Love Without Language

Last week, the young adult group was a breath of fresh air. One super athletic girl pushed me to run even more and harder than usual and had great conversations and prayers with me. They were a super encouraging group in general. There were two married couples, and the rest were single 20-somethings. Both of the married couples have two years of marriage under their belts but had been dating for over ten years each, which I think is very rare and beautiful. It was super encouraging to see everyone’s love for each other and how they served each other and each other. They found joy in daily tasks in a very refreshing way and were super relational. Most of them didn’t know each other before the trip because their church in Austin is very large and has several campuses. I really enjoyed getting to know several of the gals. Jessica, the curly-haired African American girl of the group (who the Dominicans frequently thought was native to the island) had a hair product conversation with me, and ended up giving me her leave-in-conditioner as a little blessing to me at the end of the trip. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever smelled in my 23 years of life. 

New favorite hair product, special thanks to Jessica from the Austin Stone

She has a very unique and special way about her. She was one of the photographers of their group, and I could tell the first day I met her that she viewed the world and other people in a very neat and inspiring way, finding beauty in little things and focusing on connecting deeply. There were only a couple decent Spanish speakers from the group, but it was really cool to see the rest of them interact with the kids and Spanish-speaking staff here through the language barrier. On their last night here, I shared with their group something God had put on my heart, especially since some of them had expressed frustration and feeling like their interactions lacked value here without Spanish skills….The universal language is love. In 1 Cor. 13, the attributes listed to describe love, such as being patient and kind and rejoicing in what is right, do not require speech. Sometimes when speaking isn’t an option, love is often even more obvious. I encouraged them that love is what connects us as human beings and as they go back and readjust their lives to what they have learned from the trip that they continue to focus on loving as they have loved here, in their actions as well as their words. People notice.

VBS with Austin Stone Church

This week: we had the largest group yet, a high school group of 37 people! Kelly and I had to share our bathroom (one shower, one toilet, one sink) with five other girls. I knew going into the week, the bathroom could potentially be a challenge. I was right. (My razor got borrowed without permission and I had to throw it out. Kelly got half of her conditioner used. The place was a mess. There was almost always someone in the bathroom. One night, before anyone could shower, we had to fix the curtain rod which had somehow ended up on the floor. And it smelled worse than the polluted river in town that had a rotting pig in it. To say the least, our patience was tested.) It’s never boring here.

Sylvia's "Jesus is the vine, we are the branches" peacock-looking interpretation. It's never boring here

One of the first mornings, though, I went running with Jacob and Meagan (one of the high school girls), and she was a huge encouragement. She said she’s a cheerleader and shared her motto with me: no challenge, no change. I was super glad she shared that with me. Instead of viewing challenges as roadblocks or annoyances of life, I was reminded to view challenges as opportunities to embrace as a means to change. As we ran up the giant hill, I reflected on the bathroom situation and started to see it as a way to allow God to work in me and bring change to my heart and my way of living. If everyone was easy to love, I would never learn the joy of making an extra effort to love.

The group just left this morning. After being exceptionally loud past 2am the past couple nights, I was relieved by the solace of the peaceful house after the buses left. Before they got in the buses, Scott, one of the leaders, had all the guys do an extra cleaning of their room and asked them as a group, “How does a man serve?” They shouted back, “WITH REJOICING!” Wow, I love that. I’m stealing that idea….don’t just serve, but serve with REJOICING. Yes. That’s exactly what I needed to hear. Scott was one of the best leaders I have ever met in my life. Early on in the trip, it was the second day of leading VBS for the kids, and he led all of us in prayer before we started. He acknowledged that as we do our tasks and form habits, we can start thinking we can do things on our own power. He reminded us that nobody can save souls except God, and we need to have a constant attitude of prayer and reliance on God in all of our tasks. Amen!

Still loving encouraging the Makarios staff through Zumba! This was Imani's last day in the DR after 4 years of service. Next adventure for her: life in New Jersey!

