Grace and Fellowship Abound

Howdy yall! I’m in my third week here in the DR. It’s been crazy sometimes, good sometimes, and crazy good sometimes. Last week, we hosted Grace Bible from Dallas, TX. This week, we are hosting Fellowship Round Rock (from Round Rock, TX – just outside of Austin). My mind is all over the place. I’m leaving in less than an hour to meet up with the crew, but I have some free time right now, so I thought I would update this blog. So here goes…

God gave me Gabrielle as my mentor during my time with her. I have gotten to meet with her three times now (officially, but I see her around several times per week). She’s a teacher at Makarios for the Pre-K3 group (for the 3-yr old cuties). She’s been a huge encouragement and we connect very deeply. We have shared our testimonies and talked about life down here, family, ways to pray for each other. She challenged me most recently to write out a brief testimony and gospel presentation in Spanish to practice and have on-hand so that I can always be prepared to share. I’m excited to prep that!

We (the interns) got to have our first moto trips to the school. (Although, now that I’m writing this, I’m a pro.) My first moto experience was a bit scary, especially with all of the bumps in the road, but I loosened up halfway there and enjoyed the adventure….with my hands clasped tightly to the seat.

I have gotten to meet a lot of the staff at the school. They encourage me so much because they are so passionate about what they do! Most of them are Dominican. They sang the Makarios school song for us, which (now that I’ve heard it a couple times) always makes me get up and dance. It’s a lot of fun!

We also started our Bible study of James with Margaret and Doug and the other interns, which is proving to be a huge blessing as well as a very unifying and edifying experience for all of us.

We got to spend a day at the beach, which was a good break. Kelly got her entire head braided into cornrows. It was really cool. She kept them in for a couple weeks and just took them out the other day. While at the ocean, I got something in my eye and my eye hurt for several days, but it doesn’t anymore. Also, speaking of beach time, I’ve been getting a lot of sun. If my tanning rate continues progressing at the same rate, I will be darker than the Dominicans by the end of the summer. I also realized that pineapple is a great addition to chicken salad ß free advice for you. And I started reading Blue Like Jazz while at the beach, which I have now completed. It made me think a lot, especially about my ability to make a difference with my individual life and how I need to fight against my self-centeredness.

The Grace Bible group was a blast overall. They were a genuine, great group in general with plenty of spunk and humor. It was my pleasure to lead them in different activities, VBS, community visits, and construction projects. And I was blessed to learn from them, be challenged, and have deep conversations. And we got to have a water day with the little kids in which we filled up two swimming pools in the back yard and got a slip-n-slide out. They didn’t understand the concept of a slip-n-slide at first, but it was humorous and fun.

I got a freaky spider bite that kept growing and bubbling up with fluid, but now it’s basically gone and just have some skin discoloration.

A few of the other interns and I took a moto trip to a cheap restaurant called Balin in the next town over, Montellano. Balin is the name of the guy whose restaurant it is. He runs it with his wife and two sons. His sons are learning English and are surprisingly good. I enjoy the hot dogs and tacos there ($1 each)….they are unlike anything American haha but they are great with the Balin hot sauce. On our way, we had to find motos to take us. Kelly and I found this guy named Cleui (it took me forever to figure out how to say it right), and he has proven to be the best moto chofer around. I actually got to have some good conversations with him recently on trips to the school and church. I found out that he is 23, not a Christian, but he attends a church here and likes the people but hasn’t committed yet. I’m excited to see what God does with him during our time here. He’s a super sweet guy, and I’m hoping he can come hang out with us interns sometime. He wouldn’t join us at Balin our last time there because he “needed to go home and shave first.” They take going out really seriously here….even just to go to the grocery store, people shower and dress up. I try to have just enough swagger to not draw too much attention to myself….it’s a hard balance, as an American girl here usually draws attention regardless.

I have gotten to meet a lot more people in the neighborhood recently, which is always fun and encouraging. They are so welcoming and open. I love it here. I think I might live here forever ßthis is fair warning. The other day, Kelly and I were walking some kids home from playing at the house. It was about a five minute walk, but it ended up taking us a beautiful hour because we talked with the kids’ grandparents for a while and played around more with the kids, then stopped and talked / prayed with Sylvia and Miguelina’s aunt on our walk back. Sylvia and Miguelina are very special to Margaret and Doug. They take care of them a lot because they are orphans and the aunt is not very capable.

I also met this gal named Michelle who is also living in Los Ciruelos, but with the peace corps. She’s really cool and doesn’t get out much. She’s hoping to come to church with us this week.

At church, I met this lady named Theresa. She’s super sweet and gave me a cough drop….they basically eat them like candy here, but I actually needed a cough drop that day.

