A Day in the Life

For those of you wondering what a typical day might look like for me in Los Higos, read on.  For those who are not curious, you should probably stop reading now.

7:30 wake up.  Pull on my wool socks and fleece – if I haven’t already grabbed them at some point in the night.  It turns out it gets colder here than I was originally told.

Find a spot in the sun to warm up and have some devo time.  When Mamá sees that I’m up, she brings me a small cup of cafecito (50% coffee, 50% sugar).

Mamá calls that breakfast is ready.  I enter the house to find either a sandwich or galletas (a similar texture to those breadstick crackers you sometimes get with soup, but the size of a roll) and a cup of hot chocolate.

After breakfast, I get ready for the day and then return to the sun to read a little or talk with passing neighbors before heading off to work.

9:30 arrive at the Women’s Center.  Unlock everything if Arlene (the full time missionary and site leader) hasn’t shown up yet.

Girls begin to arrive for sewing classes.  They eagerly get their projects out and set to work as I help with pinning or fixing broken machines (all the old peddle type).

12:00 return home for lunch.  Rice and beans are a guarantee, and most likely some type of banana.  Fried banana (platanos fritos) is my favorite – it tastes very similar to French fries.  Platanos maduros (also cooked, but this time made sweet instead of salty and not crispy) are another likely possibility.  Some sort of meat is served, most likely chicken, and a salad (generally consisting of lettuce with salt and vinegar, maybe cucumbers too) is not uncommon.  All of it is delicious.  I have yet to be disappointed.

Relax a little after lunch.  Maybe talking with Mamá and Papi Ramón, maybe reading, maybe taking a little siesta :)

1:30 return to work for either more sewing classes, a married woman’s club on Tuesdays, or a girl’s club on Fridays.  These look like something between a youth group and a Bible study, depending on the age group.  About 4 women regularly attend the married women’s club and about 15 come to the girl’s club.

4:00 return home.  Some days this is the prime time to take a shower, because with the sun still out it is possible to see, and this is the warmest part of the day – a crucial factor when bathing outdoors.  Other days, hang out with Mamá, helping her with chores, hang out with neighbors, or maybe just relax at the house.

Eventually Mamá calls us in for dinner.  Typically a simple meal.  Perhaps mangú (mashed plantains – similar to mashed potatoes) and fried salami or maybe a fried egg with boiled yuca.

If there is electricity, we tend to watch TV as a family for most of the evening.  If there is no electricity, we sit around candles and talk.  Some neighborhood kids have begun coming over, so sometimes we play games with them too.

9:00 (or so) head to fortaleza azul (or the blue fortress – our bed surrounded by a blue mosquito net).  Read a little and journal about the day.  Talk with Courtney (my roommate) about the day and different observations/things we’re learning.

Asleep by 10 or 11.

The Calm (Before the Storm?)

I played piano today for the first time in the DR.  After a nap, I'm relaxing here on the computer, hoping to update people on my life here, but the larger focus is just to kick back.  Needless to say it has been a pretty chill day, and a chill week for that matter.  This weekend we had our Cross-Cultural Missions class, and I use the word "class" very loosely.  A more accurate description might be that we hung out with one of the kindest, gentlest professors ever as he shared his heart for missions and helped give us info and advice.  After we did that for a couple hours, we would move on to even more relaxed hanging out and watching movies.  There was no homework or reading to be done outside of class :)  Now that he has left, we're going to a few museums (no more than 1 a day), hearing lectures from a local professor, and filling more of our time with building community within our group and just relaxing.  I like to think of this as the calm before the storm before we head to the ministry portion of the semester on Friday, but who's to say that will be a storm?

Last week was our travel week.  We spent the majority of our time in Santo Domingo in the colonial zone where we saw numerous museums dedicated to Columbus and his arrival in the DR (this was where he first landed when he stumbled upon the New World), Trujillo (a dictator here from about 1930-1960), and the Tainos (the indigenous people group of the island).  We also spent some time at Los Haitises National Park, a beautiful area where we got to do some hiking and see some caves with Taino drawings on the walls.  This was a wonderful time for our team to come together after the 5 weeks of classes and living in separate homes.  At the end of the trip I picked up some sort of food poisoning which you can read about in the previous post, but that did not detract from the overall value of the trip.

So what happens Friday, you may or may not be asking.  On Friday I will move to Los Higos, a small mountain community of unmatched beauty.  This will be a much more rural environment than I have been living in where the most common form of transportation (if not on foot) is on horse or donkey.  On Monday I will begin working at Centro de las Mujeres, or Women's Center.  What that looks like is still to be determined, but I will be working with a full time missionary named Arlene, who began the center herself a few years ago and works there year round.  More details to come.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey thus far and for participating with me through prayer.  I cannot fully express my appreciation.  This has been a fantastic experience and this past week and a half has been a wonderful time to recharge before diving into the ministry portion.  Some ways you can continue praying:
- Pray for the overall health of our team.  We have been battling a lot of different kinds of illnesses lately.  Pray that this will not detract from our abilities to minister to others while we are here.
- Praise God for the many ways and times He has already healed our group and kept us safe.
- Praise God for travel week and the way our community grew even deeper together.
- Pray for us all as we return to living with Dominicans, that we might make the transition well, and that we may bless our hosts as they bless us.
- Pray for us all as we begin working in the various ministry sites; may we be available to however God wants to use us.

