19:49 Dominican Republic // September 15th, 2017
woah.
Right now, I’m sitting under a tin roof on the third floor of the host home my squad of 45 is shacked up in
as I listen to the pitter patter of the rain
and quiet conversations about stories worth telling
Thoughts and ideas swirl the room around me like the moths and bats that keep finding themselves under our tin roof enjoying the light source of a single lighbulb
Right now, I am in the Dominican Republic in soaking wet clothes
a third from washing my clothes in a waterfall
a third from impulsively jumping in the pool with my clothes on
and a third from dancing in the rain with one of my teammates Kaylee.
Right now, marks day 4 of the race,
Day 4 of a new chapter, a new season, and I lack words to perfectly depict what it is im feeling. I wish I could paint the perfect picture; Van Gough art.
But Im afraid I just. cant.
I’m no Van Gough, but a wannabe Shakespeare instead; so my prayer is that you allow my words to paint a “starry night” for your eyes to read and brain to see.
Right now my thoughts and feelings are a jumbled mess,
but in the midst of my overwhelmed mind, I’m thankful for right now. I’m thankful for right here. the people to the right and left of me with hearts on fire for change, I’m thankful for the amazing hosts we’ve been blessed with and their incredibly loving family. I’m thankful for the eyes that allow me to see the saturated vegetation in every which way I look, the legs that take me places, the hands I’ve been given to serve, the heart I’ve been given to love well with, and the people the Lord has intentionally placed in my life, to prove that we could fight for one another. One of those people being a three year old girl, named Stephanie that I just met yesterday.
Yesterday my team and another team on my squad were assigned to visit Cien Fuegos, a children’s center started by our host family, Ruben and Vickie Dominguez. About an hour away from where we’re living for the month, this place was originally started because the hungry children of puerto plata were going to nearby trash dumps in hope to find something, anything to eat as well as viable items in order to sell to provide for their families. In that case, Cien Fuego began as a place that the children could go to eat a decent meal. Over time, with the amount of kids in the area without an education because of how few schools there were that had space for them; 13, 14, and 15 year olds had very little to no knowledge of something each of you never think twice about having… The ability to read. Cien Fuego, a place the kiddos of Puerto Plata thoroughly enjoy going to, is also the place I met my first 3 year old best friend, Stephanie that shed so much light on what it looks like to fight.
Walking into the children’s center, my heart skipped a beat or five. I felt drawn to the last room on the left, almost as if my hand was being gently lead by a captivating whisper telling me to simply follow. I walked into a room of about 11 kiddos ages ranging from 3-5. Timid and shy at first, they sat super close to one another and refused to allow us to get close without tensing up. All up until I had the strongest urge to dance, the weirdest, strangest, most free dance. No limitations. You see, kids are easy to be around because you’re not having to consistently feel like you have to meet the expectations other people place on you. When you’re around kids you can be whoever you want. A police officer, a mermaid, a singer, an actress, an elephant, whatever you want, and they’ll just go right along with it. mmm. After I moved my feet way faster than I thought I was capable of, I realized the heaviness of the room lifted and the kids felt comfortable around us. We sat with them for some time and got to know the basics; favorite colors, names, and ages. After talking to a few sweet pea’s, I noticed a sweeeet girl sitting on a wooden bench, holding on to her doll, for dear life. Sparkly golden brown eyes looked at me and I knew I was meant to be exactly where I was. I asked her name, Stephanie. My girl. I instantly felt drawn to her. Like how I felt meeting Abby Moore and instantaneously knowing we’d be best friends. The feeling you get when you’ve spent hours looking for the right house and you finally DO!!!! I felt content, I felt I was right where I needed to be in that moment.