I also recently got to share my testimony in Spanish with Lucia, our housekeeper. It was a really special bonding time of sharing, and it was very mutually encouraging. She shared with me that none of her family growing up were believers. Then, after she became a Christian, slowly her family all became believers as well. I can definitely see how she would have that effect on people – she lives what she believes! She definitely has the spirit in her. The host wife who lived here a few years ago before Margaret also worked with Lucia. Last week, Lucia had a really bad feeling about the previous host wife and had Imani (one of the staff) get in touch with her and find out what had happened. The week before, her daughter had been in the ICU and still has continuing health issues. I didn’t get all of the details, but it’s evident that the holy spirit is working through Lucia in a very unique way.

Last week, I found myself with some free time one day and decided to teach Sylvia, one of the neighborhood girls, how to make friendship bracelets. A couple other neighborhood kids joined in, and it was a really fun time and great way to connect with them. Those same kids later tried to steal money through a window of the house when we weren’t home, but we found out, and they got a “boche” (stern talking to) from Margaret and I don’t think they will ever do that again, at least in the near future. Theft isn’t as much of a problem here as it used to be, from my understanding. A few years ago, there was a dictator here who cut off the hands of anyone who stole anything. Though that rule would (hopefully) never fly in the US, it seemed to work well to deter thievery here. Dominicans are very honest people in general. For example, we were just at the beach yesterday with this last group, and one of the vendors on the beach found a pair of shoes that belonged to a group member and returned them to us. And I really wanted to buy a Dominican newspaper but didn’t have change for my $500 peso bill. The guy selling the papers said he would get change for me and walked away with my large bill (equivalent to $12 US). Cole (one of the interns) joked with me after a few minutes of the guy not returning that I just got ripped off. But the guy returned with my change soon after J

It’s hard to believe there’s only 3 more weeks before we return to the US! This week, we get some time off. Then, we have two more weeks of groups (including our first group of middle schoolers of the summer)!

Here’s some things you can look forward to hearing about:

-          Worship event tonight with Nicole (Dominican teacher who lives across the street) in Puerto Plata

-          Running and milking cows with my Peace Corps friend Michelle

-          Kelly and I cooking for Lucia and her family on Monday

-          Community Zumba night Tuesday

-          Snorkeling trip with the interns

-          Meeting Angelica (!!!) my Compassion child in Santo Domingo!!!

-          Two more groups filled with awesomeness and God-sightings!

In the meantime, please continue to be in prayer for us and the ministry of Makarios. The longer I’m down here, the more I want to call this place my home. And I keep thinking of ways my family and friends could serve down here too, so I think you all will end up moving with me – prepare yourselves J Please also pray for (unrelated to the DR) my living situation for when I start work in Indiana. I was so looking forward to living with my friend Sarah and having automatic Christian community and accountability with her as roommates. However, I recently found out that she will be getting married the week before I start work. Entonces (translation: “that said”), I need to be on the lookout for a new roommate ASAP, for financial and spiritual reasons.

Hasta luego, si Dios quiere, (Until next time, Lord-willing)

Juanita (my Spanish name)

A New Red, White, and Blue

If you are looking for something to pray for, please pray for a sweet 6-yr-old in Pancho Mateo. I’m blanking on her name right now, but she has a serious health condition and lives with her very unloving dad. Her left arm has swollen up to the size of a football player’s arm, and she is going to have it amputated in the near future. She used to be a student at Makarios, but for complicated reasons related to her uncle that I still don’t fully understand, she is no longer a student. She is full of grace and has a super sweet spirit, and she needs a lot of prayer.

I am continuing to love life here in the DR. Kelly and I have decided we will probably both move here in a few years, si Dios quiere (Lord willing). It’s interesting to spend the 4^th of July here in the DR. Although, the DR colors are red, white, and blue too. It’s just a different red, white, and blue that doesn’t seem to bat an eye at July 4^th….but I’ve heard their February 27^th is quite jamming here, as that is their independence day. We are going to have a little BBQ just for fun today for those of us that care about the 4^th of July. I’m bringing mangos.

