Summer is here and it's hard to believe. The past month has been so full and has flown by so quickly. One of my favorite nights was a few weeks ago at the English Institute graduation. We have an English school in Monte Cristi that provides free English classes to middle school aged students. This past spring, our first group of students graduated after taking four years of classes. Yessica and Christopher, who live at the orphanage, both graduated with this first class. A lot of the older kids from the orphanage came to watch and we had so much fun. This night was so special for them and I was so glad to be a part of it. It felt like my little brother and sister were growing up!
Yenny, Nicol, Carolina, and I before the graduation.
Yessica!
Christopher and my roommate, Christine (you always will be!)
I loved spending this night with my Dominican family. The next Saturday, my roommate, Christine, left to head to her home in the U.S. It has been so weird without her here and I miss her a lot, but I somehow think we might end up living near each other again :) It isn't the same without you, sister! That same Saturday, a dear friend from college arrived here and it has been awesome to share life with her in the Dominican. That Saturday also started the summer Christian internship program and I can't tell you how amazing that has been! I love each and every one of the interns and am in awe of how God has worked so far.
The past couple of weeks we have done Bible camps at the orphanage, English Institute, and in the community. It has been wonderful to continue to build relationships with the Dominican people. My highlight from this past week was definitely "noche especial." Noche Especial happens twice a year and is a giant sleepover with all the girls from the orphanage. I don't have any pictures to put up right now, but it definitely goes down as one of my favorite nights here. It was full of games, good snacks, movies, tie dye, and lots of quality time with the loves of my life. I am so blessed.
Things have been busy, but oh so wonderful. I love the kids here more every day and am so grateful that the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to invest in them. I treasure each moment spent with the kids at the orphanage. It's honestly hard to ever think about leaving them when they have become such a huge part of my family. I just have this crazy Jesus-love for them that I can't explain.
AND, graystone comes tomorrow!!!! Tomorrow starts the week that the kids and I have been talking about for a really long time... when Georgia comes to the Dominican Republic! We can't wait to see ya'll TOMORROW :)
