develop strong relationships with the other boys at the orphanage. Through interactions with Danis, I saw glimpses of Jesus in Jose today. Jose is 12 and also lives at the orphanage. Some of us talked to Jose about how Danis needed a friend right now because he was sad. Not really knowing what to say, but wanting to help, Jose walked up to Danis and asked him to play a game with him. Jose sat patiently with Danis and simply taught him how to play a new game. The smiles on Danis' face were priceless. Seeing Jesus in 12 year old Jose brings me cold chills. These boys here have such a genuine childlike faith that makes me fall more in love with my Savior each day.


Sorry this was so long... guess I should update more often :) I love ya'll tons and miss you mucho!



This is Coral and Joanni... two of the girls that live in the orphanage in Monte Cristi! Living life there sooooooon :)

Sweet Ashley :)

We found out today that this precious little baby is available for adoption. This is Ashley and she lives at the orphanage in Monte Cristi. She is three years old and absolutely adorable! We really want her to be placed in a good home with a great family so if you or anyone you know is interested in adoption, let me know! Ashley is amazing! The link below her picture gives a little more information :)

http://www.orphanage-outreach.org/datafiles/adopt_ashley.pdf

This past week...

So this past week has gone by so incredibly fast... probably because we were so busy! Last week we did camp for 100 kids with only 9 people. That was an adventure to say the least... but it went very smoothly!

Friday we went to DaJabon (the Dominican/Hatian border), went to eat at a restaurant, went to see the kids in Monte Cristi (yesss!), and went to the beach. It was such a good break day and I needed to see those kids in Monte Cristi more than I knew. They are like my family here and I treasure moments I get to spend with them. Friday afternoon, our volunteer (Chris) that was sick got to come back from the clinic. Praise the Lord! He travelled home Saturday and made it there safe and sound :)

Saturday was a rest day at the orphanage in Jaibon so that was nice to get caught up some things. However, Saturday night we sent another intern to the clinic because he stepped on a nail that went through his tennis shoe and into his foot. Yikes! Some cleaning out of the wound and one tetnus shot later and he was back at the orphanage with us.

We had five new interns join us this weekend. It is so excited to get to know new people and have fresh energy in the group. It was exciting because our group had gotten pretty small. Yesterday we had an orientation and planning day and today was the start of camp. We are doing camp at a little church about 5 minutes away this week. Today we had about 80 kids. It was tons of fun!

I continue to feel completely humbled to be here. The Lord is good and I continually see His vision for my life unfold here. I love and miss ya'll mucho!

And for fun.... You know you live in the Dominican if...
-a chicken runs around your room clucking like crazy and refusing to leave.
-a chicken lays eggs on your suitcase... breakfast anyone?!
-You get cold when it's 80 degrees outside.
-Your English gets progressively worse.
-You get excited about finding big turantula holes.
-You refer to going to bed as "I'm going to get inside my mosquito net."
-You think that Dino cookies (cardboard-ish cookies with icing) are the best dessert to ever exist.

Life here is the best! Love it!

Glimpses of Heaven...

So recently I have been thinking about Heaven and the fact that I can't even possibly comprehend how awesome it's going to be... to sit at the feet of my Savior and be able to talk to Him face to face. And as excited as I am for that, God has been reminding me that I can see Heaven right here on earth. Each day here, I see God's face... whether that's through creation or through a smile or through a conversation. I feel and see the Spirit working all around me. The other night I was walking with a bunch of boys to go play capture the flag and this sunset is what painted the sky. I felt God screaming out my name and His love for me. Just one little glimpse of what Heaven must be like.

Last night I was sitting on a concrete slab under the stars in a circle full of American college kids and Dominican boys. As we sat there playing the guitar and singing worship songs, I couldn't help but find myself thinking that Heaven must look a little like this. A group full of people... all ages... all cultures... sitting under a sky full of stars... worshipping the Father through songs. Though we spoke different languages, it didn't matter in the moment. All that mattered was praising God. And in that moment, I saw a glimpse of Heaven.

