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!