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