Hour one went by and she’d been been on my back for 50 out of the 60 minutes I’d been there. Because she had to hold onto me in order to stay on, I was responsible for her doll. While dancin around with her little arms wrapped around my neck, one of the little guys Jo Kelly, came up to us and began ripping the doll from my hands. Let me tell
you people, I’ve never faught harder for an object. Stephanie found comfort in that doll, she would’nt put it down, and no one was taking it away from her. I refused to let
that happen. A solid five minutes pass and I’d gone the whole time without giving in to the other set of little hands battling me for the doll. Eventually Jo Kelly gave up
and Stephanie and I celebrated our girl gang victory. We didn’t let that doll out of our sight. An hour went by and Stephanie and I covered the basics. Her favorite colors
are both pink and blue, she is three years old, and that little girl is persistant, focused and driven. You might read that last sentence and think I’m crazy for feeling like
I know a little after spending four hours with her, but I feel like I just do. Together we drew a picture of a lot of things, circles and sguiggles mostly, but the second I
taught her how to draw a sun, it’s all she could draw. Stephanie is sunshine, and it was beautiful to have been able to watch her successfully fill the paper with multiple
versions of sunshine. A memory, I’ll forever remember.
After her and I finished drawing our picture we folded it up and set it off to the side so that I could take it back with me, we moved on to our next coloring page torn from the coolest care bears coloring book around. We got so caught up in learning how to stay in the lines that we completely forgot about our first masterpiece. I looked left and right when i saw cute ol Jo Kelly back at it again. He had a paintbrush he was using his salvia for to draw all over the beauty we’d created. NNNOOOOOOOOO!! Sheer dissapointment people, I let out a lil AHH and Stephanie looked at me more than confused, she looked to her right to see what had my attention, just to see Jo Kelly wouldnt give me the paper back, so her little three year old brain took matters into her own hands. She went straight for his arm. It wasnt until a few minutes later that I realized what had just happen. I saw Jo Kelly crying and assumed it was because she’d taken the picture from him when I saw a lil discoloration on his shirt where he’d been holding. 2 plus 2 equaled 4 and I realized…….. SHE BIT HIM!!!! WHAT!!!! As much as I dont condone biting, in anyway, how nuts she fought for me over a measly loose leaf of paper. My mind was completely blown away. Before yesterday, I couldnt tell you I’d ever had a friend bite another person for me, but now I can. He got over it after 40 seconds or so to go right back to being friends, but I just wasnt over it. After we’d finsihed a few more works of art, they colored my fingernails with sharpie pens and covered my arms and legs with their names and doodles that might as well have beem written on the walls of my heart.
Names and faces I’ll never ever forget. Names and faces willing to fight for a 17 year old girl who has a thing for keeping coloring pages. Names and faces that unknowingly struggle at home, that I had the oppurtunity to love on and play with despite the circumstances they live in. They were able to be kids again, because of the oppurtunity the Lord placed in front of my face.
In all of this biting, and fighting, I have learned to fight and bite for those who lack a voice. For the voices that go unheard, the faces that are unseen and looked past.
I refuse to sit back in complacency and allow society to passify the shadows of the world that lurk in the backyards of our own homes, because we’re too ignorant to get off of
our couches and make a difference. This trip is me taking steps to change the lives of innocent women and children stuck in absuive home situations, sex trafficking,
women sold into slavery, young men and women relying on other people’s trash in order to feed the poeple of their own families, to be an escape for someone in need of joy even if it’s only an hour or two, to cover communities and people in prayer. I’m here to be an advocate for these people. To love them well. To show them that there’s more to life than what they’ve been limited to. That God is much bigger than modern day slavery and that He’s capable of moving mountains. Tonight I feel sick to my stomach knowing that these statistcs arent just numbers on a screen, but real human lives. Tonight I feel angry, and confused, overwhelmed and lost, but Tonight I also sit beside the pool on the tippity top of Hope mountain, with Hope. Confident that the purpose of my life wasnt to sit back and watch, but to react as best as I can for the people who feel powerless against the cruel and dark world we live in today.
Tonight I’m thankful. I’m thankful for right here. the people to the right and left of me with hearts on fire for change. I’m thankful for the eyes that allow me to see the saturated vegetation in every which way I look, the legs that take me places, the hands I’ve been given to serve, the heart I’ve been given to love well with, and the people the Lord has intentionally placed in my life, to prove that we could fight for one another. Tonight i’m thankful to have the opportunity to make a change, because of the righteous and sovereign God thats granted me that much.
