Week two of camp

Today I killed a snake. Well I chopped a snake in half with a broom and we had to get a boy to crush its head. I heard Nadelli screaming so I ran outside to see her throwing rocks at the ground after asking her what she was doing she pointed to a snake slithering around on the ground. I had been told that there were no poisonous animals on this island but Nadelli told me the snake could kill and I didn't need to be convinced anymore so I grabbed the broom and hit the snake in between Nadelli's throwing of chunks of cinderblock. It began to climb into a little hole at which point I started hitting it harder and eventually severed part of its body. Nadelli then took off to find a boy to crush the head of the snake. She soon came back with one of the boys who live here as security and a baseball bat. The whole while Alba was hiding in her room watching from the window. The boy pulled the snake out of the hole as Nadelli quoted Genisis 3 about crushing the head of the snake and screaming. After a couple tries the boy crushed its head with the broom stick. It was a fantastic welcome home after camp.
The second week of camp was completely different from the first as we were dealing with older girls but it was wonderful. This camp I really connected with the girls in my cabin. We shared the Gospel with them daily and God gave us many opportunities to build into the lives of the young believers although none of the girls in my cabin accepted Christ there was a definite openness and changes in the lives of all the girls believers and unbelievers. Tonight at youth group all but one of the unbelievers were in attendance. Be praying that these girls come to know Christ. Also be praying for the young believers that they could have someone to guide them and disciple them. We talked a lot about salvation and that it's not just some prayer you say so you don't go to hell it's a decision to give your life completely to Him because you are a sinful person in need of Christ and His love. The Gospel is preached so much here but many times people say a prayer out of fear and after a while we find out they really weren't saved and they really didn't understand God's love. We had the chance to speak about what it really means to be a Christian.
In the evenings we also had our big group gatherings in which the Gospel was shared and we did dramas and sang. In one of the dramas I was Hannah Montanna and it was hilarious. I had two body guards wearing sunglasses and raincoats with ear pieces and salami as guns. The girls went crazy screaming and everything. It was a lot of fun. We had a family from the States who are originally from here and the mother spoke for two of the evenings. She did a really good job speaking about self-esteem and having an identity in Christ and then about purity and leaving behind the pleasures of this world and having Christ guarding us from the nastiness of this world.
This week I was the Romans coach and I really enjoyed it. It was great to see the captain and how she has really grown and become a really good leader. I also saw fantastic teamwork and putting others before themselves which last year was very minimal, but the girls are growing and God is working.
I came back with some fantastic wounds as well. I have a bruise on my leg from falling while playing freeze tag the length from the tip of my thumb to the tip of my pinky. I also have a cut on my foot from falling while playing basketball in the rain. It's not that big of a cut but in the middle of the game I was surrounded by twenty girls who lifted me up off the ground and carried my into a massive mud pit, then I went to the river which was dirty because it was raining to get some of the mud out of my clothes and my hair. As a result the little cut on my foot became very infected and is very swollen. I'm taking some antibiotics and cleaning it daily so hopefully it will get better soon.
I go back to the states on Wednesday and I'm glad to be going home and seeing everyone there but it's going to be hard to leave.

