new life...

Sometime last year, I got an awesome package from one of my sisters (shout out to you, Katie girl!). Inside, was this flower...

Ever since then, this flower always reminds me of God's promises of new life.... of His promises of rebirth and forgiveness... of His promises to restore His people, bringing the beauty of what He intended life to be. So even now, this precious reminder is twisted around the pole of my good ole' wooden bunkbed. And it reminds me of my soul... once dead, but now made so alive in Christ. God is so faithful and reminds me daily of His love and mercy and compassion and grace, both for me and for the world. I am still so humbled to be here... my eyes are constantly receiving glimpses of God's heart for His children, His heart for the nations, His heart for every person to know Him. And as I held Joanni tonight while she fell asleep, I just kept thinking that I hope this sweet little 5-year old will be overwhelmed by God's love, and one day fall in love with her Maker... and I hope that one day she too will be reminded of new life and the Father's restoration.

So I really can't imagine being anywhere else right now. I love the Dominican so much! The people here are so precious to me! And God reminds me all the time of how divine and perfect His plans and purposes are for our lives.

"As he says in Hosea: 'I will call them my people who are not my people; and I will call her my loved one who is not my loved one.'" Romans 9:25

AND... it's October! And I will be home in less than 2 weeks for Sara's wedding! Can't wait :)

summer is over and the dirt is swept away...

I am continually shocked by how quickly time seems to fly while I am here. When we woke up this morning, my roommate remarked, "Well, your summer is over." What she meant is that the last intern that spent part of the summer with me in Jaibon left this morning. (And I miss her sooo much already!) It's weird for me to think that there isn't anyone else here who experienced the orphanage in Jaibon like I did... who was a part of that amazing spiritual community... who knew those boys so well and watched them change and grow... who experienced a true since of the Lord's divine planning in each person that set foot in that place. Summer is over. That chapter is finished. And while those in the States have the approaching fall season- the cool weather... the changing of the leaves- to remind them of that, I see it in the ending of an internship program insanely blessed by the Lord. His hands were all over it and I saw Him moving so intricately and personally in His children. However, though that summer in Jaibon holds a very special place in my heart, I smile knowing that God's purposes for me here are only just beginning.

And as the seasons of OO change, I am excited for this next one. This morning Christine, my roommate, and I cleaned out our room. And by cleaned out, I mean literally cleaned junk OUT of our room. Living here, things get dirty real fast. Though we are blessed to have a room with concrete walls, a concrete roof, and screens over our windows, dust and dirt still manages to make its way in. So every couple weeks we pick up everything off the floor, sweep, and then "throw water." In the Dominican, you "throw water" to mop. They literally fill up huge buckets of soapy water and then throw it all over the floor. Then you grab a broom, starts scrubbing, and then sweep all the water out at the end. You usually end up throwing water several times before all the dirt is gone. It's sooo much fun! You end up slipping and sliding all around the room with water and bubbles floating everywhere! We also took of our window screens and cleaned out the windows today which we are pretty sure hasn't been done since the building was built a year and a half ago. We were scrubbing those windows forever. Half the time I was standing on a chair, just scratching off caked-on dirt with my rag and finger nail. It looked pretty gross, but it felt so good to be finally removing all that dirt off of our windows. And as I stood there picking the dirt out of the window frames, I couldn't help being reminded of my heart. So many times I forget the need of that clean up. Instead of continually begging God to purify my heart and make me new, I let my dirt and selfishness build up. My business became my dirt. Everything that I had to get done became something that built up dirt on my heart where God was given my pockets of time instead of my all. I was drained and longing for rest in my Love. The past few days I have felt God stripping me of myself and reminding me once again of my purpose in Him. His grace and love for me astound me. I cannot fathom the grace of my Father on a child so weak as me. That when I mess up, He still pursues me. That when He is not my first focus, He still loves me the same. That when I am blinded by my selfishness, He still continually blesses me. So this morning as I chipped the dirt off the windows, I begged God to do the same in my heart. That I would have a clean heart before Him that looks more like Jesus' every day. So I pray that even if it hurts, God continues to chip all the dirt out of my life.

As far as what's been going on here, we have been teaching for two weeks at the English Institute. I have loved getting to know the kids there! They are wonderful. I continue to love the kids here at the orphanage more each day. They have become family to me and hold a very special place in my heart. This week we have a group of 30 high schoolers coming in and we will be launching the first week of the literacy program at a local school. Heck yes! It should be a lot of fun! I love life here. When we drive through town to the Institute, I can't help but think that this feels like home. I don't feel like I'm on a trip or doing an internship somewhere for a few months... this is life. And I love it.

