This month is all squad month which means that all 45 of us are serving and living together. We are in the little mountain village of Lajas which is about an hour outside of Santiago. The views and scenery are beautiful! Ranchero Los Pilones sitting in the picturesque location on top a mountain looking out on the adjacent hills. It looks a lot like home except the palm trees scattered across the hillsides. We are living in our tents on our hosts property. Ruben and Vicki have 8 children, but only four are still at home in the DR. Vicki is from Virginia and Ruben is from the DR. Their oldest 4 children are in the US and 3 of them are in the military. The family has been here for 5 years ministering in Santiago and Lajas. They primarily do church planting and children ministry. Their vision for their the property is to build homes for orphans. They are currently waiting for the fund and desiring contractors to come to clear and break ground for the homes.
Our ministry this month has a lot of variety. Since there are 7 teams we are each doing something different each day. We are providing daily English lessons at the Ranch, working around the property doing manual labor, cooking and cleaning. Prayer walks around Lajas and Santiago, teaching English in Santiago, doing church services at two churches, and putting on a children’s ministry activity day on the weekend. So far, my team has prayer walked on the streets of Lajas (the main road is less than 2 miles long), taught English at the ranch and helped out around the ranch doing maintanence and labor.
Living conditions are much different than last month! But, I actually like it more because of the perspective I gain from it. Life is definitely more simple and the things that matter at home, don’t here. We are in the moutains and it rains quite a bit! When it rains, it pours! Our tents are located at the bottom of a flight of 30 rock steps. You are pretty much doing lunges up them! Talk about getting toned this month! It is great! On the property, there is a natural waterfall and pool which we bathe in. It is mountain fresh water and so refreshing! There are two dial-up computers in the town that you can walk to. Fruit trees are scattered throughout the property and we can pick anything that is ripe! The tangerines are amazing! One day a few of us helped Blanco, one of the helpers on the ranch, search out and dig up Name (pronounced ya-may; it is like Yuka or a potato) in the forest. It was a huge transition at first, but now I don’t want to leave. I love it here and am definitely in my element.
God is doing some beautiful things through this family and our ministry with them this month.
