Hello everyone,

Welcome to my blog where I hope to document some of my experiences for this next semester in the Dominican Republic.  My internet access is going to be quite limited, so I do not know how much I will be able to keep this (and thus you all) updated.  Ideally I'll write something about once a week, but we shall see how this all goes.

For those of you wondering a little bit more about what (I think) I'll be doing, allow me to elaborate:

This is a program run by Bethel College (the one in Indiana) and Students International (a missions organization).  On Sunday I will drive out to Bethel with my parents to begin orientation Monday morning.  After two days of whatever that all holds, I will travel with my team (of approximately 15 people) to Jarabacoa, a town near the center of the DR.  The first 5 weeks of this experience will involve classes as I study Spanish, the culture of the DR, and about global ministry.  That will be followed by 1 week of travel around the island and then we will all move to different locations around the country to begin our work at our respective ministry sites for the next 8 weeks.

I will be working in the mountain region of Los Higos.  I have been placed in a social work site where I will be working with teenage girls and young women.  I do not yet know the extent of my responsibilities, but these are the murmurings I have heard:
- Bible studies
- Just hanging out and speaking with the women
- Health/sex education
- Encouraging and empowering women that they are not required to bend to whatever fantasy a man has in mind for them
- Teaching how to knit and/or sew
- Teaching how to build stoves that are better for their health and the environment
- Who know what else...
I'm not entirely sure which of these skill sets I possess, I do know that I am limited in these areas, but I also know that God is bigger and much more powerful.  I am excited to learn alongside with the women in these areas and also in whatever else God has to teach me.

Prayer Requests:
- That I will be available to the things God has to teach me during this next semester
- That I will be available to God's work in serving the people of the Dominican Republic
- For safe travels during this next week

Please let me know if there are any ways I can be praying for you as well.  My abilities to stay in contact with people for these next couple months are going to be quite limited, but even though technology falls short in this realm, the power of prayer never does.

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26