Camp week one

I have spent this past week in wet tennis shoes with fifty 8-12 year old girls and whatever other Dominican wildlife there is(rats, lizards, tarantulas, etc) bathing in river water which has its distinct odor or the rain. The things that were wet at the beginning of the week are still wet because of the consistent rain and lack of sun. With all that this week of camp was absolutely fantastic.
I was a counselor in cabin 5 which is the cabin with the oldest girls at camp. We spent a lot of time laughing and enjoying ourselves and by the end of camp almost all of them were saying they didn't want to go home and there were even a few tears involved. I was surprised by that because so many of them were daily complaining about being sore from the previous day's activities and being tired.
For three days straight it rained throughout the entire day. It made it a bit more difficult to do our activities and we had to do some creative changes like switching the afternoon competition from softball to hockey inside the cafeteria with benches making the sides of the court and using the top of a five gallon water jug as the puck. We also spent part of that day having an arm wrestling tournament. It turned out to be one of the best days.
With all the rain it was also really cold (mid-seventies) but I was really happy I had brought my sweatshirts because I wore them daily or at least nightly. In thw nights we had all the campers together for some singing and Bible time and dramas, one of which included me pretending to have lice and having butter put into my hair as the "cure." I would say that I will never do that again but we're doing the same skit this next week, but at least I know when we will me doing it so I don't have freshly washed hair destroyed by butter.
In each of these nights the Gospel was presented. We also had devotionals during the daytime that also had a clear Gospel message and throughout the day we were giving many opportunities of teachable moments. One afternoon after lunch during rest time one of the girls in my cabin who is a Christian came up to me and said "Bethany Glenys wants to become a Christian so I told her to go talk with Juana but she's scared and wants to talk to you" so i called her over and I was a little nervous because I wanted to clearly explain what her decision meant and make sure that she understood but my Spanish isn't perfect, but I was reminded that God is not restricted by me or my knowledge. I prayed with Glenys and she accepted Christ into her heart. We went and talked to Juana to tell her what had happened and get Glenys a Bible. Seeing this happen was huge because most of the time I didn't think any of the girls in my cabin were even hearing what was being said in the nights, the teachable moments or in devotional time, but God was working and He still is. Be praying for Glenys that someone will come alongside her and disciple her and also for the other girls who heard the Gospel.
Camp was definitely exhausting and difficult even getting back to town was difficult as we had to send the cabins one by one to cross the river since it was so high from the rains that the bus couldn't get through. In the end everything worked out and there is no place I would have rather been.
Tomorrow starts our second week of camp with the older girls and I'm hoping to get some sleep today so I can be well rested for that. Be praying for the kids that will be coming that they will have open hearts and also that the rain would hold off for a while and that if it doesn't that we would have rejoicing hearts in all we do.

Two months

It seems crazy to believe that I have been here for almost two months. It's really exciting as I'm seeing relationships grow and different changes in different kids that are clearly a testimony of God's work in their lives.
This past week has been yet another busy one. A friend of Rebekah's came down for a visit which meant increased activities. On Wednesday we took a trip out to a waterfall to do some swimming only it had been raining nearly everyday so the water was pretty high and pretty dirty which caused some of the Dominicans with us to stay out of the water, but those of us that entered had a great time getting cooled off in the water.
On Thursday we decided to go into the colonial part of the Capitol and spend some time learning about history since Rebekah's friend is a history teacher. We ended up getting a late start so by the time we got there things were starting to close but we got to spend some time in an old fortress and weapons museum there.
On Friday the interns and I headed out to the orphanage to make playdoh with the kids. It was the first any of them had done this so we first had to explain that we weren't making food but playdoh and then the kids were amazed at how it all came together and then had fun playing with it.
Saturday was one of my favorite experiences I have had here because we got to take all the kids from the orphanage who were graduating from eighth grade or high school to Jarabacoa to go rafting. This was the first time any of them had done this and everyone of them enjoyed the time rafting and laughing together. I fell out of the boat at one point but was very quickly pulled back in by the guide but even that was fun. It was a day that the kids said they would not forget.
Sunday we went out to the orphanage for our fourth of July celebration and ate hot dogs and had a bonfire and roasted marshmellows. It was a great time of fellowship and playing with the kids. It was especially fun to see some of the kids and the changes in them from the first year like Karin who was very shy and untrusting and seeing her now not afraid of new comers or talking with people and there is definite trust that she has with the others around her now. Also Gabriel who had made some bad decisions and got in with the wrong crowd at school and seeing now how he's left that behind and now has a sense of gentleness about him as well as an innocence. Both of these kids are not Christiains but God is softening their hearts and working there. Please be praying for these two kids to come to Christ.
Today I spent some time talking to one of the students in our summer program. He had hit a girl in his class and had been sent up to the office. We've had a lot of trouble with this kid and we have to send him home at least once a week. We found out last week that his dad had been abusing his mother and sister and then in talking with him today he told me that his mom had abused him. Normally he would be sent home for hitting the girl as hard as he did since he's a danger to the others but he really did not want to be sent home and knowing what is going on in his home life we decided to keep him at school in the office until school was over. It was a harsh realization what these kids are going through but it is very much a reality and there really are not forces in place to come in and investigate and help the kids if needed like we have in the states. Be praying for this little boy and the others in our program that they can be cared for well but also that they can find salvation. I shared the Gospel with this little one today and the Gospel is being shared daily with these kids.
I seem to have gotten an outer ear infection from water being in my ear after rafting this weekend. It was causing me a lot of pain but it felt better today although there were still moments of pain and I still can't hear out of it. Along with that I picked up a cold from one of the kids out at the orphanage on Sunday so my sinuses have been a little overwhelmed. On Friday we are going put to Jarabacoa for the weekend and there are missionaries there that are doctors or nurses so if the problem with my ear persists until Friday I'll have them take a look at it and hopefully get some medicine. It is not too bad all in all. I was able to play a game of soccer out at the orphanage with older boys and my ailments were pretty much forgotten during that time aside from the coughing and sniffling. Things are going well. I leave for camp midweek next week and I am excited for that to start. I will be returning home in less than a month now and I don't think I'll be ready for it.