And for fun... You know you live in the D.R. if...
-there is chinola (passionfruit) growing on your laundry lines outside.
-you find turantulas, cockroaches, lizards and many other creatures in your room (or in your backpack!) on a daily basis.
-you find your English getting worse every day as you speak in Spanish or really simplified English.
-sometimes your students at the Institute let out some cuss words... but it's only because they are mispronouncing words in English.
-you get really excited about going to the Italian pizza place in town... and make bets as to who can eat the most pizza.
-you are considered on "team woops" if the OO tshirt you chose isn't the same color as someone else's that day.
-if you relate every weird thing you see back to the earthquake that happened a couple weeks ago.

Love and miss ya'll!

ahora...

And once again, I have failed to update my blog in while. So sorry!

So one question that I have been getting a lot lately is "What exactly are you doing now that summer is over?!" So I figured, why not answer that on my blog :)

This week is kind of the transition week between the summer and fall program with OO. Almost all of the kids have started school (some kids in the Dominican decide they just don't want to go to school the first week or so... and that is deemed acceptable) so we are no longer doing summer camps. At the beginning of the week we took suitcases full of school supplies out to all of the local schools. I loved those days. It was extremely humbling to give these schools the only school supplies they will receive. Orphanage Outreach also started an English Institute in town several years ago where we offer free English classes to 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Tomorrow is the beginning of registration for the Institute so we will be there all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday registering both new and old students. Starting Monday, I will be teaching all day Monday-Friday... God has a sense of humor I guess :) Haha, but I am so excited! I will be teaching Level 2 kids so they have already had one year of English at the Institute. Today we spent the whole day cleaning out the Institute and setting up our classrooms. I had a ton of fun! It's neat seeing that I am now using my four years of college education in my very own classroom. But I must say, I will never again take laminators, copiers, printers, paper cutters, cork boards, or any other school supply for granted! So from now on I will be teaching 6th graders English!

I am still living at the orphanage, so some evenings we have activities for the kids and other evenings we have some free time to just hang out with them or plan our lessons for the Institute. However, this week we also are starting a program for the five oldest kids at the orphanage to help prepare them for college. Leonel and Carolina will be graduating at the end of this school year and Kelvin, Cristofer, and Nicol have two years left. By the time they are ready to go to college, they have to pass a GED-type test. We are working with them 4 nights a week so we are also pouring a lot of time into that. Each of the leaders have a night where we specifically are in charge of teaching a lesson on a specific subject area. My subject is math, so on Tuesday nights, I teach math in Spanish :) Ha, that's definitely a bit of a challenge! But I love it!

In addition, I am also starting a literacy program this year for OO! The rate of illiteracy in the Dominican Republic is extremely high, so my long term focus for this year is starting a literacy program where we promote reading, teach reading, and provide a place where people can have access to books. We will also be involving groups and teams in this program in the spring where we will put on reading weeks (at an unknown location at this point :) ). Yeah literacy!

So... English teacher to kids that speak only Spanish, Math teacher in Spanish, and Literacy Program Director... it's gonna be a busy and fun year :)

Adios from the island full of beautiful sunsets, priceless smiles, dirts roads, loud roosters, palm trees, tons of ants, and an orphanage full of kids who have stolen my heart :)

noche especial :)

Like I said in my last blog, Noche Especial was Tuesday night! It was sooo much fun! Just picture... a floor covered with 30+ mattresses, pillows and beach balls everywhere, streamers hanging from the ceiling, a PINATA!, pin the tail on the whale :), the present game, lots of movies, snacks, and pillow fights... basically we had a HUGE slumber party with the 26 girls who live at the orphanage! It was sooo much fun! The kids here love and talk about it all year. When they got their invitations on Monday night, they freaked out! I left Noche Especial with a smile on my face from all the fun and with another piece of my heart stolen by these kids. I was completely humbled by them that night. I watched Carolina (she is 16 and the oldest of the girls at the orphanage) take care of all the younger girls... nobody told her to do that... she just does. She loves them and chooses to put their needs above hers. I have watched her grow up throughout the past three summers. She has a beautiful heart and I couldn't help but feeling so proud of her that night. I also saw Jesus in the heart of Indiana, a 9 year old girl who I have also watched grow up through the past three summers. After we did the piñata (they LOVED it, especially since candy is a big treat for them), we had to all walk back over to where we were having the sleepover. The boys (who are having theirs tonight!) wanted to come up sooo bad and they were all waiting at the bottom of the steps when we came back over. Indiana and I were the last to walk back over. We started walking up the stairs, but then she paused. I watched as she turned around, ran back down the stairs, and shared her candy with her brother. Then she proceeded to pass out her candy to all of the boys who were there. In that moment, I saw Jesus in her eyes. Eyes that were filled with joy from sharing her gift. I continue to be humbled by the sacrificial attitudes I see in the Dominican people. They have few material possessions, yet they still offer their best to others. I am reminded to live unselfishly, to love others more than myself, and to truly be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Yasmin rockin out lots of leis!

opportunity

Today I realized a lot of things.