I’m trying to think about what has happened since my post last week. We have a new group in now. They are a young adult group from Texas. Makarios has most of their PR in Texas, I’m realizing. When we introduce ourselves to new groups, I’m always the “non-Texas person.” I’m proud to represent the north, but I never really thought of Kentucky as the north before.

Shout out to the group last week who left all of us super encouraged by uplifting notes!!!

I like this group. This is their third day here, and they are already wearing me out. This really athletic girl is here, and she convinced me to run with her this morning after yesterday’s difficult run and my “hot Zumba” class. So I’m pretty beat now, but it’s good to be exhausted, especially when I have this morning off and can just sit and blog. The team is currently in Pancho Mateo, one of our main communities we serve. They are cleaning the church there and playing with the kiddos. Last week, we had a jamming volleyball game in Pancho Mateo for the girls. Most of the sports here are taken over by guys, so we wanted to allow a sports outlet for girls. 10 or so girls came out and played with the team we had last week. It was a good game, but I didn’t watch most of it, to be honest. I was busy babysitting the little ones on the sidelines, trying to break up fights, calm tears, and keep the toddlers from crawling into the broken glass haven under the concrete bleachers. There are so many kids here who are responsible for taking care of their younger siblings. There was a 5-yr-old toting around her naked baby brother. And one of the 12-ish-yr-old girls playing volleyball kept coming over to the sidelines to calm her 2-yr-old sister. On the up-side, they are learning parenting skills very early on…but they are also experiencing a very different childhood from the North American norm. I have yet to figure out what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s just different?

I had a really good conversation with my mentor Tuesday, while I treated her to a Coca-Cola with an ocean view. She talked some about what she learned during missionary training before her move to the DR. She said some things are good, some things are bad, but some things that we view positively or negatively are really just different from our cultural norm and we view them in a tainted way based on that. That got me thinking about things on bigger and smaller scales. I think growing up, I had viewed some of my sisters’ qualities negatively just because they were different from mine. But in reality, differences can be huge blessings. People can reach others for the kingdom of God because of their differences. The same is true for culture. Yes, they drive like hooligans here. But at least that keeps them from texting and driving because they feel more of a desperate need to pay attention to the road. There’s good and bad in the differences.

This is my beautiful mentor Gabrielle with one of her students in the Chichigua community.

We also talked about how, as a missionary, we aren’t just bringing “The Gospel.” In reality, we are bringing ourselves. So focusing on being filled with as much of Jesus as possible is vital to missionary life (and the Christian life period). Even though people are getting “you” rather than Jesus, the more filled we are, the more the Truth can be spread through us. That was a huge encouragement to me to hear and just to be reminded of how essential preparation through growth in the Lord is.

We (the interns) also got to do a super cool thing the other day before the group got here. Margaret and Doug were taking a chill pill together at the beach, and we were in Los Ciruelos with Sharla (the founder of Makarios – and CU grad – who was here with her two boys she adopted from here). We were given a task to do random acts of kindness for all of the Dominican and Haitian Makarios staff. It was SUCH a cool experience!! We baked several batches of cookies and brownies to give out. (Many of the staff don’t have ovens, so it was a special treat for them.) We hired Aldo, who drives some of the students to and from school, to drive us around for several hours. The first stop was Los Algodones, where we met up with Monica and Odilsia. They cook lunches at the Makarios school. We gave them cookies and talked with them. They were so surprised and overwhelmed with joy at our visit. Monica shared with us about how she came to know the Lord through meeting her husband. She said she wanted a husband very badly, so she went up the mountain and prayed to God for a husband. When she met her husband, she knew it was an answer to prayer and that she could trust in the Lord. Before leaving, we prayed for them and exchanged reluctant goodbyes. Then we went to Chichigua, where Ronal lives. He works at the school and has the one of the cutest baby girls I have ever seen. He and his wife became believers a couple years ago and got married shortly after. Ronal, like many Haitians living in the DR, are in the process of trying to get their residency papers so that they won’t be deported and forced to live away from their families and established lives here. Then we visited about 10 houses in Montellano, bringing heartwarming tears to the eyes of a couple of them. Back to Los Circuelos, our final stop was for Lucia and Belizeur. “Beli” is a teacher at the school. He teaches religion, math, and English. He runs with Jacob and a I a few mornings each week and is the daughter of Lucia, our cleaning lady and cook at the Mak house. They have a beautiful, loving family, and Lucia’s husband is actually a pastor at a church in Los Algodones. After we prayed for them, Lucia’s husband prayed for us too and encouraged us to be in prayer for the United States, especially because of the recent Supreme Court ruling about gay marriage.

