Clueless

On one occasion, while [Jesus] was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 1:4-8

We really just have no clue, do we?  Here we see Jesus, after He has already risen from the dead, telling the disciples to hang around Jerusalem in order to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The disciples are thinking that this is when the kingdom of God will become a reality over all the earth, yet here we are, 2000 years later, and that still has not happened.  They were way off in their guess.  Additionally, I can assume pretty assuredly that they had a wrong picture of what that might look like (as we likely do now too).  And this idea of "baptized with the Holy Spirit" must not have made any sense to them.  They were completely clueless and I'm not sure that we're much different 2000 years later.

I think this teaches us two main things.  First off, we need to trust God to provide all of the answers and that He has a plan for this broken world, since we have trouble grasping many of these concepts.  Secondly, we are called to be witnesses, as it says at the end.  Let's think about this idea of witness in the domain of a court room.  A witness is called upon solely to present what they have seen and know to be true based on their experiences.  They are not called to judge right or wrong, there is a jury for that.  They are not called to say what the future will hold, there is a judge for that.  They are not called to convince anyone of what the truth is, there is a lawyer for that.  Witnesses just say what they have seen.

In a letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:1-2)  Paul was intentionally clueless to everything but what he had witnessed in Christ Jesus, because nothing else really mattered.

So may our cluelessness lead us not into despair, but rather to trust more fully in God and to be obedient in what we do know.  May we be witnesses of what we have seen.

Normal.

It is interesting to be back in the Dominican Republic for a second time.  While I am in a completely different program, life feels much more normal this time around.  I remember sending my parents text messages every day with something new and exciting:
"I had the official meal of the DR for the first time today!"
"I got to go horseback riding through the mountains for hours this afternoon!"
"You'll never guess what Mamá did today!  I've never seen something like that before!"
etc...

This time around, it feels less like a new adventure and more like returning home.  I've gotten to spend some time with both of my host families since coming back this summer.  But since I'm not living in the community, my experience on the whole is much more American as I return each night to the base and to my house full of American roommates.  This has contributed to a lack of culture shock this time around.  Additionally, many of the activities that are new from last time are reminiscent of camp: communal worship with the teams, large group games, campfires, etc.

I'm grateful to feel comfortable here and that I have gotten to experience so many wonderful things that good times are not surprising.  However, I think it would be better to keep challenging myself and pushing myself to get outside of my comfort zone in order to grow more.  It is good to find something new and exciting every day to avoid falling into a rut.

All that to say, this last outreach went very well, I had a blast, and I feel like I've gotten the hang of things around here.  For this next outreach, I'd like to push myself a little more.  In the same way that everything is new and a "first time" for the students who have come, the people I am with are new and therefore they completely change the experience.

- Pray with me that I can celebrate the newness each day holds and that I challenge myself beyond what is "normal."
- Praise God for how well things have been going, a wonderful last outreach, and that the teams are arriving safely as I write this.
- Pray for Génesis, a new student at Génesis who is having a tough time starting preschool and being away from her mom for the first time
- Pray that the gospel may be proclaimed

Some Stories

I just wanted to post a few stories quickly.

Ramón
Two weeks ago on Tuesday I had the privilege of joining our medical intern (Erin) to visit a man named Ramón who has a bedsore that was deep enough you could see his spine.  We brought him some supplies and were able to teach the family how to care for his sores.  Before we left, we were able to pray with the family.  That was such a good opportunity to get back into the community, meet someone in their own home, and pray with other believers.  It's always a good reminder that God is so much bigger than myself and that he is working and moving all over the world.

Taúmi
The other day we were changing Taúmi's diaper at school when she suddenly started hopping off.  Before we knew it, she was squatting down and pooping on the floor.  I think that might be one of the funnies things that has happened at school :)

Sun, Sand, and Slides
This weekend we took advantage of our time off by heading to the beach and to a place called 27 Waterfalls, where you spend the first half of the trip climbing up waterfalls, and the second half jumping off them or sliding down natural rock slides.  We (the interns) had such a great time together and a fun/relaxing weekend was exactly what we needed to get pumped for the new crew arriving today.