Jarabacoa, summer program, vbs, weddings....

So we have just completed our first week of summer program. With that things have dramatically become busier over the past two weeks. A week and a half ago I left with four other Dominican girls and Ramon (Dominican missionary) for Jarabacoa for summer program teacher training. There I met our two new interns Shaina and Jennifer. It was a fantastic time in Jarabacoa attending what I think has been the best summer program training yet and getting to connect with some people that I had met when I interned in Jarabacoa. I also got to meet all the interns and speak English a lot. All in all it was a good two days. The day after we arrived back we met with all the teachers that are working with us this summer to go over the curriculum and prepare for the next week. After getting everything ready in the classrooms and spending the weekend inviting the kids to the summer program and making many copies, we felt somewhat ready for the coming week.

Monday started our summer program. We had around fifty kindergarten through second graders. We started it all off with a chapel service where we sang some fun songs and talked about Ephesians and Paul. Our Bible theme for this summer is put on the armor of God, and we're very excited to see how it goes. It was great seeing the kids ready to learn and enjoy themselves. This summer I am not teaching I am "co-directing" as Rebekah calls it. Pretty much I make copies, take kids home, and teach in the classroom if there is a need. I like what I am doing a lot because when I take the kids home I get to see their homes and where there from and meet family members. I also like being able to play with the kids and enjoy time with them without being in the classroom. We had prepared for this week to be difficult with a lot of discipline issues since that was the normal experience of the summer, but aside from a few kids having to be sent home because they could not behave the kids have been great and listening and learning. In our daily devotional time with the teachers we talked about how we saw God moving and it was great to hear how God was moving not only in the students but also in the teachers. What is even more exciting is that one of the students who was expelled from the summer program last year after a couple days has only been sent up to the office once, and not only that but other than one day she has been on the list of excellent behavior for three days in a row. We are so excited to have her in the program and to see her growing. There are still many more weeks in the sumer program but we are praying that she will be able to continue in this way and stay in the program.

Not only did we have summer school this week but we also had the church's VBS (picture above). With 450 to 500 kids in attendance daily (even though it was raining) we came home every night pretty worn out. Most of our time at VBS was telling kids to sit down and to stop talking, but there were 450 to 500 kids daily hearing the Word. There was also a youth VBS in the evenings which we didn't go to, but we are hearing of how God moved in that and how He changed lives through that. It was a very exciting and draining time, and thankfully Saturday morning allowed us to catch up on some sleep.

After the week of madness, we went up north yesterday for a wedding of one of the guy's here in Monte Plata. It was my first time at a Dominican wedding and it was very very unique. There were probably fifteen girls involved in the wedding each representing a different thing and doing little dances down the aisle. In typical Dominican fashion the wedding started two hours late, so Rebekah and I spent some time working on a Rubic's cube which we have now solved multiple times. It was a very pretty wedding and a lot of fun and thankfully the rain held of so we didn't get drenched outside during the ceremony.

This next week we continue with our summer program in the mornings and we'll probably be going out to the orphanage in the afternoons to do stuff with the kids and then this coming weekend we will be going to Jarabacoa to go rafting and we are taking the eighth grade and high school graduates from the orphanage with us, so we are very excited since this will be the first time any of them have done this. Also at some point during the week we'll be taking one of the houses with us out to a waterfall for some fun.

I have been here a month

I have now been here for just over a month and it doesn't seem like it has been that long, but I have been enjoying my time here so much.