For the past week I have really begun asking myself a lot of questions about opportunity. I am broken by the fact that I have been given so many opportunities, while others have been given none. Why have I always had clean water, while people here savor the one truck full of clean water that comes once a week (hopefully)? Why have I been given an outstanding education, while people here have never had anyone teach them how to read? Why do I own several Bibles, while a community here only has one to share... and most can't read it. Why did I grow up with people that loved me all around, when there are kids here who crave a simple hug? I could list a thousand more questions that are reeling through my mind. But the point is, my eyes have been continually opened to the fact that I have been blessed more than I have ever chosen to see. And yet, my heart hurts realizing how much I have horded those blessings. While my opportunities have been great, there are millions who have had few. And so, the biggest lesson I am being taught right now? That my responsibility is to spread that opportunity. People deserve a chance at a good education. People deserve clean water and clothes. People deserve food every day. And most importantly, people deserve to hear the Gospel. So as my journey continues, I will remember to constantly spread the opportunity.

Entonces, that is what has been going on in my head and I have been blessed with seeing it play it. The Lord is so faithful. One of my main focuses for the next year here is starting a literacy program in Monte Cristi. The education system in the Dominican Republic is the worst education system in the entire western hemisphere. Thus, literacy is a huge area for improvement because many people never really learned how to read in the first place. So this week is the start of the program with a "Reading Week" at the English Institute. I loved teaching my kids in the morning... who would have thought I would love teaching?! That's a whole different story :) But anyway, in the afternoon I got all the pre-teen/teenage girls full of attitude (I might be teaching their class this year which would be amazing! praying for it!). They are straight up disrespectful and do pretty much whatever they want whenever they want. It's easy for a lot of volunteers to get run over by them. So I was pumped when they all got put in my group because I just have this huge passion to invest in them and inspire change within them! I just want to see them grow, to see them enjoy learning, to know they can do it, to see the walls be broken that they have built up, to develop relationships with them... and for them to see Jesus! So today I was in shock because I saw that happening! God is just so good! I feel like I gained their respect. They were silent when others were reading aloud. They helped people pronounce words. They answered my questions. And they did their work. This may not seem like a big deal... but it was HUGE!!! One of the interns and I were talking about it and I kept saying, "It's just like 'Freedom Writers.'" Haha. It just makes me see such hope for them this year. So be praying that God divinely orchestrates the students that are in my English class this fall! It's gonna be good :)

AND tomorrow is "noche especial" for the girls at the orphanage... basically a huge sleepover with lots of movies, snacks, and games! LOVE IT!!!

a very special night :)

So I have been waiting for tonight to come for a very long time. Previously, the orphanage here has been one floor and has had the capacity to house 40-50 kids. Without adding on to the orphanage, there would have come a time when we would have had to turn kids away. However, about two years ago, work began to build a second floor on top of the orphanage. About two months ago, the building process was complete. When Graystone came down in June, they painted the inside, Dominican workers painted the outside, and Terry built custom cabinets for each of the boys. This past month, last minute work has been down to prepare the second floor to house all of the boys that are currently living at the orphanage. Tonight there was a ceremony, complete with the cutting of a ribbon to mark the completion of the orphanage. I cannot begin to tell you how exciting that was! The boys were all walking around with the keys to their new closets hanging around their necks :) The orphanage has essentially just doubled its capacity! It brought tears to my eyes to see the kids so excited and to see the progress over the past couple of years that I have been coming down here. And tonight, there are going to be some Dominican boys chattering happily as they fall asleep in their new rooms.

Leonel - sporting his new closet key!

