It is hot and sticky here in Azua, Dominican Republic. If anything, being here has reaffirmed the fact that I am a cold weather person. But even with the constant humidity and sweat, God has done some pretty incredible things through and for my team, Team Dunamisses (dunamis is the Greek word for power, and since we’re an all girls team, we’re the Dunamisses).
My team is living with a pastor and his family in the city of Azua. He runs a church and a school in the El Prado neighborhood. So far, we’ve gotten to clean and paint the school, weed the schoolyard, visit different schools throughout the city telling classes the importance of reading the Bible, and I’ve attempted to “teach” some of the church kids how to play the drums (coming off of two years of mediocre experience).
Team Dunamisses: Monica, Liz, Ashlee, Becky, Me, Karen
Yesterday we visited the only high school in the city of Azua, where about 2,000 students attend. The minute we stepped on the school grounds, it was all eyes on us. Our plan was to split up into four or five groups, with a Spanish-English translator in each. We went into different classrooms telling the students about why we love the Bible, our favorite verse, etc. It was intimidating walking into a room full of high school students with an attitude, but the ability to capture their attention merely because we look different proved to work in our favor. After we had talked to as many students as we could, we stood around waiting for all of our groups to reconvene. Right then a downpour of rain started. I watched it flood the grounds of the school, creating streams of water flowing across every inch of the high school and saturating the dry and brittle dirt. It was such a relief from the heat. It wasn’t until later that I realized this was God watering the seeds that we had just planted in the hearts of these high schoolers. It gave us hope that there is life on that campus and that God plans to make it thrive!
Watching the rain fall with one of our translators, Jose Ivan.
“Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open up, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it.” – Isaiah 45:8
