Wow! First week in the Dominican Republic has been crazy! It has been crazy both in good ways and in growing ways. I’m living in San Juan de la Maguana in a house with my team and two other teams. Our squad leaders were with us for the past week which was awesome. Our squad leaders are there to fill us up and pray for us and I know my team felt their support during our first week of the race. My team’s ministry is evangelizing door to door, working with children, and preaching at church on Sundays. This past week we worked in Las Charcas and this week we are working in Lava Pie (which means foot wash, yay Jesus).
Things I have loved about the DR so far are the people, the mountains, the beach, the food, and our living situation. The people of the DR are so welcoming. Our ministry contact, Manuel Risado, is one of the most generous people I have ever met. He always wants to show us stuff and invite us to his house to use internet. He goes out of his way to make us feel welcome. The people we have been visiting in Las Charcas are the same. I’ve never gone without a chair at any of the homes we’ve been at and they are always willing to drop whatever they are doing to talk with us. I feel like I am being more blessed by the people here than I am blessing them.
I also love living with other teams. We have 20 people living in one house. Each team makes its own meals so there are nine meals being made each day in our house. The best part about it is there hasn’t been any confrontation. We all prefer each other before ourselves and when someone can’t do something there are three people there willing to pick up the slack. Our J squad family is continuing to grow closer every day.
The stuff that hasn’t been as awesome isn’t bad; it has just been stretching me and my team which has caused some growing pains. The things that I thought would be a challenge are not what I find the most challenging. For example, I didn’t think I would miss my alone time. I thought I would be able to adjust easily because I enjoy being around people. However, I had to change my entire idea of what alone is. Someone is ALWAYS there. I didn’t think that would ever bother me but it has. But it has stretched me to grow closer with my team a lot faster. I’ve learned to be comfortable being quiet with them which is something that usually takes a long time in normal friendships.
Another stretch has been in our ministry. Going door to door was the one ministry I prayed I wouldn’t have and the fact that door to door is what my team is doing exemplifies that God is trying to work some insecurities out of me. I was pleasantly surprised several days last week when I actually enjoyed talking with the people we visited and I didn’t feel like I was barging in on them and bothering them. The other stretch in door to door is that there isn’t always a tangible product from what you are doing. Door to door has required my team to let go of what we believe ministry to look like and trust in the fact that God put us here for a reason and He will be glorified in what we are doing as long as we look to him for guidance. This reminds me of one of the only verses I know by heart and I have to constantly remind myself of.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
This is an important verse to remember because most of the time I don't have a clue what I'm doing, I just trust that God knows what he is doing.
