It’s now 4AM here on my last night in the Dominican Republic. We just finished our Squad’s first full debrief, which was a great success! As one of 2 logistics leaders, it’s part of my responsibility to set up debrief – from securing lodging and food, to booking a meeting room and planning an all-squad activity…on a VERY tight budget (think missionaries who support-raise to have funds for this ;P)
I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my amazing co-leader, Hery (pronounced Heidi). She’s originally from the DR (moved to Alaska when she was 4) and speaks fluent Spanish! We booked a place for 42 people right in Boca Chica Beach, DR and it came complete with A/C, (some) hot showers in the rooms, free (spotty) internet and laundry service!! With the beach just 2 short blocks away, the team had plenty of time to rest and recharge and still find time to explore!
Most of my time was spent, making sure the team was well cared for, expenses were paid, the Squad Leaders and coaches/mentors were comfortable and able to lead amazing sessions for the squad, and that we had secured safe travel arrangements to Haiti (via bus). It’s not easy securing travel for 42 people to cross the border into Haiti!!
That said, I have had little down time, myself, to rest and recharge. Hery and I will be taking the first couple of days of ministry off in Haiti to take our rest. 🙂
I have loved serving my squad and I’ve been so blessed by their recognition and appreciation for all of our hard work.
It has been hard, though, to miss out on some of the sessions or on opportunities to hang with them and continue to build relationships during our scheduled down time, because I’ve needed to complete a task, but I take comfort in knowing we are all going to be serving together this upcoming month in Haiti at Mission of Hope.
On Friday, Hery and I had our own little “adventure day” to the capital of Santo Domingo. It’s our responsibility to mail in the squad’s receipts for the month, so we set out to find the closest DHL office.
I wasn’t particularly thrilled about the idea of missing almost an entire half-day of debrief to get these receipts mailed. And as we headed out in search of transportation, the man at the front desk of our hostel told us the office would be closed by the time we got there and that the only way we would make it, would be to take a taxi directly there, which would’ve been too expensive and well over our transportation budget!
We had to make a decision: to wait until the next day or to go for it and take the chance that it would be closed upon arrival.
It took us about 5 minutes to decide we were going to go for it! We caught the first guagua (small taxi bus – MUCH less expensive option than a taxi) that passed by just a couple minutes after we walked outside! We quickly took our seats and asked the guy how we could get to our destination. We settled in and I grabbed Hery’s arm and let out a sigh. This is our sign to each other that we’re going to pray and invite God into the midst of our day and the tasks at hand, asking Him for His will and not our own to be done.
As we started to bow our heads, we heard a woman in the seat behind us verify where we were going and share with us that she was in fact headed that way! She instructed us to follow her when she got off the bus and to jump onto the next guagua with her. So we did!
After the 2nd guagua, we were instructed to jump into the same cab as her. A perfect stranger helped us get almost to our destination! We ended up catching the 4th and final leg with one of our ministry contacts from the month who had helped us secure our transportation to Haiti who just so happened to be in the capital at the same time and had called Hery to ask a question about our bus transportation! He was able to hand us our bus tickets for Haiti and drop us off right in front of the OPEN DHL office!
Hery and I crammed into the front seat of a shared taxi cab!
We had a similar time getting back to the hostel afterward and Hery even ran into her cousin passing by on the sidewalk who helped point us along on our path!
Hery and her cousin!
As I sat on the final bus back to Boca Chica, I was reflecting on the day and how I had just felt so calm and at peace with the chaos that ensued around me… in a language I didn’t understand. I always felt safe and I always knew God was going to get us to our destination safely.
I then felt Him remind me of the morning bus ride, when we stopped to pray…
That woman interrupted us BEFORE we had even started praying!
I felt Him say to me the verse in Matthew 6:8 “… for your Father knows what you need before you ask it.”
God was there. He wanted to be a part of what we were doing, even if it was in the midst of a busy, to-do list kind of day. He wanted to be invited in. And in so doing, He wanted to honor our prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
**Due to inconsistent internet access. Some blogs may be posted a while after originally written. 🙂
