Day one ministry in the Dominican Republic: teen camp. Not my first choice if I’m honest. Particularly not my first choice to sleep in a tent with 6 roudy teenage girls who speak 0 English on a slope in the woods. And on top of all this, add that one girl – you know the one that I’m talking about – with the “don’t care” attitude. The loud and obnoxious one. Yeah, she was in my tent. Her name was Dellanis.
Backstory: I have had plaque psoriasis on my scalp since I was in Junior High. Basically it is an intense version of dandruff that builds up and itches like crazy. It has caused me such anxiety, shame and disgust over the past 10-12 years that I will barely let anyone touch my head for fear of them seeing it. Of them being repulsed. Of them seeing me as dirty. I have tried everything that I could think of to help clear this up, only to have a few of the symptoms masked. I have even begged God for healing. Nothing.
So, how do these two completely random and unrelated stories relate you may ask?
Week two ministry in the Dominican Republic: English Camp in Los Cerritos. After an intense and exhausting week of teen camp at our first location in Lajas, my team was sent 45 minutes down the mountain to a neighborhood in Santiago called Los Cerritos. I should also mention that this was not supposed to be our next location. Initially, my team was signed up to teach English in another village, then we were going to stay with our ministry hosts, then we were transferred to another location in Santiago until finally, we all agreed on Los Cerritos. So, we walk in the front door of the building that we are going to be living in for the next three weeks and none other than Dellanis is standing in the doorway when I turn around. She is our next door neighbor. Really, God? I thought I had escaped from her.
Fast forward several days. I am sitting on our front porch one night and Dellanis was over visiting (a daily occurrence for us). This particular night it was just her and I. She and most of the other kids on the street would hang out on our porch with us all day long. She had just started this trend of playing with all of our hair, but until tonight she hadn’t touched my head (something I wasn’t too upset about). But, because it was dark, I thought I would be safe to let her play with mine. There’s no way that she’ll notice the psoriasis acting up, right? All seemed to be going well until she left all of a sudden to run back to her house. I’m thinking she’s going to get a clip or something. Instead, she comes out of her house with a comb and begins the hour long process of going through my scalp and picking each psoriasis spot until my head was completely cleansed. It was one of the most humbling and beautiful things that I have ever experienced in my life. This young, vibrant girl served me in a way that was unexpected, without expecting glory or recognition. I found myself in awe of her and of this amazing God that I serve because I realized that this is exactly what He does for us. He cleanses us of everything that makes us feel ashamed, unworthy, dirty, disgusting, bad, etc. He literally wipes each spot clean. He doesn’t just mask the symptoms, He clears it all up.
This one experience in a way sums up my time in the Dominican Republic: a humbling, beautiful, unexpected and unprecedented journey with the Lord. Pieces of me will forever remain there in the hearts of the amazing people I came to know.
To my supporters: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! Because of you, I have almost reached my third deadline. I cannot even begin to tell you how much you all mean to me.
Too all: I’m sorry that blogs have been slow coming. Internet has been spotty and so much has been going on in my heart that it’s hard to sum it all up. But, be expecting another blog to be coming up soon from an experience I had this week in Haiti. I’m also hoping to be able to pull together some photos or maybe even a video. Thank you guys for everything that you’ve done to encourage and support me on this journey thus far. I couldn’t do it without you!!
