Our debrief time
in Santo Domingo is coming to an end. These 8 days of down time has been
greatly needed and appreciated.
I figured I would
share some exciting times that we’ve had during this past week here at the YWAM
[Youth With A Mission] Base we are residing at here in Santo Domingo.
In January, we
found out that there are a plethora of holidays in the Dominican Republic. It
seemed as though there was a holiday at least once a week. This week we got to
experience their Independence Day. Because of this holiday, the YWAM staff put
together a huge BBQ for us. They literally cooked outside by the pool [which is
empty by the way] for about 4 hours. I think our World Race Squad has
officially had our most luxurious meal we are ever going to experience during
these 11 months. We were each allowed to have 2 hot dogs, 1 piece of steak and
2 pieces of pork. Multiply that by 54 racers, 2 squad leaders, a staff of
10-15, so about 70 people. That is a whole lot of meat. And there were even
seconds for those who were still hungry!! There were PILES of meat on the
buffet tables that night for dinner. It very well might have been the most
exciting moment of the trip thus far. Haha…the looks on all of our faces – we
were all in heaven!
Patti were here, our entire squad had the opportunity/luxury of hanging out at
their beautiful hotel/resort for the day. They had a beautiful swimming pool, Jacuzzi,
basketball courts, soccer field and gift shops. We had a blast there!!! Seven
people on our squad got baptized. It was beautiful. We were all just finally
able to relax and have a fun day with one another….poolside!
Those of you who
truly know me know that I cannot and do not dance. Well, God is breaking me of
a lot of things this year, including silly things such as getting my dance on! I
am excited to reveal that I now know how to do the “Drive Me Crazy” dance by
Britney Spears lol. Out of all people and all dances, this would not be
on my list of dances to learn but one of the gurls on the squad [Di Dennis] had
the step by step video on how to learn this dance so I said, “What the heck! I’ll
join ya!!” so we danced our butts off for about 3-4 hrs one night and got the
dance down. For someone as stiff and uncoordinated as me, I was actually able
to somewhat pull this off…hooray! It brought many laughs and proved to be a
good workout! Fun times!
opportunity to go to the market downtown to buy some souvenirs if we so desired
and then we spent the rest of the day at this 7 kilometer long park. What a
relaxing day this was! We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and
everything! Tonya, Kim, Rebecca and I met this group of local girls and we were
actually able to carry on an hour long conversation with them in espanol! Hooray
for taking 3 yrs of Spanish in high school and college – it paid off!
Overlooking
part of the city of Santo Domingo
Our new friends!
a squad movie night. We all got together and watched “Fireproof.” I had bought
4lbs of popcorn kernels for the squad because popcorn is just that adamant in
my life…especially when it comes time for watching movies. So after my team
cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, we started making garbage bags full of
popcorn….homemade on the stove! It was so much fun!! If there’s anything I can
do or anyone, it would be to bless them with my favorite snacks!!!
This morning, our
entire squad went to this mega church downtown. I have to say it was one of the
longest, most upbeat, exciting and interesting church services I have ever been
to. There were a lot of Latinos there and let me tell you..they can DANCE!! We were
having soo much fun during worship!! We were so fortunate because there was a
translator for the entire service. If there wasn’t I don’t know what I would do
for 3 hours not understanding the message. There was a group from Argentina who
presented the message and an amazing healing/life testimony. They were also a
band so they performed several songs for us as well. It was incredible!
We will be
leaving the YWAM base around 4am Tuesday morning. We are taking 2 different
flights. We have a short layover in Miami. Then we fly in to LA Tuesday
evening. I’m excited that we are traveling back in time because every time we
stop, the hours move back..what a weird concept. It will be a long day! We will
be spending the night in LA and will be flying out early on Wednesday morning.
We have about a 20 hr flight to Cambodia. I’m not sure if we have a layover or
not. I think we are stopping somewhere to refuel the plane [which I think is a
great idea! lol]
When we arrive in
Cambodia I think our squad is staying together for a day or two and we will be
touring the killing fields. There was a dictator who led a mass genocide
throughout Cambodia and we are going to learn all about it and visit the fields
and areas in which all of these things took place. I’m sure I will write more
about it later when I experience it.
As of right now,
we still do not know what our ministry is while we are in Cambodia. Praying
that God will open the doors and reveal everything to us in His perfect timing!