This week was supposed to somewhat be a week of vacation or calm before the storm of the summer program, but it seemed to be a pretty busy time. This past weekend (Thurs. Fri. and Sat.) we went to a conference in the capitol featuring John Piper, Miguel Nunez, and some other pastors from the Dominican Republic. It was a great time of hearing men of God speaking on very important topics as well as seeing the large number of Dominicans in attendance and coming together and being built up in the faith as well as worshipping together. It turned out to be a long weekend. On Thursday we were there for half the day, then on Friday again half the day although our plans were changed a little when a hose on the car broke on our way to the capitol meaning we had to get that fixed by a kind stranger on the side of the road and then take it to a mechanic in the capitol to make sure everything was okay. After that though we were able to make it to the conference. Then on Saturday we begun our day at 5 a.m. which for me is far too early for anyone to be waking up, but we did and thankfully I was able to stay awake the whole day, which some others had some troubles with, but we were very much spiritually encouraged that day. It was really great to be able to take each day different people with us that were either in the youth group or leaders in the church, and we hope they were encouraged by their time there.

After a busy weekend we still had church on Sunday, and then after church we pretty much ate lunch and all took very long naps. On Monday Nadelli and Rebekah went into the capitol to apply for Nadelli's passport, which has been a long time in the making since they first had to get her a birth certificate, which is difficult since she wasn't declared and her parents are both dead, but in a month she will finally have a passport (a Haitian passport although she has never been to Haiti, but it was the only way it could be done). On Tuesday we went back into the capitol to do some dress shopping for the girls for dresses for a wedding coming up in the next couple weeks as well as some paint to paint the exterior of the house here. Rebekah and I had high hopes to finish the painting of the house in two days. After one day we realized that would not be achievable. On Wednesday we painted the inside of the porch and the ceiling. Then on Thursday Rebekah and I headed out to Jarabacoa to help get some things ready for next week for the training for the summer program. I did some fun coloring and mosaic making, which will be used for examples to show how the crafts are supposed to look. I also ended up staying up until 3 a.m. laminating over 150 papers that are for each of the sites and will be passed around from one classroom to the next. The laminating process took a long time since the machine is a basic laminator where you have to put sheets of plastic around the paper and then put that in a cover and then send it through a machine that melts it one at a time. The next morning we woke up at 7:30 a.m. so I was pretty tired, but we started working again and since the continent focus of the summer program this year is Europe I spent the morning drawing maps of Europe until the power went out. That left us with not much to do, so Rebekah took a nap and then we got back on the road to make the drive back to Monte Plata.

Friday afternoon we had planned to take naps, but that did not happen, so we headed out to church that night with mints in Rebekah's purse, which we sucked on throughout Friday night church to stay awake. It worked and we headed home to finally get a good night's sleep. We got to sleep in this morning and then we spent the rest of the day painting the house and we were able to completely finish the porch, so now we just have the other three sides of the house to paint, but we're hoping that will be an easier task than the porch.

This next week Rebekah heads out to Jarabacoa again for the summer program's directors training and then on Wednesday the Dominican summer teachers and I will be heading to Jarabacoa for the teacher training and then we'll all be back Thursday and the summer program begins the following Monday, so things are going to be getting pretty busy pretty fast.

Getting pulled over

I had figured I would not be writing another blog for a while, but due to tonights events my mind has been changed. Today was a pretty simple day. Rebekah is back and I'm happy to have her back. Today was what she claimed to be her vacation day so for lunch we had cereal and quesadillas. We had a good time relaxing for the morning and then in the afternoon we went over to Casa Monte Plata (the orphanage) to meet the new set of houseparents. There's a lot of changes happening there. Thankfully this new set of houseparents have allowed Juana and Ramon to move out of the house parent role and focus on being the directors of the orphanage which is an answer to prayer. Not only did this new couple move in with their two adorable twin boys but also this weekend another set of houseparents will be moving in to the fourth house and finally (it has been many years in the making) all four houses will be occupied and also there will be some more kids coming in. We met the very nice couple right as the entire orphanage was about to leave to go shopping. We had not planned this so we found ourselves with some extra time.

We decided to go visit the barrio where Nadelli grew up. It's always difficult to go there because its one of the poorest areas of monte plata and there are many people and children in need of help. Both of Nadelli's parents are dead, but when we go we visit the woman that took care of Nadelli and her siblings when she and her brothers were living alone without parents. The lady is quite old and Haitian and although she knows Spanish she does not speak it as her first language so it can be a little hard to understand her so sometimes we need a translator to go from Creole/French to Spanish for us. It was a lovely time listening to her talk about how God is always providing when she asks Him. She talked about when Nadelli's mom died and how she prayed that someone would come and take care of the kids and it happened that the orphanage was able to take Nadelli's brother and Nadelli was able to move in with the missionaries here. She said she praises God for that because if Nadelli was still living in that neighborhood she would probably be starving and married (Nadelli is 16). I enjoyed spending time and hearing the testimony of what God had done.