Lucia, the cleaning lady, has a son named Abrahm who comes here to the Mak house to clean too, and he has a great singing voice. So Lucia got him to sing Happy Birthday to my dad last week. That made my day. He’s sweeping and singing in the room with me as I type this.

We got to check out a new beach for a couple hours this past weekend – Sosua. The water was clear and beautiful. We (the interns) went out snorkeling and saw a bunch of fish.

Yesterday, there was a girl here from Fellowship who wasn’t feeling well. She thought she was going to throw up and was struggling with anxiety, so she stayed back from the construction work. I was able to pray with her and bring her water. I was surprised to see her later in the day, and she thanked me for praying for her and said she felt much better after that. Praise God!

I got to lead my first Zumba class for the Makarios ladies this past Friday, which was a blast. All of the Tamarindo community kids watched through the fence haha. It was one of my favorite Zumba classes to date, despite being 90 degrees. There’s so much energy here! After the hour of Zumba, Kelly and I hiked up Mt. Isabelle for 3.5 hrs. And we didn’t get sore!

OK that’s all for now because I have to go work but there’s more to come soon! And pictures! Love you all and thanks for the support and prayers.

The hills are alive....with the sound of roosters.

6/10/15

The journey begins……on my first flight, a guy elbowed me in his sleep on the plane to Austin. But that wasn’t as bad as having my personal space invaded on my second flight. I was sitting in between two men who insisted on touching me the whole time, even after my several attempts to move away.

It was a great time getting to know the other interns this past weekend on the retreat. I got to watch the sunset at Mt. Bonnell in Austin with Iesha and Brian. It was so beautiful. I was glad Jacob (one of the other interns) had suggested it. However, I got 13 mosquito bites from that excursion. Also, I’ve found that my bug spray makes me smell like a walking citronella candle, but Kelly (another intern) likes the smell, so I’m glad it’s not off-putting to everyone.

I was kind of nervous about meeting the other interns….facebook stalking only gives so much information. When the interns arrived at the Highland house rental property (generously donated by Brian’s dad for the weekend), the awkward introductions ensued. But now, I feel like I have seven new friends. Chad, another one of the interns, is actually from Cedarville too, which was unexpectedly cool. He and Emily and Anna are staying in Austin for the summer at the Makarios headquarters, and Kelly, Jacob, Cole, Win, and I are NOW in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.

During the Austin orientation, we went on a scavenger hunt ending at Whole Foods for our burrito dinner. Then we had more of a formal introduction and received our job descriptions as we picnicked in the grass. I will be a group host, focusing on building fellowship, preparing meals, and supplying for the needs of groups who come one week at a time. I will also help some with the soccer camp, look into the feasibility of alternate energy sources for the school, and lead Zumba for the Makarios staff ladies on Fridays. Jacob is also a group host, and he seems to be an encouraging person to be around, so I’m looking forward to working together.

We had a game night and played Jenga, bananagrams, and catchphrase to have fun and get to know the Austin staff and Makarios summer interns. It was exhausting but funny. We had a rule that whenever you got out in the game, you had to say something interesting about yourself. I talked about scuba diving with Grandma last year.

During the Austin retreat, Kelly stayed the weekend with me at Iesha and Brian’s.

*As I was writing this, I was flying over the Everglades.*

We went to church at Austin Stone, which is a large network of churches in Austin. We went to the St. John’s branch. They serve Dominican Joe coffee, which is Dominican Republic coffee that supports the Makarios ministry. Then we had orientation in the Makarios office, which was in the same building as the church service. Kelly said the building (a community center) was built over an empty lot filled with drug needles…a great image of restoration.

Sharla, a Cedarville graduate and the founder of Makarios, told us about the history of Makarios and how it all began eleven years ago.

Jamie, another Makarios staff member, gave a lot of encouragement to us to serve God in our daily tasks and thoughts. It reminded me of Camp Loucon and our talks there about how everything we do should be worship.

Austin is known for food trucks, so we got lunch from a taco truck near the church.

We also got to go putt putting, take a trip to Dominican Joe’s coffee shop, eat P. Terry’s burgers and fries, and have a prayer time before the end of the retreat.

While we were at Dominican Joe’s, we got our prayer partner assignments. Mine is Emily, one of the interns working in Austin for the summer. She is more of the charismatic/prophetic type, of the mentality that I am often cautious of for theological reasons, mostly because of my opinions about speaking in tongues. But I kid you not, when this girl was talking to me, praying for me, and speaking over me, it broke me in a beautiful way and was exactly what I needed to hear. I had asked for prayer about my emotions and blamed my hormones. She challenged me on it and made me realize that the enemy had been attacking me with feelings of inadequacy, negativity, and fear. She redirected my thoughts to truth and reminded me that I am just a vessel for God and that He loves me and cares and won’t put me in a circumstance and expect something out of me that I’m incapable of. I’m super excited to stay in touch with her this summer and share our experiences and prayers. Also, I made an interesting connection with her because she and Anna go to church with my friend Jaret who I co-oped with!

