Ministry this month looked a lot different than I thought it would. We spent most of our time on Hope Mountain working on the Dominguez property. Our squad did manual labor by moving trees, clearing land, moving gravel, raking, sweeping the driveway, and digging ditches. We spent time with our amazing host family doing administration assignments designed to help with upcoming children’s centers. We played at the basketball courts down the road, each time walking up and down the streets of Lajas gathering kids to come with us. We did door to door ministry around our area and spent some wonderful days just talking to people (in very broken Spanish), allowing them to invite us in, learning how they were doing after Maria, and always trying to pray for them. We traveled to some amazing destinations on our 3 adventure days, and visited the city of Mocha, which was hit hard by Maria and needs some major prayers.
Here are some moments we caught that give you a small glimpse of what life for me (and squad O) this month looked like.
Mornings are for devotionals and silence. I never realized how big the impact is of starting my day out with the Lord. Before 7:30 am there is silence, barely anyone speaks. This month has set a standard of what I always want my mornings to look like, full of peace, sunrises, and the Holy Spirit.
Free time is spent at the waterfall, which serves as a getaway, a shower, and a place to wash our clothes! This country has so many beautiful views, and this one was without a doubt one of my favorites. Seeing our squad come together and have so much fun is amazing.
This is my team returning home after a prayer walk:) Walking through the village and having the opportunity to meet and talk with people is amazing. For sure intimidating still, but most people have welcomed me and my team with warm smiles and open arms.
These are several people from the squad moving fallen trees and branches after hurricane Maria. Helping the workers at Hope around the property is humbling. It’s hard work and always hot during the day, but it’s fun to see how everyone pulls together when there is a challenge presented.
What a good good Father we have that would provide us with this! The squad has spent a good amount of time playing with the host’s two wonderful little girls in this pool. They are lively and outgoing and full of Christ. I think I can confidently say that every one of the racers here have fallen in love with this family.
This is the basketball court we spent most of the time we had with kids. There was a volleyball tournament, lots of jump roping, basketball, rock paper scissors, and usually several kids running around drawing on our arms. Even though our means of communication are limited, the funny conversations, misinterpretations, and games of charades we played in trying to connect with the youth were some of my most enjoyable moments.
We have 2 more days in Lajas, then we leave for debrief before we head towards Haiti. Pray for our squad that we are able to thoroughly rest after such a crazy month, and pray that we have safe travels to debrief and to our next ministry location.
I still have some fundraising left! If anyone would like to contact me about helping in anyway I would love for you email me or use the donate button here on my blog! I have until December to reach my goal of $14,951, any support would be an amazing blessing, especially now that I am on the field:)
God Bless!!! Thanks for reading.
