Our apartment was quaint, furnished with antiques, and the tile floors oddly reminded me Italy. Sunlight was pouring in through big, open windows that looked out onto the children playing in the streets below. I sensed God’s presence here.
Padre Las Casas, our home town for the next three weeks, is located deep inside the island and surrounded by lush, green mountains.
(across the street from our apartment)
The day before had been VERY long. We left our hotel in Chicago at 2:30 AM on Saturday, flew to Florida, then to Santo Domingo where we spent the next ten hours in the airport waiting for the other half of our team.
At 10 PM when the rest of the group arrived we then crammed into a bus and rode through the night to the middle of the island where we feasted on tacos upon arriving to an AIM missionary’s house. By then, I had lost all concept of time. But it was dark and we were covered in sweat and beyond exhaustion. Sleeping mats squeezed onto every available space indoor. I found a spot on the back patio and napped for a few hours underneath the Dominican stars.
The next morning was Sunday and we had a cultural debrief from the DR missionaries.
Then my team of 6 girls piled into the back of the missionary’s truck and trekked up into the mountains, passing goats and banana trees, little towns and tropical fields, and finally landing Padre Las Casas.
Meco, the pastor of the Christian church here, was waiting to show us up into this apartment that would be our own for the month.
That night at 7:30 PM we attended his church where we were welcomed with genuine warmth and kindness. I was delighted by the richness and the passion the people displayed during worship. With their arms uplifted and their faces lit with joy, it was obvious that they loved the same God I did. I was brought to tears when they began singing my favorite lyrics by Hillsong in Spanish.
I lay in bed this morning praising Jesus for this town, anticipating the next three weeks, thankful for surviving the journey, and rejoicing over the believers in this country.
