I can’t believe a week has already passed since we first arrived in the Dominican Republic!
After a long travel day, full of logistical close-calls including: a minor car accident on the shuttle to the airport (we’re OK!), needing to scramble at the airport to book bus reservations to show our “exit strategy” from the DR to Haiti before being permitted to check-in, and the purchase of 39 visas, we finally made it to our destination at the Hope for the DR ministry site in Lajas de Yuora in the beautiful mountain region of the country.
My team, the “Kingdom Shakers,” is one of three (out of our squad’s six teams) at this location for the month.
The Kingdom Shakers! In front of the Hope for the DR ministry site on our first day of ministry, meeting the women of Lajas!
L-R: Alissa, Ali (Squad Leader), Karyn, Alyssa, Nicole, Sarah, Monique, & Hayley (Team Leader)
There is a beautiful main house, where our ministry hosts live, with a wrap-around porch full of big Adirondack chairs to sit in and a pool in the back, which is very refreshing!
The main house on the Hope for the DR ministry site.
The backyard and pool!
There is a spot on the roof of another small building across from the main house with the most breathtaking views of the mountains and morning sunrises…
This morning’s sunrise!! GOD IS SO SO GOOD!!
Above that same rooftop, there is big mango tree that covers one of the corners, which was promptly claimed for our “hammock city” for the month.
Hammock City! – DR Addition 🙂
Down the seemingly unending concrete steps is the kitchen where the wonderful ladies Rosa, Margo, Margarita and Carmen make our meals 3 times a day – the meals are delicious!
This picture doesn’t do these stairs justice! They go on FOREVER!!!
The kitchen. And the amazing ladies who make our yummy meals!
Just past the kitchen is the pavilion where we meet for meals and squad gatherings.
The pavilion.
At the end of the steps is our dormitory, which is a single building comprised of two rooms. There is a very NON-soundproof wall that separates our 21 ladies (including 2 squad leaders) all sleeping on one side from the 1 gent (our male squad leader) sleeping on the other… along with all our extra bags – Sorry Seth!! 🙂 It’s a little lopsided to say the least, but it’s been fun all hanging together, like summer camp all squeezed into dozens of bunks!
The Dormitory.
The girls’ side! Mine is the last one on the right on the top with the amazingly engineered mosquito net covering! haha
Our first full day was spent resting and recovering from travel, exploring the grounds and getting to know Kristan, our amazing hostess from Detroit who has been interning in the DR for three years teaching English in a small school just down the street. The next day we set out to prayer walk around the site and talk to Kristan about the visions the ministry has for the land in the future including an orphanage and a basketball court/rec area for the kids in the community.
Some of the land on the Hope for the DR site.
By Wednesday, we dove into our ministry assignments for the rest of the month. With 3 teams, we are focusing on 3 different ministries: Women’s ministry, Children’s ministry, and Street Evangelism. We will rotate once, so each team will have the ability to do 2 of them before month-end.
The Kingdom Shakers are doing the Women’s ministry first and we are so excited to pour into the women of this community!
The Kindgom Shakers sitting with some of the mothers and their children in Lajas.
This little one LOVED back rubs 🙂
…And promptly fell asleep! 🙂
From what we’ve gathered, there are a lot of broken homes in this area and cases of infidelity by the men. This has caused a lot of disconnect within the community amongst the women as a result.
There is a group of mothers that meet every Tuesday and have welcomed us to speak to them during their next meeting this coming week. We spent the rest of our time planning the agenda and walking around the community meeting the women and inviting them to come. We’re also organizing an event for the women at the Hope for the DR site next Friday for additional teaching.
We will be talking to them about their worth and identity in Christ and that they are worthy of love and reminding them how much they are loved by God.
I’m so happy to finally be here and to be diving right into the community we have the privilege of spending this month in. I can’t wait to share all about the experiences to come!
**Due to inconsistent internet access. Some blogs may be posted a while after originally written. 🙂