 Playing dominoes and eating dinner on the beach after a fantastic day.

Left to right: Me, Myles, Jeff, Christine, Brittany, Erin, Ari, Jesse

 Left to right: Christine, Brittany, Kelly, Me, Erin, Ari, Angie

Woohoo!

For the visual learners:

These photos are all on my facebook, as well as some more if you're interested.

Here we (interns/volunteers) are looking nice.

Top row: Jesse, Myles, Chris

Middle row: Kelly, Me, Ariana, Meaghan, Christine, Brittany

Bottom row: Angie, Erin, Jeff

Here we (interns/volunteers) are being ourselves.

This is Mildred, one of the girls in my class.

 And here we have Mildred winking for the camera

This is Henni.  She got ridiculously dirty this day at recess, and then had a bunch of sticks in her teeth that I am here picking out.

This is Melvin Colón (surrounded by the team from the first outreach).  He was a student at Génesis and has now written a number of songs and made his own CD called Usame Señor.  You can find it on iTunes.

Playing with the kids at recess.  Mildred is in the front of the line, then Rancés, and finally Alfry, who is also in my class.

 The awesome view I like to start my day off with.

A glimpse of the base.  The building on the right is the chapel/rec room.  The building on the left is one of the dorm rooms that the teams stay in.

It's already been 2 weeks?!

Hmm, well it seems as though I have not been very diligent about keeping people updated.  You can see below that my schedule is pretty full, but I apologize for not doing a better job keeping in touch with everyone.  Now that we have the first outreach (2 week mission trip) down, I should have a little more free time as I don’t need to take the time to learn everything and not all of the events are still mandatory.

This outreach went very well.  We had a great group of college students from InterVaristy Boston, InterVarsity Canada, Grove City College, and Tulane University.  I don’t have anything to compare them too, but all of the full time staff seem to think they were a lot more mature than perhaps many of the high school groups that come through.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see until Monday when the next crew arrives :)

I am working in a preschool classroom at a school for special needs kids.  We’re working on shapes, colors, numbers, and letters.  It’s pretty fun – I feel like I have a solid handle on these concepts :)  We also try to teach the kids some basic living skills like dressing themselves, going to the bathroom, and changing their clothes.

These updates here (this one and the two below) have been rather factual, and therefore probably not extremely interesting.  Peruse them as you are interested, if you are curious in what I am doing.  Hopefully I will add some stories here shortly that will be a bit more interesting.  Also, if you are interested, I occasionally post “articles” on my other blog (see the link on the right) that are not so much what I am doing and more what I am thinking about.  I’m still trying to figure out the best way to navigate having two blogs and how much to keep them separate or not.  Thanks for checking in and I hope you are having a fantastic summer, wherever you are!  Love you!

Prayer Requests:

- Praise God for how well all of us interns seem to be getting along and that we work well together

- Praise God for a wonderful first outreach

- Angie, the teacher in my classroom, is needing a visa to participate in an English program in Utah that would be really cool for her.  However, if she gets the visa, she would leave, making me in charge of the classroom…so just pray that God’s will be done :)

- Safe travel for the groups arriving on Monday

- That the gospel is proclaimed

The Cast

These are some of the key players in my life down here for the next couple months, at least the ones that I spend most of my time with.

The Interns:

Back Row: Erin, Ariana, Christine, Josh, Chris, Myles

Front Row: Jeff, Rachel (me), Meaghan, Vicki, Brittany, Kelly 

Kelly Avery. Lives in California. Goes to school in California. Works at the Art site.

Erin Brink. Lives in Colorado. Went to school in California. Works at the Medical site. Also my roommate.

Angie Coupe. Lives in Washington. Goes to school in California. Works at the Social Work site in El Callejón.

Meaghan McCarron. Lives in Louisiana. Goes to school in Louisiana. Works at the Education site in El Callejón.

Jeff Noppert. Lives in California. Went to school in California. Works at Génesis.

Chris Savoy. Lives in Louisiana. Goes to school in Louisiana. Works at the Dental site.

