La fin de semana pasado (last weekend) I was blessed to spend two blissful days in Las Terrenas with Bruce and Ellen Pearson and Lourdes Kleid.  What a surreal moment it was to drive, in my car, across my new country, with my new missionary friend to spend time with people from home.  I realized on that trip that my heart truly is in both Las Terrenas and Jarabacoa, or perhaps is just throughout la Republica Dominicana.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to serve in both places!

This trip was also special because I was able to spend a lot of time with my sponsor child Bileysi.  She is a gorgeous girl of 14 who is essentially an orphan, both parents abandoning her when she was young, she lives with her grandmother in a small scrap wood house.  It was incredible that we had the opportunity to finally converse (in my limited Spanish) and really get to know one another.  I can't wait to be a bigger presence and encouragement in her life as I hope to serve in Las Terrenas with Sowers of the Kingdom on every short term out reach they have (usually a week in November, February and April)

My birthday has truly been a season as my friends in Las Terrenas threw me a surprise birthday party!  Hey, if this is the life of a missionary than I never want it to end.  :)  of course for more reasons than just birthday celebrations!  Jesus always talks about the joy in abandoning our life to him, to say I feel that joy, love and support from so many is an understatement.

Things keep plowing along down here.  Yesterday marked exactly two months since I moved, crazy how time flies.  I have joined an intensive Spanish college class for five weeks which is going great.  Yesterday we learned 4 past tenses all in one class!!  Crazy.....but at least I no longer have to talk in the present with an added "pasado" at the end  :)  Once this class is finished I will resume one on one tutoring with Catalina.

Next Monday (October 8) Catalina, Julian and I will make the trek to Santo Domingo to see how his leg is doing.  They placed a metal plate (8-plate) on the medial aspect of his tibia which will hopefully help correct his mal-alignment.  Every couple of months we have to get XRays taken to assess when he can have that plate removed.  This can take up to a year.  Please pray this surgery worked so he doesn't have to undergo an osteoplasty in the future, which is a much bigger surgery.  We should know if there is any improvement after this doctor's visit.  Will keep you updated!

September is almost done which is a relief as this certainly is the hottest month of the year, you won't catch most people outside between 12-3! 

Personally I am overall doing well but starting to get rather impatient with bouncing around.  I am currently so blessed to be house-sitting for dear missionary friends of mine while they are in the states, it is a nice reprieve to have the conveniences I'm accustomed to (kitchen appliances, dishes, knives, etc) but even here I can't escape the cock roaches.  I pray that by the time you see me in December they won't gross me out as much...I already feel God changing my heart!

The hope is that I move into my house at the end of October where I will reside with two other young missionary ladies in their 20s.  It will be nice to have a place to call "home."

I pray each of you are soaking up that lovely sweatshirt weather in the northeast...enjoy it for me!!

Melisa on the left is a missionary friend from Jarabacoa and
my future roommate!  These are all sponsored kids with
Sowers of the Kingdom, Bileysi is to my right!  What
a  model pose :)

Tragedies of a Spanish Student

Well.   I kid you not when I say that I just spent all morning studying Spanish while house sitting for a missionary family on furlough and said "hola" to the house keeper as she left.   Hola.   Really Rachel????

Basic Spanish!!!   Even non-Spanish speakers know "hola" is hello and "adios" or "ciao" is goodbye. Yet I, who have been living in a Spanish speaking country for two months and taking Spanish for 6 weeks...said the wrong thing. Humbling.

I was accurately warned that learning a language is indeed a very humbling experience, I just felt that first hand. As I am learning more complex Spanish, those simple things that I once knew so well are just slipping from my mind. Sigh.

But, overall, Spanish has been going well. This weekend I am traveling to Las Terrenas to spend time with Lourdes, Bruce and Ellen (my dear friends and founders of the Christian non profit organization Sowers of the Kingdom....or en Espanol, Sombredores del Reino). Las Terrenas is where I first got a taste of the DR...and where a huge part of my heart resides. It will be amazing to see how much I truly am able to communicate with all those Dominicans that I have served beside for the past couple of years but have only been able to communicate via body language.

I know I still have a long way to go with language...but I can't believe how far I am compared to when I started! Can't wait to see how much I know by christmas time! Soon the day will come when I can't think of a word in English but only Spanish....and how sweet that day will be...

Adios mis amigos!! Bendiciones!!

In 52 days...