After the Austin retreat, Kelly and I got to bed around 10:30pm and woke up at 3:15am for our early flight. It was cool how, although we all bought our plane tickets individually, we ended up on the same flights down!

*As I write this, I’m in the Miami airport and it’s almost 11am. Despite my Tex-Mex breakfast tacos at 5am, I’m hungry once again….I’m so EXCITED, especially to meet Margaret and the Makarios kids!*

IN THE DR…

We arrived June 8 with a welcome at the airport by a Mariachi-type band playing before the customs area. Once we got our bags, we were greeted by Margaret, Doug, Lorie, and her sons.

Now that we are FINALLY here, we have been going through another orientation down here with the Becks (Doug/”Paco” and Margaret). We have visited a couple different communities so far. The kids always want a “caballito,” which is a horsey-back ride. We typically oblige. It has been interesting learning about the history of the communities, success stories of individual kids who have grown into hard-working, Christ-centered adults from their experience with Makarios. There are a lot of places in the communities that smell like urine and garbage. There is trash service available here, but it’s usually more than they can afford, so the trash just ends up on the side of the paths.

We have gotten to try out some different food places down here. At one of the places, there was sushi for the equivalent of $3 in US money. I asked Margaret if she trusted the sushi there, and she gave me the go-ahead, so I got a spicy tuna roll for dinner the other night. I had a headache, and the sushi was a bad idea. I got nauseated pretty badly. After dinner, we took a trip to La Sirena (“the mermaid”), which is like their Walmart. I wasn’t feeling well, so Margaret and Kelly and I just got a few items and came back to the Mak house early. It was perfect timing when we got back because I needed to run upstairs and barf. Goodbye sushi.

We have met several of the Makarios staff now and several community members as well. One of the staff members we met is Benjamin. He’s a Dominican who used to be sponsored by Compassion International and later worked with Compassion. He said he could definitely pull some strings for me to be able to see my Compassion child Angelica earlier, so that’s promising. The email Compassion sent me told me it takes eight weeks of notification beforehand.

The animal life is flourishing here. There are cows in the yard next door. I plan to frolic with them in the very near future. There are also a lot of chickens and roosters. The roosters make their presence known. Today that occurred at 5am.

I’m excited to take the public transportation for the first time Friday on the moto. They are basically guys riding motorcycles who charge you to ride on the back and take you places. They also have carritos (Toyota Corolla cabs) and guaguas (vans) to ride in.

I’ve seen God a lot here so far. I’ve especially seen him in Kelly, my roommate. She’s so self-sacrificial and joyful. I have also seen God in how Margaret and Kelly were so helpful to me when I wasn’t feeling well (the night of the sushi upchucking). I also saw God recently in Margaret when she got so emotional about her friend Miranda going back to the states after serving here for a couple years. The bond they have is definitely from the Lord. Margaret also showed Christ to me in how she held a neighborhood girl accountable to make good choices during her free time this summer. I’ve seen God a lot in the kids here as well. In both of the communities we have visited, kids always run up to us, give us flowers, hold our hands, and ask us for “caballito” rides. One of the girls couldn’t find a bloomed flower to give me so she picked a bud for me and pealed back the green bud to reveal pink petals. She also found some beads and an “estrella” (a broken piece of plastic that kind of looked like a star). It made my heart melt.

We’ve also had some hardships here, but nothing unbearable. For several hours, we didn’t have water at the house from the faucets. So I wasn’t able to shower when I would have wanted to, but at least we still had drinking water from the botellones (giant water jugs). I have gotten over 50 mosquito bites, but now that I’m taking a B vitamin supplement, I think that’s helping. The heat makes me not feel as motivated to work hard, but I’m glad it’s so warm and beautiful here. I’m trying to focus more on loving others and being more self-sacrificial and gracious, which is easier than otherwise with such a great mission family here with me. The wifi is super flakey, so that has been kind of annoying, especially with trying to get information about my dad’s surgery recently. But I’m glad to be disconnected from electronics as much as I am.

