The past month has been crazy, partially because I MOVED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. Six hours away from the two towns that I call home in the Dominican Republic sits a much larger city called San Pedro de Macoris. After a couple of weeks of packing up all my belongings into boxes and suitcases, I now reside in the city. It's been a whirlwind of emotions that I can only explain using the word bittersweet. I'm hoping to blog a little more about the happenings of the past month or so, but until then, here's the story of what brought me to move to the other side of the island...
Way back in the spring of 2010,
Christine and I came across a ministry called DR Vision while attempting to find ministries who were working with women who were in oppressive situations or deciding to leave prostitution. DR Vision is a ministry that includes The Palms Christian School, a local church, a baseball ministry, a girls home, and a ministry for women at risk. We wanted to visit, but weren't able to with our work schedules. Other opportunities arose, I went on
The World Race, and then I moved back down to Monte Cristi to teach and be involved in the lives of the kids who grew up in the orphanages.
November 2012 :: Over two years later,
Christine and I found ourselves in San Pedro de Macoris, meeting with some people about the possibility of joining their ministry and visiting
Terrill. While there we ended up passing Las Palmas, the Christian school that is a part of DR Vision's ministry. We recognized the school from the website, immediately emailed them, and ended up at their church that night. It was absolutely incredible to be at the church and I went home extremely humbled by the way they all welcomed us in with open arms, asked us our stories, and invited us over to join them for dinner.
I left San Pedro the next day feeling so filled up and so grateful for meeting people who share my heart for the Lord and the Dominican. Over the next couple of months, I occasionally entertained thoughts of what it would be like to work alongside them, but it wasn't until I received an email from the director of the school that it seemed like that might actually become a reality.
Long story way short, I headed down to San Pedro in January to see the school and talk with the director. After a lot of prayer, I ended up accepting a position to teach middle school math and science next school year.
Though leaving Monte Cristi just about broke my heart in two pieces, I'm thrilled about the opportunity to work alongside people with such incredible hearts. I'm excited about being a part of a life-giving community, an amazing church, and a school whose vision is to invest in kids' lives and see them grow into leaders who love the Lord. I'm excited about unending opportunities to serve, about being closer to a lot of the kids who grew up in Monte Cristi/Jaibon but now live closer to San Pedro, and about spending time with the amazing people who I am blessed to share a house with.
So while the transition has been bitter, it has also been sweet. And I'm committed to remembering the Lord's goodness and His promises in the midst of it all.
His grace never ceases to amaze me.
At some point during many of my major life transitions as an adult, the Lord has reminded me of His promises and His faithfulness through rainbows. This picture was taken one of my last days in Monte Cristi before moving.