Now to the title of this blog. We went to church tonight for the weekly Wednesday night prayer meeting. Everything was pretty ordinary lots of singing and praying and then afterwards we took one of the elderly ladies home, which changed our route to the house a little bit. Rebekah had stayed in since her mom had called a little while before we were going to leave and they were still talking, so I was driving. We got to the intersection right before the house and I realized that there were a lot of police men in the street. I was confused because rarely do I see police men in Monte Plata let alone ten police men. I didn't really know exactly what to do so I kept driving until one of them told me to pull over. So I pulled over and rolled down the window as I'm doing this Alba is telling me to just pretend that I don't speak Spanish and say "Ramon Prenza" (the name of the Dominican missionary here that everyone seems to know), but this left me really confused since I had forgotten the story of the Colombian missionary here who appears somewhat American and how when he got pulled over he pretended not to speak Spanish and just said Ramon Prenza and they let him go. Anyway the police man (dressed in camo with a doo-rag on his head) came up and he told me to shut off the car and for all of us (Nadelli and Alba were with me) to get out of the car. I got out of the car, not sure if I was supposed to put my hands in the air or what not, so I just looked at Nadelli and Alba who weren't putting their hands in the air and assumed I didn't need to. The two men then proceeded to search the car and asking us questions about where we were coming from and what we were doing. They asked me if I had my passport, which I didn't since the missionaries had told me I wouldn't be getting pulled over in Monte Plata. I told the guy that I didn't have it but that it was at the house just down the street. Apparently it wasn't very important and the doo-rag guy continued to search the car while the man with a helmet also clothed in camo and carrying a large gun stood there supervising. They searched the back of the jeep and then when they saw our Bibles they asked us if we were evangelical Christians to which we responded yes and they proceeded to search within our Bibles saying that a lot of people hide drugs in Bibles. Upon finding only Scripture and head coverings in the Bibles they decided we were innocent enough and let us continue on our way. I made the two second drive to the house and was very happy to be back. We then all had a good laugh about the events that had happened. Tomorrow we will be going to the capital to a conference featuring John Piper, which will be exciting especially since I'm not sure if Rebekah knows how to get there and she's the one driving...

Last day of school

Today was the last day of school for the kids in Monte Plata. It was pretty quite since the kids that were here were here to take tests.
It's been an interesting week with moving into Rebekahs house behind the school and having the girls gone. In addition Rebelah's parents had come from California on Friday and then on Sunday they took off to a resort with Rebekah leaving me in charge of the house and Nadelli and Alba, the two girls that live with Rebekah. Since it was finals week there wasn't much work for me to do at the school so I got to sleep in in the mornings which as refreshing. With being in charge of the house I was in charge of cooking. Much of my cooking experience involves taking something from the freezer and putting it in the oven or microwave, which I quickly discovered is a luxory. The girls thankfully know how to cook, so the have been teaching me how to make Dominican food. I now know how to cook rice, chicken, fried plantains, and fried salami (I contributed some of my cooking knowledge and we had grilled cheese as well). It has been a lot of fun with the girls laughing and joking as well as learning more about the culture. The girls informed that once you can cook you can get married. Along with that they thought it would be funny to choose my future husband for me and plan my wedding. They haven't found a suitable husband yet but it's led to quite a few laughs. Then on Wednesday at church which is prayer night I was praying with one if the housemoms and was quite surprised when she started praying that my brother would find a wife (yes Nathan she thinks you need a wife). I was even more surprised when she started praying for my future husband and then I realized they just really want people to get married.
After Rebekah returned from her time with her parents she left for the airport for a short trip to the states leaving me in charge of the driving. I almost had to take her to the airport but thankfully she was able to find someone to take her which I was very grateful for since driving on the highway here is a lot more daunting than the highway in the states especially since lines and signs on the road mean nothing to the drivers and I'm not certain I would have been able to get back from the airport. I ended up going along for the ride and almost found myself driving home when I thought the driver asked if I knew how to drive when he asked do you want to drive. Thankfully I was able to figure out what was going on before I was in the drivers seat.
I have driven all over Monte Plata just in trying to get out to the orphanage since it's customary to give people that you know rides if you know them and Alba and Nadelli know a lot of people. With that I have been able to see many neighborhoods that I have never seen before. As well as almost run over some dogs and chickens.
What I always enjoy seeing is Alba's tender heart. Alba lives with Rebekah because she didn't have the best homelife which is like a lot of kids in Monte Plata so when she saw one of the of the kindergartners from the school playing marbles outside in the dirt today with her ten year old brother Alba realized that her mom had left early this morning for the capitol to work and that her dad was nonexistent she brought the little girl back to our house to spend the day with us. The girls hair was in need of washing so Alba washed her hair and put braids in it and then they joined us for lunch and we'll take her home after church is done and hopefully her mom will be home. I love that Alba saw a need and took the little girl in for the day.

