Month two of the World Race is completed and this is what I have to say about it, “Wow”
The World Race is beginning to have to have an “All Squad” month for each route, which means that my 46 closest friends and I all stayed together for month two. We stayed in a town called Lajas in the Dominican Republic.
We lived at the home of an amazing family that has a vision of change for the country. They have a passion and desire to love on children and on families in the Dominican Republic, because those families are their own. The Lord has blessed them with a large piece of land where they hope to eventually build a retreat center, gym and orphanage. They have such an amazing family and dream, it was so great to get to spend so much time with them.
This was also the first month that we lived in our tents. Yes, I lived in a tent for the entire month, and as crazy as it seems, I liked it. I showered in a waterfall, shaved my legs in a river and slept in a tent. Everything that I imagined living on the Race would be like when I was still at home, this month was. It was hard, it was wonderful and it was worth it.
This month, because there were so many of us, we rotated through several different ministries. The ministries that we took part in were: grounds, work, a Lajas prayer walk, a Santiago prayer walk, a Lajas English class and a Cienfuegos English class.
Grounds:
Teams on grounds worked on the piece of property that the Dominguez family owns. We cut stairs out of the mountain side, carried rocks up to crease pathways from the mud, dug a hole for a septic tank to be paced in (which people needed to climb a ladder to get out), we dug rocks out of the river and moved buckets upon buckets of mud from one place to the next to clear space. I have to be honest with you, grounds was the hardest ministry for me this month. The dream for the piece of property that we were staying on is beautiful… and it requires a lot of work to be achieved. Looking back, though, I’m honored that we were able to be a part of something that God is doing there, leaving a lasting impression (literally) on the land.
Work:
For those of you in Hawaii, this was KP for the day mixed with laundry and bathroom duty. What we did when we had work was make and serve the meals for the day as well as do laundry and clean the two bathrooms. This ministry was more relaxing than the rest and it was a lot of fun learning how to prepare different Dominican meals (If you get a chance to ever eat fried cheese, do it.). Even though this ministry lasted all day rather than from 9-4 like a lot of the other ministries we had a lot of down time to get to spend time together as a team.
The Lajas Prayer Walk:
This was one of my favorite ministries this month. Until this month I hadn’t ever done a prayer walk before (as far as I can remember, at least) but all that I could think of was Jericho and praying for walls to come down. We walked around the town of Lajas each praying for God to work in and do different things in the people there. Something that continually came up for me while I was praying was for leaders to be developed in the community, especially from within the men. Not just leaders within the community but spiritual leaders for the families, showing love, strength and a desire for following God. I also remember praying frequently for God to change the little town so much that it would no longer be unknown even to the locals in Santiago but be known for being a town so different from any other in the Dominican because of their love for one another, their joy and their faith in what God can and has done for them.
It was also during this time that we got to spend tome praying over the land that will someday be a home to children, a retreat center for Christian leaders of the Dominican and a community center for the town of Lajas. There are so many hoops that the Dominguez family needs to jump through in order to reach the dream that God has given them but they are trusting in Him and allowing Him to work. Please, keep them in prayer as they continue to work towards what God has called them to.
The Santiago Prayer Walk:
Unfortunately, my team never got to go on this but I heard that it was similar to the prayer walk in Lajas with a few stops along the way at some new believers’ homes for bible studies, questions and prayer.
Lajas English Class:
The Lajas English class was hard and fun. It was hard because while I have my certification to teach ESL I never wanted to teach children. I have a hard time with classroom management and I love that adults have intrinsic motivation. That being said, I love children so even though I felt unprepared and unqualified it was so much fun watching them learn by repetition, singing and playing games. At the end of the month we had a graduation for the children that came. Their families were invited and they introduced themselves in English, sang all of the songs they learned and received certificates for completing the class while their Americano teachers and families applauded their success. It was stretching but it was worth it, to say the least.
Cienfuegos English Class:
This was my favorite ministry this month. It was also the most draining. Because of that, to hear about it you are going to have to wait for the next blog post. =)
This month was hard, draining and stretching in so many ways. It taught me that I need to have patience with people in the bathroom line, that I don’t have to care as much about what I do or eat (especially in regards to fish) and that ultimately living my life never should have been about what makes me feel happy or comfortable. Thankfully, even with it being hard, it was worth it and I could see that even while I was going through it. I’m glad that I had so many of the people in my squad with me experiencing it all too, it helped to put things into perspective and allowed me to grow even more.
