Okay so I know that it has been a little while since I last blogged. I am truly sorry that it has taken me so long to send you all an update about how the race is going and how God is moving. I will start where I left off, at the end of Month One.
During our last week of ministry in the DR, my team was asked to plan an English camp for the children of the village. We prepared a bible story, skit, craft, and game time for the kids. There were about 50 kids that attended. During the week we also helped prepare worksheets and other resources for the ministry to use in their Learn to Speak English Training program. It was sad to see our time in Lajas end but on Sunday, February 2nd we left and travelled to the capital city of Santo Domingo for a few days of “debrief.”
Debrief occurs every few months and is a week where the entire squad can rest, relax, and rejuvenate before heading to our next country and next ministry. There are times when the squad comes together for worship, devotion and various meetings, but there is also free time to explore the city and just to relax. Activities of interest during debrief included shopping trips to go buy everything we forgot at home, sightseeing, and finding all of our favorite foods that we had been deprived of for 3 ½ weeks.
On Friday, February 6th the squad loaded a motor coach and set out for Haiti. After many hours on the bus, a few hours sitting at the border, and one bus switch later we arrived at Mission of Hope. The entire squad served together this month. MOH has several different areas of ministry at its core; a few include: 4 schools, a feeding program of over 90,000 meals served a day, a clinic, a prosthetics lab, sewing program, and hosts over 5,000 missionaries annually. Over the next three weeks, my team and I conducted door to door ministry where we collected census information, provided community health education, and shared the gospel. We visited a number of small villages that MOH currently works in. Many of our afternoons were spent playing with the village children and showing them love. We have also been involved in various construction projects including painting houses. A highlight of the month includes an afternoon visit to Children’s Lifeline. It was great to see familiar faces and see how God is at work in the community. After just 3 short weeks, Month 2 has come to an end.
We begin ministry at Christian Light Foundation Costa Rica on Monday, March 2nd. My team will be staying in Los Guido which is outside of the capital city of San Jose. We will not find out what our ministry host has planned for us until we arrive. Also there is no internet at our site and the nearest free wifi is at a McDonalds, 20 minutes away. I will do the best I can with blogging and Facebook updates.
The last month has been great and the Lord has been teaching, growing, and challenging me. One thing I have learned is that missions is messy. It involves building relationships and getting into the messiness of people’s lives. There is not one cookie cutter approach, but each interaction is different and requires us to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us in that approach. Also my team has grown together as we have become vulnerable with each other, ministered together, and just goofed off together. I am excited for what the next month and what the Lord has in store!
(Sorry I wrote and proofread this post in a hurry at midnight, please excuse all grammatical errors!)