Everyone eating dinner on the new roof after the dedication of the building.

the next beginning is here :)

So I realize that it has been foreverrrr since I have updated! So sorry! All summer I have thought that I have been busy, but it was really nothing in comparison to the past three weeks. So for now, I'm just going to give ya'll a little update on what I have been doing and later I'll blog what I've been thinking :)

So three weeks ago was the last week of all the 8-week interns. It was a busy fun-filled week which I talked a little bit about in my last blog. However, the last two nights of that week I could probably write pages about... but briefly, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart in incredible ways Thursday night and I was able to share my story of my journey with Jesus with an intern on Friday. Ask me about it and I will give you more details but it's a long story for this blog post :) it was awesome!!! Also, Friday night I had the privelege of giving another intern her first Bible. To see the pure joy on her face in that moment was priceless. I continue to be humbled daily at the gift it is to be a part of something so huge that is going on in the DR.

Saturday two groups joined us in Jaibon for our last week at that orphanage. One was a college campus ministry group and the other was a church group. I led the team as well as directed the programs along with the much-appreciated help of Monica :) It was a very special week that I had the privelege of leading. We did a camp in the morning at the orphanage and camps in the afternoon at two separate bateys (communities built around banana plantations). Both camps at the bateys were incredible and I wish I could share more about those right now as well. God continues to open my eyes to the way that the majority of the world lives and I am moved to inspire change in the way we live.

Last Saturday marked the closing of the chapter that was my summer. We spent the whole day packing everything up in Jaibon and making sure everything was clean and put away for us to leave. It was an extremely emotional day, especially for the boys who have never had a group of Americans stay the whole summer and then leave. They sat in a row of chairs the whole day and just watched us pack everything away. The whole time they just kept saying how sad they were and how they didn't want us to ever leave. Though volunteers will be moving back to Jaibon in the winter, my heart broke for these boys who were once again feeling the pain of someone in their lives leaving. Those feelings and those words are what motivate me to return. I can never see myself not coming back to these places and maintaining relationships with these kids. On a funny note, we were also reminded of what country we were in that afternoon and the fact that we must always be flexible :) We were supposed to be picked up around 3 in the afternoon by a bus coming from the airport to go to Monte Cristi. Well 4 o'clock rolled around and we were still waiting. Through some communication issues, we had been forgotten :) So a few phonecalls later, most of the interns decided to be picked up by another bus to go pick up new volunteers at the airport and Monica and I decided to be picked up by a taxi bus at 8 that was driving through Jaibon... oh DR creativity :) ha! Not to mention, that the lovely ladies that cook for us made us dinner in thirty minutes out of relatively nothing since all the food had already been packed and taken to Monte Cristi! Love it! So about 9 Saturday night I finally made it to my new home at the Monte Cristi orphanage :)

This past week we had a health group and some health-focused individuals so we did a health camp at the orphanage and in a batey. It was the first health camp that we have ever done and I loved being a part of that program. We taught basic health lessons such as dental hygiene, personal hygience, nutrition, and exercise. Concepts that are well-known in the States have never been taught here so it was a much needed camp. We also had some audiologists here that made hearing aids for people at the bateys who had never been able to hear well! The smiles on their faces were filled with more joy than I have seen in a long time. This week was long and equally as busy as the previous two so I was definitely glad for this Saturday to come. I have not had a couple hours to myself in atleast three weeks so today was definitely much appreciated. Though I needed the rest and rejuvenation, today held a sad note to it as well. Monica, who flew down with me my first day here this summer left this morning. It was sad to see the last person who was with me in the beginning leave. Also, I feel as if the Lord has specifically placed people in my life throughout this summer that have understood my heart and had the same passions and dreams that I do. Three specific girls have been here throughout my summer that I know the Lord divinely crossed my paths with. There has always been someone that the Lord has provided for me to share my soul with. Today when the last of them left and I knew there were no interns coming in, it was pretty rough (don't get me wrong, there are still great people here that I love very much... it's just that I miss those kindred spirits). However, I know that God is faithful and is going to bring others when I least expect it. I actually have already seen the loving way that God is doing that. I was writing in my prayer journal this morning and asked that God would bring someone yet again to fill that role of a friend that understands my heart for the Lord and how I desire to live my life for Him. This afternoon I was sitting talking with some of the kids that live at the orphanage and someone came in to visit the kids that had been here last year. I knew who she was but had never been at the same location as her... however, we started talking and ended up chatting for a couple hours about life... finding that we have similar hopes and dreams for living and spreading the Gospel of our Savior. It was such a blessing and I walked away from that conversation praising God for placing her in my path even if it was just for that one conversation that took place today. God is sooooo good!

So that wraps up the past three weeks on a very surface level :) More new volunteers came today and we are doing two health camps again next week. I am loving life here and excited for what is to come in the next year! Oh, and did I meantion that I am starting a literacy program in Monte Cristi for the community?!? I am SO pumped! More about that soon as well :) I love and miss you all more than you even know! Te quiero :)