Imagine a house on top of a mountain, overlooking mountains covered with every kind of fruit baring trees you can think of, with a delicate creek running through its entirety. That my friends, is where I am living this month.
The setting is breathtaking and the weather is divine. The living conditions are far from anything I’m used to and the ministry is stretching.
Allow me to walk you through a day in the life of a World Racer in the Dominican Republic this month.
6:00am – Alarm goes off (come on lets be real, it’s me we’re talking about) Hit the snooze button until 6:20am
6:20am – Finally open my eyes in my tent, which is where we all are sleeping this entire month, and decide which outfit I would like to repeat today before I have to wash it. (You can definitely wear it at least four times before you have to toss it into the laundry bag) if it passes the ‘sniff test’ it’s clean!
6:25am – Begin the hike up to breakfast. Wind your way through our city of tents, past the squawking geese and cock-a-doodle-doing chickens, up a flight of steep stone stairs, and you’ve made it!
6:28am – Get in line for the one bathroom (one toilet and one shower) that we all have to share (either that or pee in the woods! Which has become quite normal when you are sharing one bathroom with 47 people)
6:30am – It’s breakfast time! This month we are with our entire squad of 47 people, so as the sun is starting to peak over the horizon. You are slowly greeted by 46 other sleepy racers and you congregate to the outside kitchen to receive you’re plate of oatmeal that has been cooked over the open fire in the kitchen, with pots so big that I could fit inside of them.
7:00am – Our hosts share a short, encouraging devotional before we begin our day of ministry.
7:30am – This is when we are to begin our days, wherever you are assigned to serve that day. But this is the Dominican, so they don’t get going until around 8:30! Our service schedule rotates each day so your ministry focus for the day can vary from:
–> Teaching English to children and adults with very minimal visual aids and Spanish speakers. If you are good at the game charades or making animal noises that comes in quite handy!
–> Doing grounds work at our host site (such as digging 9ft holes for future bathrooms to be made, digging trenches for electric lines, blazing new trails through the trees and assembly lining buckets full of stones from the river to pave them, ect)
–> Going on prayer walks around neighborhoods in the city or the mountainside of Lajas (lifting up the area to God’s plan and praying for guidance and protection for all of the people in the area) as well as doing street evangelism, inviting locals to church, and home visits to encourage new Christians in their faith
–> Work duty (cooking all the meals for the 47 of us for that day and doing our team of six’s laundry)
–> Going to the Children’s Center that was founded by our hosts to teach the children English and play games with them and simply show them God’s love (children who go to this center live near and work in the city dump to help support their families, children as young at four up to high school search through the dump to find recyclables to exchange for money with their family. Before this center was established none of the kids were even enrolled in school)
12:00pm – We get a break from our ministry focus for lunch! They also have ‘siestas’ here which means everyone rests until two. Stores closes, schools close, everyone stops working for a two hour break. Although it is two full hours of a ‘break’ we usually have stuff going on that we need to work on or team meetings to attend so the highly anticipated break usually flys by.
2:00pm – Back to work! (Side note, it is normal here to have a light breakfast, very large lunch, and a light dinner here in the Dominican) no wonder people all rest after lunch, who wouldn’t after eating a huge meal in the middle if the day??
4:00pm – Done with ministry for the day and we all head back to our host location
4:15pm – Firmly grip the back of the seat in front of you as your driver simultaneously swerves into on coming traffic to avoid the massive pot holes, while being passed on the other side by a motor bike with two men and a propane tank on it, all while taking hairpin turns on the edge of a mountain.
5:00pm – Shower time! Since we only have one shower, which is in the same room as the one toilet that we all share, most everyone bathes in our natural resource for our shower; the waterfall! Try not to shriek when you step into the cold water and lean under the cold rushing water that is spilling over the rocks above your head, it’s impossible. However, once you get over he first initial shock of the sudden temperature change, take the opportunity to look around as you suds up your hair and soak in the fact that you are showering in a natural waterfall, surrounded by God’s glorious creation.
5:05pm – (Yes dad, I only take five minute showers when the water is freezing cold, but don’t get any ideas in order to save money on your water bill in 2015!) Since you are already wet, and standing in your washing machine, you might as well wash some clothes. Go ahead and just use your bar soap to wash your clothes, you can’t be too picky here. You can use the rocks to agitate your clothes or just scrub them on themselves to get the dirt out. As long as they smell better when you’re done, it was a success!
5:30pm – Hang your wet clothes and bathing suit up on one of the clothes lines and pray is doesn’t rain on them out of the blue so is doesn’t take them days to dry. Also, don’t forget where you hung them, because it will take you a while to search them out if you do.
5:40pm – Finally some free time to sit and relax. You can walk to one of the two stores that is a short walk away, get a group together to play a card game, take a nap in your tent if it’s not still too hot from the afternoon sun, or work on typing up a blog to post when you eventually get wifi (guess what I’m doing??)
7:30pm – Dinner time! After a day packed full, let me tell you, you will not be more excited for meal time! Even if it is just a muffin and hot chocolate for dinner.
7:45pm – An evening devotional from our hosts while we eat dinner is a great way to wind down from the day.
8:00pm – Team Meeting, time to talk about the day, how we feel it went, and do any prep for the next days ministry
8:30pm – Done for the day! When there is 46 people living in the same place there is always someone to talk to, laugh with, either get to know better or continue a blossoming friendship. Community living is a unique experience that you can’t understand until you’ve done it. Also, make sure you make a mental note that the people around you are pretty awesome, because it takes a certain type of person to chose to live the way you are for eleven months, have no internet or tv, and they can still have an amazing time and great attitude doing it! They make fun happen even when it seems like there’s nothing to work with.
9:30pm – You feel your body beginning to grow weary and you question your age and check for gray hairs as you make your way back down the mountainous stairs towards your tent and ‘bed’ aka sleeping pad and sleeping bag.
9:35pm – Grab your water bottle, tooth brush and tooth paste and head to the edge of the woods to brush your teeth. But don’t forget to look up and admire the view.
9:40pm – Slip into your sleeping bag and try to ignore the fact that you’re laying on a slight incline. You should be used to the feeling of slowly sliding down hill in your sleep by now. Spend some time in God’s Word and thanking Him for this amazing experience that He has given you to be apart of. Before you fall asleep, don’t forget to put in your ear plugs or headphones, because the confused chickens and rabid dogs that cock-a-doodle-do and bark ferociously in the middle of the night will wake you up in a start sure shootin’
Tomorrow – Rinse and Repeat!
The strangest part about this, is that is has become normal. Who doesn’t hand wash their clothes in rivers, have cows grazing next to their tent home, shower in waterfalls, teach English to children without a certificate or degree, help build the foundations of orphanages, and go for a two hour walk just to pray for the area around you? Not many people get to do this on a regular basis and thanks to God and my supporters who have now FULLY FUNDED ME I am able to take part in the blessing, daily.
Thank you!