This just in…. Kelly (Kenny) and I (Juanita) went on a walk to a store (un colmado). We got a little lost on the way there and ended up outside a house of about 10 rambunctious kids. Most of them were loudly playing dominos, and the rest were watching and hoping to jump in on the next game. We interacted with them a little bit then we were disrupted by a scary dog fight. I think the kids were laughing at us because we got scared when that happened. Then I asked a girl where the colmado was, and she told us to follow her on her bike. She took us a couple blocks away to the colmado, which was super nice of her. Her name is Adriana. (I’m trying to remember names and hopefully interact with the same people throughout my time here.) Kelly and I got gatorades at the colmado. They were green, which was unusual to us - mango verde flavor! It was delicious. Then we walked back to the house, saying “hola” and “como esta” to many along the way. When we got to our street, we met a woman named An (not a typo) who was out on her porch. We talked with her for a good five to ten minutes. Kelly is a bit better at Spanish than I am, but I can surprisingly hold my own in a conversation. We talked with her about her kids. Her son Estephen comes to the Makarios house to play sometimes. And she also has a very cute shy 3 yr old daughter and an infant. She invited us in to see her baby, who was napping at the time, and my heart leapt for joy within me. When we went back out to the porch, I asked if there was anything we could pray for her about, and she said there wasn’t anything. She said she goes to a catholic church and believes in God but isn’t really into religion. I’m hoping to really form a relationship with her while I’m down here, and hopefully God will use me in her life in some capacity. She was playing music from inside the house, and I recognized Enrique Iglesias’ song “Bailando” when it came on because it is one of my Zumba songs. I asked her if she knew Zumba. She said she went to Zumba with her mom before and would like to practice it more. I showed her a couple steps to that song. She said if I ever led Zumba in Los Ciruelos (the name of our community), she would come. When I came back and told Margaret about our talk, she said I definitely should host a Zumba day at the Mak house for women in the community towards the end of my time there once I had formed relationships with a lot of the women in Los Ciruelos(!)

Dinner is on its way…….quinoa and chicken and beans for me, cheesy enchiladas for the other interns. Yum!

Side note to my dad…there are no poisonous snakes or spiders here J

Don't Mess With Texas

And so it begins…

On Tuesday, I was just a mere human. Now, I am a mere human in Austin, Texas! I have embarked on this grand adventure. After flying on the extremely looong (hehe, 30 minute) flight from Dayton to Chicago, being unintentionally elbowed by the sleeping man beside me, I arrived in Chicago. It was a really neat, artistic airport. I wish I could have spent more time exploring it, but I had to focus on the task at hand: travelling to Austin, TX for our orientation retreat at the Makarios headquarters. Makarios is the organization I am interning with for these next two months. It is a missions-based internship in the Dominican Republic, working with a school for impoverished students in an area of sugar cane plantations and 100 degree heat. A lot of the students’ parents came over from Haiti to work on the plantations, which affords them their humble, shack-dwelling lifestyle. It’s an understatement to say that I’m excited for this journey ahead! I don’t know exactly what my tasks will look like yet on a daily basis, but I’m looking forward to helping in the name of Christ in any capacity I can.

At the Dayton airport, about to embark on this journey

Chicago airport groovy walkway

So….Here I am! I made it! I arrived in Austin on Wednesday night (June 3) around 10pm and was warmly welcomed by Iesha, one of the Makarios employees I interviewed with, and her husband Brian. They picked me up in their large, black, very Texan pickup truck and took be to their adorable apartment in the heart of downtown Austin, near the state capitol and the University of Texas. They invited me in, showed me to the guest room, and made tea for me in the kitchen. I sipped the tea as we chatted about life stories. I enjoyed hearing their love story and about their ministry here in Austin. A lot of what they talked about reminded me of the book The One (by Ryan and Amanda Leak – I highly recommend it); both of their family mission statements are “Live generously.”….and before last month, I didn’t even know that families made mission statements.

I'm in Austin and have a bed!

Since I got here a couple days before the intern retreat starts, I have some free time to explore. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet up with my friend Zeeke, who is now a youth pastor at a church here in Austin. We walked around downtown, choosing a place to go to lunch. We eventually decided on Perla’s Seafood and Oyster Bar, which I highly recommend for anyone looking for a meal in Austin, TX. I got the shrimp po’ boy, which was delicious. Eating also got our parking validated, so that was a win-win. Then we went to the Hope Outdoor Gallery, which is an outdoor graffiti park. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and it was a breath of fresh air (contrary to the fumes normally associated with spray paint). We hiked to the top of the graffiti park and had a great view of the city.  There was also a guy there selling a homeless newspaper called The Challenger. Since I am familiar with similar programs in Cincinnati and Ann Arbor, I decided to support the guy and give him a couple bucks for the paper. However, now that I’ve read the publication, I think they would need to change a lot of things before I would support the paper again. The bad grammar I can get over, but it was also filled with foul language and stories celebrating drug use. You live and you learn I suppose.

Food at Perla's

Hope Outdoor Gallery

Once the retreat starts Saturday, I will be all-consumed by this trip (in a great way). On Monday, I will be in the Dominican Republic!!!! FYI, if you would like to keep in touch with me these next two months, I won’t have phone service, but I will have wifi. Aside from email / facebook, I highly recommend getting the Voxer app J ….Skype doesn’t work so well with the wifi there. 

Keep the prayers coming! And let me know of any prayer requests I can be praying for for you as well.