Dominican Republic #6
Each morning has brought us a new perspective to think about during our devotional time. This morning was "Are we All in for Christ and His calling?" We dove in to Matthew 9 and 13, Mark 10, and Luke 9 so this is what I thought about throughout the day. How can I be all in, how can I show the love of Jesus today? We then heard the testimony of John, a missionary with Student's International (SI), and how he responded to the call and being obedient to what God was calling him to do. We had a great breakfast and we are so thankful to the wonderful cooks here that pour love into their cooking and feed us so well. After breakfast, the team split up to go to each of their sites for the day.
Olivia and I were with the preschool education team. We had the pleasure of working with Yocosta and Vilma with the 2/3-year-olds in the morning and 4/5-year-olds in the afternoon. I am so glad that Jesus’s love is able to shine through a language barrier! Olivia and I poured ourselves in to these fun, energetic, crazy, sweet kids! Our morning was different from the last three days because this day the kids graduated from their 4/5-year-old program. We worked on getting the certificates made, setting up chairs and tables, and blowing up about 80 balloons for a balloon arch. We were able to have a couple of hours to hang out after we decorated and before the kids came. It was a sweet time to get to know some of the missionaries and employees with SI. The fun graduation time started to begin and we saw the kids all dressed up and with their families. We helped with passing out the graduation gifts and packets of their completed lessons. Everyone enjoyed the kids dancing to a song they practiced a dance too. It was so cute watching the kids practice all week and then show their parents their dance moves!
What a way to wrap up the week and see what a blessing the organization, the teachers, and volunteers are to these families and their community. Words can not express the impact this trip is having on us and what God is showing us here in the DR. Each night we are able to come together as a team to digest and debrief with the team and our bonus team (from Maryland)! We talked about where we saw God today and what was something that was impactful. This is one of my favorite moments of the night because we all get to hear what each site did for the day and how different of an experience it is for team members at each site. We have grown close as a team and have really become friends, but more importantly family in Christ. We have had the pleasure of really feeling close to the staff members and the intern who we work with daily. We are beyond grateful for this experience and the opportunity to follow His call!
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
- Heather for the team