Serving God in The Dominican Republic

For those of you who didn’t know, last week I had the opportunity to minister with a group of women from our church in The Dominican Republic. Although I’ve done mission work in the states, this was my first international experience. I’ve wanted to write about my trip this whole week, but to be honest I had to take a little time to let it all set in. Last week I felt God use me in a way unlike I’ve ever been used. I felt at home, and had an unbelievable sense of peace. I felt I truly made a difference in the lives of His children. So this week as I’ve sat in my Austin apartment, packing for the one millionth time, I’ve spent a lot of time questioning what it is we are to do next. I know He will show us in due time, but I might have just a little patience problem. :) Okay, back to my trip . . .

Our church helps support Makarios, a ministry that focuses on educational development in the DR and Haiti. Initially Makarios taught school in the Haitian villages (called bateyes), but in August they finished building their first “real” school, and the kids now come there to learn. We mostly worked in the school, but also did a little bit of work in the bateyes and some work on the Makarios farm. At first I thought I’d write a little bit about each day, but then realized that this post would be WAY too long. Instead I’ll try to hit some of my highlights in chronological order.

1st highlight -- Church Sunday morning! Although the service was entirely in Spanish (and - I do NOT speak Spanish – only the little bit that I remember from high school), it was breathtaking to watch them praise and worship the same God I praise and worship. Most of the service I found myself in tears just watching them on their face before the Lord. It was truly a gift!!

2nd highlight -- The children!!! I know this is broad, but I really did love each and every one of them. I knew before I went that this would be my favorite part, and Will told me several times to make sure I did not bring a child home in my suitcase. :) Each morning when we arrived at school there would be a sea of beautiful children waiting for us to get out of the guagua (our van). As soon as we stepped out a child, or two, would take your hand as if to lay claim that you were theirs for the day. We would sing praise songs with them (some even in English), help them with their class work, and play with them at recess. There are 3 different groups of kids that come throughout the day, and I had more than a handful I felt I really connected with. I loved waking up each morning knowing I was going to see them and spend the day with them. They were all so genuine, and so full of joy. I told Will that of course the poverty in the DR was obvious, but that is not what I saw. I saw more joy than I have seen in a long time. Despite their physical circumstances, those children were thankful for EVERY thing God has given them. I’ve never seen smiles like those, and I pray they are smiles I will never forget. I will have to admit that it was VERY hard for me to leave them. One little boy, Igamo, came up to me the last day because he had heard through another we were leaving. He so sweetly asked me if I was going back to my home, I started BALLING!! The look in his eyes was so sweet, I knew he understood I was only there for a short time and would have to go home eventually, but I just couldn’t bear to leave him. I felt we had come so far in such a short time, and I knew I would miss his amazing hugs and sweet, sweet spirit!










This one is after dominating "Red light, Green light"

3rd highlight -- The Dominican women! Our group had a very unique experience with some of the mothers. We decided we would plan a little time to invite them to school after the kids had gone. Our church has a card ministry, and they had pre-cut all the materials for us to make cards with the women. On Tuesday afternoon we had about 12-15 mothers come to spend time with us. It was awesome!! They loved making the cards, and loved that for the first time a group had reached out to them. The teachers (mostly missionaries from Austin who are around my age) also thought it was a great experience and were excited the mothers had the chance to have loved poured into them. BIG highlight – I got invited into one of their homes. This was such a treasure!! After we finished card making I walked to her home. Four generations in the same house!! As I knocked on the door everyone stood up and welcomed me. You would’ve thought I was someone famous. They gave me their chair, made sure their fan was pointed straight on me, and offered me a glass of water. We sat and visited (you would be impressed with the amount of Spanish God brought back to my memory) for a little while before I had to make my way back to the school. It was so neat to experience. They have NOTHING by our standards, yet were so enthusiastic about sharing their home with me. I went back the next day and took a couple of women from our group – it was the very same experience, although this time they sat on the dirt floor so that we could have all of their chairs. Too precious!!

4th highlight -- The Guagua Fire! Remember that the guagua was our source of transportation? Well – it kind of caught on fire Wednesday afternoon! It really was devastating because now the ministry will have to raise money to purchase a new one - - but it was a highlight to see God’s hand even in this. It had been worked on that day because it had some electrical problems. Obviously it wasn’t properly fixed because it was the electrical which caused it to ignite. Each day when we came home the guagua was parked in the carport (which is directly underneath the house). But Wednesday Garrett happened to park it on the street because Ann happened to block the entrance with the truck. After we unloaded Garrett went inside to get the truck keys, and when he walked back out the guagua was on fire!! He put a cinder block under the front tire so it wouldn’t roll down the street (the house is at the top of a hill), but the guagua magically turned itself on and drove over the block. There is an old car that has been sitting in front of the house for a year; they just happened to keep forgetting to have it hauled off. Well, that car stopped the guagua from barreling down the street while being totally engulfed in flames. Then Garrett decides to get in the flaming guagua and turn the steering wheel so that he could steer the guagua into the only vacant lot on the entire street, which happened to be right next to our house (maybe not a smart move at the time, but he wanted to get it away from our house). Then the fire department got lost and took FOREVER to arrive, but the guagua just happened to never blow up. In the end the fire was put out and no one was hurt, but you can tell by all the “happenings” that it was God’s hand that the fire played out like it did. Oh, and another miracle, that we weren’t IN the guagua when it caught fire. Praise God!!

That's our house in background.

There are a MILLION other things I could write, but this is good for now. Thanks again to all of you who prayed for this trip. It was amazing to see His hand in so much. I can’t wait until He calls me back to serve there again . . . but this time with Will!!