Before I start describing HAITI (I’m in Costa Rica now, whoops!) I feel like I need to complete DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!
WEEK ONE, over. WEEK TWO, over. WEEK THREE, over. WEEK FOUR, over.
I was blown away by the weeks serving in Lajas de Yaroa with Hope for DR.
WEEK ONE:
The first two days of ministry we arrived to our ministry site, unpacked and did a prayer walk around the entire property! The rest of the week my team and I were planning a curriculum and schedule for a 2 weeklong Bible kids camp.
WEEK TWO:
We held two camp-sessions a day: one before lunch & one after! We got to know some pretty awesome kids that really grew on us throughout the week. In Lajas most kids are without father figures, most fathers: are prisoned, have died, or abandoned their families. Therefore the boys/young men try to earn their place and identity through violence. One of the days in our camp, a kid, lets call him Daniel, came to camp upset. We gave him chance after chance after chance. Unfortunately he ended up tackling and punching one of the other kids. Not wanting to risk another child getting hurt, we asked him to leave. He fought us the entire way to the gate where he protested threatening he would stab two of the boys in the camp when they left our gates. My team and I ended up escorting the two threatened kids home and they were not harmed.
I will admit in all this I was frustrated with Daniel… after all the chances we had given him I just did not understand why he chose to act out. Daniel did not come back to camp but when we saw him on the streets we would try to approach him. I remember one specific time where one of my teammates went to him, whispered something in his ear & gave him a hug. He did not hug her back but she offered her love to him anyways, unconditionally. What a beautiful picture that was to me. I came to know that Daniel had lost both of his parents, was separated from his siblings, and was living with his aunt. The kids often made fun of him, stirring him up by calling him an “orphan.” He defended himself by physically harming those around him. When I saw my teammate hug Daniel it pulled my heartstrings and completely humbled me. Daniel was just a boy, a child, in need of genuine love, care, and acceptance just like we are in front of the Lord almighty who patiently continues to love us.
WEEK THREE:
Instead of teaching the second week of Bible Camp, teams rotated and my team went to women’s ministry. Monday we prepared to speak at the women’s community council meeting. There were only two women there due to the rain but BOTH of those women opened up and shared hard parts of their story. It was such a blessing. The rest of the week our days were split in two. The first half of the day we prepared devotionals that the ladies could go through after we left and the second half of the day we would do house visits.
Our Thursday home visit was extra special because we went to visit a mom, Dellanira, who has a 4 month year old baby girl, Ivelka. She has been unable to go out of her home due to complications with the birth and is often by herself. She was so excited for us to be there and invited us to hang out and cook with her the following day, Friday. “Living life” with her was SO EXCITING and an answer to my prayer! The first week in Lajas one of my prayers was that I would be able to do ordinary life with the people there and that I would be welcomed into a home. IT HAPPENED! We went to Dellanira’s house the next day we played cards, cared for her child (which was a miracle of its own), cooked dinner with her, danced, prayed, and washed the dishes. We were supposed to be there two hours but suddenly realized we had been there FIVE hours! Time flies when you are having fun:)
Something else really cool happened this week! I was able to surprise Jeison (one of the two guys mentioned in my previous blog) & his wife Zuleyka! I planned a surprise date for them. Oh, how I LOVE SURPRISES! I had slyly figured out Zuleyka’s favorite meal and had arranged for someone in the town to make it! Food, check! My team and I tricked Zuleyka into believing we were having a “girls night” where we were all getting dressed up! Zuleyka dressed, check! Jeison was a little harder to arrange… but the property owner, Reuben, came in for the clutch. He told Jeison they would be going to a conference, which forced Jeison to get dressed up, he went to the barber shop and everything. This kid only wore Holy jeans and rachet t-shirts, so this was quite the accomplishment. Jeison dressed, check! It was amazing! Everything came together beautifully & everyone pitched in to make the night a beautiful and pleasant surprise. Lets just say, those two had no clue what was happening & were speechless.
After their date they ended up taking me on a motorcycle drive under the stars which was sketchy but such a WONDERFUL way to end week Three:)