The girls have gone

The girls took off this morning around 4:30. I mustered up enough energy to wave them a friendly goodbye and went back to sleep. I vaguely remember Sarah giving me a high five through my mosquito net. Our time together was really good. We were able to have a lot of fun at the orphanage as well as have some great Bible study times with the kids eager to participate.
I spent this morning sleeping and washing sheets and towels. Rebekahs parents are here visiting her and it's been a lot of fun getting to know them. I moved my massive suitcases into rebekahs house today as well and spent some time getting organized, but I'm glad to be living with her and the girls and having a good time.
The political scene has still not settled here in Monte Plata. We found out on Monday who won but then the next day we found out there had been some cheating so there were riots in the center of town and threats to burn down the town and a continous stream of canon-sounding fireworks that many times seem to be going off right beside the house. We still don't know who won.
It's been a really hot day today but things seem to be cooling off which means rain is probably on it's way.
We're having dinner tonight out at casa monte plata ( the orphanage) and I'm secretly hoping for some fried chicken specifically Juana's fried chicken but I'm sure whatever it is will be great.

The catfish won

We took Faith to the airport this morning at 3:30 am. We were all pretty tired but Rebekah and all of us girls decided we would go along. We spent last night outside playing cards and looking at the stars. While we were doing this we saw flashes and heard a noise that sounded like a canon a few seconds later. We had no idea how much celebrating they were about to do.
We went to sleep still hearing the loud canon noise making fireworks but the intervals of quiet were enough to get some rest. That was until about 2 am when people started shouting and "singing" and shooting more of their fire works off. This carried on for a while and after a while it seemed the celebration had ended. By that time it was time to get up and take Faith to the airport, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed up to Rebekahs house and headed out for the airport. On our way out we avoided the center of town as much as possible and as we drove we saw random drunk people walking around town, which seemed ridiculous since it was 3:30 in the morning.
We got Faith safely to the airport and on our way back we asked one of the tollbooth workers who had won the major part of the election. We found out it was the one whose opposition had made a song about how he was a catfish and was a "sucker" and had the song played throughout town blasting from speakers held in the back of various trucks. When we returned it was five in the morning and people were still out. We thought maybe we would have a quiet morning, but so far it has been louder than it was last night and for much more time. People have been yelling, there has been what seems like consistent car horn honking and loud music and fireworks that seem to be going off right outside our door (they are very loud). Hopefully things will eventualy quite down.
Yesterday we had a very relaxed day. There was no church so in the morning we had a time of worship and sharing and praying. It was very refreshing to rest. We then had some delicious pancakes for lucnch with chocolate chips and peanut butter and honey instead of syrup. We then had some fun time playing around on the basketball court. We played soccer with two little goals and an exercise ball. We had quite an audience as we played. Apparently we were quite enertaining. That game wore us out and my body is pretty sore today.
Today we slept for a while after returning from the airport and this afternoon we will be heading out to start our vacation Bible school activities with the kids at the orphanage. Today we'll be talking about the birth of Jesus and when he was a kid and the kids will be doing dramas which we will record on our cameras to make a movie that we will watch at the end of the week.
Everythings been going really well and the kids seem to be enjoying having us here.