You see that wall in the background? The community of million-dollar homes on the other side put it up to block out the view of the poverty. (Otherwise Chichigua would still have their beautiful view of the ocean.) Isn't that what we do to God, telling him we don't want to see the areas of need in our own lives?

Thinking about some cultural differences once again, I reflected on how, in the United States, people would be more likely to be upset by a spontaneous visitor than to be overjoyed to the point of tears. Their hospitality, relational focus, warm greetings, and openness about struggles to pray for really touched me and challenged me to live more like that.

On Sunday, Kelly and I had the unique opportunity to go to church in Los Algodones with Lucia. It was the most treacherous moto ride of my life. This time, it was not because of the traffic but because of the terrain. Evidently, many moto chofers refuse to take people to Los Algodones because the roads are just THAT bad. Beli and his uncle (Monica’s husband) drove us. Sylvia came with us too and did my hair for me before we left for church. She is a sweet blessing and honestly feels like a little sister to me. I didn’t understand very much of the service because it was mainly in Creole, but the pastor (not Lucia’s husband, but a substitute pastor) was surprisingly fluent in English and translated for himself so we could understand. There were a couple little girls who were super intrigued by us the whole time, holding our hands and touching our hair. When it was time for the offering, I gave them some pesos to put in the plate, and it made their day! Like my sister Laurel always says, it’s the little things.

Kelly and I had some free time before the group got here Wednesday, so we snagged a few hours with Cleuyi at the beach. Cleuyi is our moto driver who is very open to the Gospel but hasn’t committed yet. I wrote my testimony and a gospel summary in Spanish and shared it with Cleuyi. He said it was beautiful, and we had a really good discussion. And we all enjoyed our Mango Verde Gatorade, not available in the US to our knowledge.

Yep, there's 4 of us on Cleuyi's moto. Livin' the dream, going to Montellano to get peppers and tomatoes.

I went over to Nicole’s yesterday. Nicole is a sweetheart. She’s a counselor for the kids at the Mak school and is studying psychology at the university. Her English is better than my Spanish, so we went on a walk and had a lovely Spanglish conversation. I met her friend and neighbor Danielle. We went to the colmado so I could get change and buy a bag of hamburger Cheetos to share. Turns out they don’t like hamburger Cheetos though, but at least I tried to share them. Nicole and I had a really good conversation about determining God’s will and about this book called Love Does that I just read (p.s. I highly recommend that book)!

I had the privilege of cooking dinner with Lucia and Odilsia yesterday. And by cooking dinner, I mean slaving in the 90 degree kitchen for 4 hours, loving every minute of it, as I made great conversation and jokes in the best Spanish I know how, according to Jonnah standards. I’m learning that “good food” here is classified as food with a LOT of salt and oil. It’s scary (for my health) how much I like it. I always tease Lucia that it needs to be spicier (mas picante es siempre mejor).

In other news, I’m hoping to meet my Compassion child Angelica in a couple weeks! I told Cleuyi I have a girl in Santiago, and he got a little freaked out, thinking I have a daughter. I debated not clarifying, just for the humor of it, but then I did.

P.S. Mom I get tons of compliments on your pants, though I typically roll them up into shorts because despite the thin material, it’s just so Dominican hot here. I love it though. I’m used to the constant sweating and enjoy it as long as I stay hydrated.  

A guy just passed the house on a horse with a pig following behind.

Peace, love, and happy 4^th of July!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Col. 3:23