I am constantly reminded that we can continually see Heaven on earth... through learning to live more and more like Jesus each day. So for now, I'm praying we can all look more like our Savior, that the world may begin to see glimpses of Heaven. I love you all and am praying for you!

**Please pray for Chris. Chris is here for two weeks, but has had to stay at an emergency clinic the past two nights because he has a parasite. He is leaving this Saturday to travel back home. Pray he recovers quickly and can come back tomorrow and that he is feeling well enough to travel home on Saturday. Right now he is severly dehydrated and still has the parasite.

Because I miss you...

Ahh! Amanda, come back! This picture makes my heart happy... our two loves! That just so happen to be hermanos :) I miss you more than you know sister! Te quiero :)

Hola!

Hola from the island! It seems crazy that I have been here for five weeks… sometimes it feels as though it has only been five days. The weeks fly by here and sometimes I think it goes by just a little too fast. This week we did a Bible/English camp at a church about 20 minutes away from the orphanage. I love camp in the Dominican! Inevitably, you will start out camp the first day with around 20 kids; however, by the next day somehow well over 100 kids have heard the news and showed up. So this week we had 12 volunteers including myself and John, providing a camp for around 130 kids! It was amazing! There was so much energy, but the kids were so well behaved at the same time. I was impressed with how all of the interns jumped right in and made accommodations so that all 130 kids could stay at camp. AND, I think I sang the “Banana” song about 5 billion times this week! Who knew a silly American song could get Dominican kids (and adults!) so excited?! In the mornings here we did work projects and activities for the 22 boys that live here at the orphanage with us. I am enjoying quality time with them and being able to really invest in them. Today we had a picnic at a beach to celebrate the 4th of July. We went to one of my favorite beaches in the Dominican… it was beautiful!

This week was definitely an adjustment after half of the team went home last weekend. I have missed people like crazy this week! But God knows how much we can handle. My friend, Amanda, changed her plane ticket a while back to stay an extra week. I can’t help but think that God knew I would need her here this week. It was awesome to be able to spend her last week here just continuing to share our passion for the Lord. She left at 4 this morning and I miss her already. However, I am overwhelmed by the fact that God has big plans for her and this is all part of the journey. So I am resting in that and trusting that God will always provide people for me to share my heart with.

I also feel like God has used this week to remind of the need for change, to continue to awaken the desire in my heart to love greatly and live out the Gospel. My life is all about the Kingdom. I am falling more in love with God each day. I am overwhelmed by the way He so personally and intricately works. This week I read a prayer that I had wrote the day I got here… it simply said “change me, mold me, break me. please.” I read those words and see the Lord answering that prayer daily. I see Him breaking me, but restoring me… all for the sake of looking more like Christ. I see my heart being changed and molded and transformed to be the way God intended it to be. I see Shalom everywhere around me. I am reminded that I can’t settle for the world expects from me. I want to live freely and loudly for Jesus. This year here is changing me already more than I could have ever expected. Each moment of each day is an opportunity for the Spirit to work through me to touch people’s hearts. I love my “job.” If you can even call it that. It’s funny because I seem to never be able to get away from the question, “What are you going to do next?” In my mind, “next” is a long way away, but nevertheless, the question seems to come up all the time. And as always, who knows! But I am finding beauty in the unknown. The unknown of where I will be living in the Dominican this year, the unknown of where we will be doing camp next month, the unknown of who will be here when all the interns leave, the unknown of where I will be next August. I am learning what it truly means to live each moment for the Lord and not worry about where He takes me next. I am reminded by my friends here (shout out to 2P!) to dream big, to live freely, and to forsake all for the Gospel. So all I know is that I will always be chasing after the One who knows all… wherever He may lead. And I am excited!

I love and miss ya’ll tons!

“With our hearts burning for God, we would move forward with the freedom to pursue the passions burning within us.”
-The Barbarian Way

The beach we went to today! Beautiful!