Elections

The streets have been pretty crazy the last few days here. All the public schools are closed and there are random parades that block the streets and intersections with people, cars, and motorcylcles waving flags for their favorite candidate. It is not like in the states at all. Elections I believe are on Sunday but apparently the stores will be closed from tomorrow morning until Monday afternoon possibly Tuesday. Even Sundays church service is cancelled. We've been told to not walk anywhere around town on Saturday or Sunday, but to stay on the school grounds. If this makes you worried don't be we're perfectly safe.
Our time here has been going so well. We had a lovely trip to the waterfall on a beautiful day and got to have some fun swimming and relaxing. We also baked chocolate chip cookies with the orphanage kids yesterday which we're gone pretty much as soon as they were cool enough to be eaten. The kids really love the baking activities and the girls are loving playing with the kids and talking with them.
We also get to be at school while the kids are at school so we've been able to play with the kids at recess and they love to play with our hair or play duck duck goose or take pictures. We were talking about the differences today between this school and the schools in the states, which resulted from the gym teacher/recess watcher pulling out these massive gloves made from foam and tape which were supposed to be some form of boxing gloves. The kids loved standing up on a bench and seeing who could push the other off as they boxed all while being carefully supervised of course. The kids from kindergarten up to eighth grade we're participating in this. I think the purpose of it was to prevent other fights from breaking out since had already been two fights that day that I had seen. What made this scene even better was that after the younger ones' recess was over and the older kids came out the eighth grade teacher and one of the girls that helps in the kitchen had a little boxing match which thecteacher lost. Even Faith was able to participate (she lost). We tried to imagine if something like that were to ever happen in the states.
After our fun morning of boxing matches we went to the orphanage to have an ice cream party with the kids. Every kid had ice cream and was finished with seconds in a half hour. I asked Dominga (one of the house moms) to share her testimony with the girls. She has such an amazing testimony of God's patience with her when she turned her back on God and how he wauted until she returned to Him and God's provision for her and her family when she was a single mom and God's leading her to come to Casa Monte Plata, the orphanage. I'm hoping the girls will get to hear more testimonies from the housemoms who are amazing women of God and huge blessings.
Tomorrow we'll be going out to camp with the kids from the orphanage to play some sports and maybe do some swimming in the river. Things are starting to get pretty loud here and fireworks that sound like canons are going off. I need to go get ready for Friday night church now.

Day 3

Well we have been in Monte Plata three days now. We had a little mishap with faith missing her flight Monday morning but thankfully she was able to catch another flight and get into Santo Domingo ahead of us.
We spent our first day here resting and getting settled and Rebekah ( the missionary ) made us a nice potato casserole for dinner and after that we were feeling the early morning wake up that we had so we went to bed pretty early.
Yesterday we slept in a little and then spent some time talkin with rebekah about our plans for the time the girls are here. I then took the the girls around town for a good dose of Dominican culture. We took a trip to the bank to exchange money and then to the grocery store to spend the money that we exchanged.
The girls were able to experience some nice Dominican food which included yellow rice with some pork mixed in and a salad, which I did not partake of.
Later in the afternoon we headed out to casa monte plata to make some no bake cookies with the kids. The girls soon found out that the kids like to eat the ingredients just as much as the actual cookies. One of the kids got quite a surprise when she took a little cocoa to eat thinking it was chocolate. Apparently her face was quite comical.
After our time at the orphanage we came back to help rebekah do pedicures with the eighth grade girls. I'm not the best nail painter so I felt bad for the girls who had to have their nails painted by me. We also got to eat some cookies and drink green apple pop which essentially is an apple jolly rancher in liquid form.
This morning we've been in the computer lab making copies and typing final exams.
We'll be going to the waterfall this afternoon and we're all pretty excited about getting in the water and getting some relief from the heat. That's all for now.

Hey everybody!

Well, I have had a few complaints in the past few years (mostly from my parents) about a lack of communication, so in order to hopefully be a good communicator, I decided I would do a little blog during my time in the Dominican Republic this summer.
Sarah, Ashley, Faith, and I will be taking off really early tomorrow morning to begin our journey down to Monte Plata. I am so excited to finally be able to take some people with me and let them experience this place that I have called home my last couple summers. Faith will be down there with us for a week since her work only allowed her that time to be with us, but Sarah and Ashley will be with me for two weeks. We've spent a lot of time preparing and planning and praying for this trip and I know everyone's pretty excited about going. After the girls leave I will stay there until August, which will be the longest time I will have spent there, but I am so excited to be staying for a while.
The girls and I will be doing a lot of fun activities while we're there like baking classes and vacation Bible school stuff and a waterfall trip and many other things and hopefully being a blessing to those down there and a witness of who God is.

Some things you can be praying for as we get ready to go and while we're there are:
-Safety (travelling and being there)
-Unity
-Good communication
-Open hearts (both our own and the people there)
-Health (that everyone remains healthy)
-that God would be the center of all we do

As I said, I will try to update this as much as possible, but I make no guarantees.