Myles Shank. Lives in Pennsylvania. Went to school in Florida. Our “Media Guy.”

Jesse Sundstrom. Lives in California. Goes to school in California. Works at the Men’s Sports site.

Ariana Sytsma. Lives in California. Goes to school in California. Works at the Social Work site in Los Higos (where I was last semester).

Christine Sweeney. Lives in California. Goes to school in California. Works at Génesis.

Brittany Wilson. Lives in California. Goes to school in California. Works at the Women’s Sports site. Also my roommate.

The Kids in My Class:

Alfry. If I had to choose a favorite, it would probably be him.  Very sweet and generally obeys instructions. Some of his mannerisms are so funny, but they're hard to describe.  About 4 or 5 years old. Cannot actually form intelligible words.

Evelyn. Has a great laugh and loves to scoot around with cars on the floor.  About 3 years old.  Has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair.  Doesn’t speak at all.

Mildred. The quickest to go in for a hug or to sit on your lap.  She’s a cute little troublemaker who spends a lot of her time laughing (sometimes quite mischievously). About 4 or 5 years old.  Has Down Syndrome.  Speaks, but doesn’t always choose to use all of her consonants :)

Taúmi. The cutest kid in the entire world.  She loves to swing and usually ends up spending all of recess in the swing.  About 3 years old.  Severely autistic and doesn’t really speak.

Yensey. Loves to run around the most and make sure everyone is behaving themselves.  He is the most capable of speaking and following directions when he feels like it.  Usually seen running around with his belt undone and flapping in the wind.  About 6 or 7 years old.  Has some learning disabilities that make it difficult for him to retain information.

The Leaders:

Angie. The main teacher in my classroom.  May be leaving shortly to participate in an English immersion program in Utah.  A really great teacher who loves the kids and has their respect.

Lordis. The classroom assistant in my classroom.  A huge help.

Amy Green. The full time missionary that works at Génesis and current director of the school.  Perfectly sarcastic – we get along great :)  This is her last summer before she goes back to the States to get her masters degree in order to then open special needs schools in other countries.

Josh Mathews. Team director. One of our disciplers.  Let’s us crash his house from time to time to hang out and play games.  Also wonderfully sarcastic.

Vicki Mathews. Team director.  Our other discipler.  She’s married to Josh, therefore we are crashing her house too.  Tons of fun in games as well and a wonderful baker, which she proves to us time and again :)

I’m loving these people.  What a blessing to spend 3 months with them!

A Typical Day

6:45 Meet in the chapel with all the teams for a brief prayer before heading out for individual devotional time

7:30 Gather back together in the chapel for a time of worship through music and then a devotional thought from a speaker

8:15 Breakfast and pack our lunches

8:55 Head to Génesis, a school for special needs children, with the other students who are serving there for their two-week mission trip

9:15 School begins with raising the flag and singing the Dominican national anthem

9:20 I head to the preschool classroom, where I spend my day, and begin taking kids to the bathroom

9:30 Devotional time with the kids (sing songs, pray, read a Bible story)

9:45 Help the kids with their coloring pages that match the Bible story we just read

10:00 Snack time

10:20 Take kids to the bathroom again

10:40 Learning time: this usually involves tracing or coloring.  Sometimes flashcards or other lessons

11:30 RECESS!  We play with the kids outside

12:00 Lunch.  After lunch the kids continue playing.  During lunch we eat with the American students, hang out, share testimonies, etc.

1:15 School begins again.  I take the preschoolers to the bathroom, help them brush their teeth, and help them change their clothes.  Parents begin coming to pick up their children.  Sometimes we work on more coloring or learning activities, sometimes we just play.

2:30 The bus comes and school is officially over.  We hang out with the American students until our truck comes.

3:30 The truck takes us back to the base and we have a snack

3:45 Free time.  I usually shower, finish up our assigned Bible reading, and hang out with the interns

6:00 Dinner

7:00 Activity with the teams: everything from teaching merengue to prayer walks to game nights

9:00 Free time.

10:00/10:45 Go to sleep :)