Have a wonderful week wherever you are in whatever you are doing!
Dios te bendiga

Sickness

“Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death.  No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’”  - John 11:4

On Thursday I got food poisoning.  At first, when my only two activities in life were either profuse vomiting or lying helplessly in bed, it seemed that my body was failing me.  However, upon further consideration, I have come to see how well and effectively my body was working.

Shortly after the bacteria (or virus or toxin or whatever) entered my body, it was identified as problematic to my health and my stomach began working to get it out of my system.  All other activities were to stop for me that day until this situation was dealt with.  In fact, my body didn’t even want me to eat or drink other things that might cause distractions.  The number one focus was getting this bacteria out, even if the process was at times harsh and painful.  After this affair, I’m a little tired, but overall I feel much better and I know that my body is healthier.

This got me thinking, what if we approached the sin and brokenness in our lives in a similar manner?  Step one: be on the lookout for the things in my life that are unhealthy for me and will only bring me destruction.  Step two: upon finding it, stop whatever else is going on to remove (through the prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit) the sin in my life.  The process may be harsh and painful at times, but it is the number one priority.  In the end however, I know that I am in better shape.

This analogy can even be focused in further.  By the fifth time I was throwing up, I was so exhausted and my body was so sore that I desperately did not want to go through it again.  I could feel my stomach becoming increasingly agitated and I would plead with God, “Please no!  Please not again!  Don’t let me throw up again!”  However as soon as the contents of my stomach had been relieved, I found myself in a new condition.  I would sit there, sweaty and with puke all over my face, relieved and slowly being filled with new vigor and vim.

When we come to trials in our lives, our first reaction can often be a plea of avoidance.  “No God, please don’t let that happen to me!”  Perhaps though, there is a sickness rising up within us that God is trying to expel from our lives.  When we get to the other side, we may very likely still be a little messy, but we have been given new life to carry on with.

“Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” – Mark 2:17

May you not fear your sickness, but rejoice in the potential for healing and new life.

Learning. Growth.

I write this blog entry at a point of transition within the program.  Just a moment ago I finished the last of my papers due to complete the class portion of this semester.  This afternoon I said goodbye to my family and moved out.  Tomorrow, my group and I will head to Santo Domingo for a week of travel, and when I return I will be moving out to the campo, Los Higos.

As I reflect back on 5 weeks of classes, it is easy to note it as a time of learning.  My Spanish abilities have improved tremendously, despite the fact I still can find myself stumbling through conversations.  However I have learned other things as well:

Laundry.  This stood out to me very clearly today as I was folding my freshly cleaned clothes.  You may recall a previous entry where I described the struggle of doing laundry, only to end up with stiff, wrinkly clothes that were not completely rid of their (or my, as it were) odor.  However I have since learned the Dominican techniques for alleviating this issues (shaking my clothes out at several different points in the process has proved to be life-changing).

Shower.  I took my last cold shower this morning.  I’ve learned what it’s like to not have warm water…ever…and how this affects your showering.  I’ve learned what a blessing it is to have a cold shower.  When I move to Los Higos my “shower” is a bucket of water outside the house.  There is a tarp up for some privacy.

God.  Through the duration of these past five weeks, I have been back and forth on what my family believes about Jesus and how relevant it is to their lives.  We’ve had good conversations and we’ve had confusing conversations.  It is cool to see how God is working in their lives.  My host mom has begun going more consistently to a Monday night Bible study and now even hosts one in her home on Thursday nights.  It is a cell group for new believers.  With the group meeting in her home, other members of the family are attending when normally they would be disinterested.  There is also a booklet that goes along with the lesson being taught each week and includes some questions.  The family had seen Courtney and I filling out the answers to the questions after the first week, so last night, as our grandma was working on her booklet, she came over to ask for help.  She has admitted before that it is often difficult for her to understand the Bible and being an oral culture, it makes sense that reading is not only difficult for her, but it also is not as effective for communicating.  This provided an amazing opportunity for me and I can’t think of a better way to spend my last night with this family.  I got to go through the book with her as it explains the basics of faith and believing in Jesus.  I could read the booklet and the Bible to her and then explain the more confusing aspects.  When the booklet alluded to stories she didn’t know, I could tell her the story and then help explain the significance.  While at first she just seemed to want me to tell her the answers I had put down, by the end she was contributing her own thoughts and able to come up with her own answers.  What a gift to see the way God is empowering this family to know Him more and surrounding them with a community of believers – some at the same point in their faith and others more mature and able to offer wisdom and guidance.

Life.  “¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  - 1 John 5:11-12.  I am learning and growing in how to have more life in my life, more Christ in my life.

Prayer Requests:

- Praise God for an amazing first portion of the semester and the safety/health He has afforded me thus far.

- Praise God that I got all of my papers and projects done on time.

- Pray for safety this next week as my team travels in and around Santo Domingo.

- Pray that I continue to learn and grow.

- Pray that my Dominican family continues to learn and grow.

May God bless you throughout this next week and may He fill you with His life.

“¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:16-19