The electricity is out again.  But, this time there is rhyme and reason to the cause- it is thundering and torrentially down pouring outside.  Perfect time to write a blog update, by candle light, though I can only type for as long as my laptop battery allows….or I run out of my room because a cockroach desperate to escape the storm has crawled across my foot…

Today marks my 52^nd day in the Dominican Republic.  In many ways it feels like an eternity, in others it feels like we were just celebrating my departure on my parent’s back patio.

It’s hard to place into words how my heart has already changed.  I was warned of this by other missionaries and in MTI.  The longer you live on the mission field, the harder it is to return home; to the materialistic world of abundance in the states.  Of course I take any advice that people give with open mindedness (or at least I try), but I can already see how true this actually may be.

Yesterday I had lunch with Catalina, my Colombian Spanish teacher who has become one of my closest friends here.  Afterwards we drove home.  On that drive we passed neighborhoods that just a month ago seemed so poor and desolate to me.  So, well to put it frankly, foreign.  I am surprised by how unsurprised I have become by these things in only a few month and how I am starting to accommodate to life here.

 

In two short months…..

*I am no longer shocked by the accommodations where people reside. 

*I no longer believe an oven is a requirement (or a garlic press, knife, dish towel, etc).

*I now think my 2001 suzuki with a crack across the windshield is a very nice car.

*I know how to effectively kill cockroaches (or at least fumigate them from any holes).

*I realize that even as a missionary (which compared to how lavishly I lived and the money I made in the states is far less) I am more wealthy than most Dominicans.

*I realized that in a developing country that they are incredibly grateful for anything from the States.  Second hand clothing is worn proudly, which to me is a paradox.  Great that perfectly good clothes are being put to good use and meeting a need, but sad that we send things to other countries that aren’t good enough for us but we think are good enough for others.  Good or bad?  Not sure I know the answer.

*I’ve learned how quickly mold can grow in the heat.

*I’ve learned the best way to learn a language is to read the bible in that language….it is 100% grammatically correct.

*I’ve learned that in the States we just may have too many rules….

*I’ve learned that when Dominicans pull off the side of the road because it looks like its going to rain….it’s best to follow suit.

*I’ve learned how complicated the war against poverty truly is, and that so often when we are trying to help we are enabling and harming.  Again, another lesson without a clear solution.

*I realized I am being blessed by those I’m here to serve far more than I am blessing them.  I pray that changes with time, but I’m not sure it will.  It may just be a part of the kingdom of God.

*But, most importantly I have learned how deeply our creator cares for His creation.  Whenever I have started to feel alone, a missionary calls me.  Whenever I feel useless and unproductive as language school is all-consuming, I am given the opportunity to serve.  And when I can’t possibly tolerate one more night with cockroaches, I get a break (sorry to vent about the cucarachas).

 

I wish that I could tell you I stop getting surprised by answers to trivial prayers.  I wish I could say that becoming a missionary has changed my human failures, but then I would be lying.  I am still amazed when God works in my life and through others.  I am still amazed that the creator of the estrellas (stars) even cares about us.  But, I guess it’s that amazement that will continue my passion for sharing His love for little us.

Keep Chuggin Along

When I wrote my post last week....I didn't think I could feel more "chaotic," then I found a cockroach in my bed.  But, amidst all the craziness there was beauty.

Catalina teaching Kenny and I Espanol!

Kenny and his espousa Karen are new missionaries
with SI, very dear friends of mine and will be in charge
of all the students who visit on short term out reaches, interns,
volunteers and semester students

I am so thankful for my Spanish classes....every morning from 8-12 followed by 4-5 hours worth of homework en la noche!  I just finished week 4 and was super encouraged on Friday when I was able to have a 5 minute conversation with a woman who works in the kitchen!  I have known Mili for two years and we have never been able to actually converse....so this full immersion thing must be working!  Beauty!

I am dog-sitting for the next month.  That is a complete blessing in itself, for all of you who know my animal obsession.  I get a bit like Elmira Fudd (yes that's a looney tunes reference) sometimes.  Therefore, having a dog to cuddle and play with is the perfect anecdote to my chaos.  Thank you Jesus.

And finally, the biggest provision.  My birthday.  One I will not soon forget.  My missionary friends planned a surprise birthday breakfast at a coffee shop in town, complete with cafe and croissants (ok not so Dominican, but still delicious!).  This came at the perfect time as I had just skyped my parents...

Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

As if that wasn't enough...I went to a concert in Santo Domingo Saturday night and then out to dinner at the top of one of the mountains in Jarabacoa on Sunday night.  Anyone who knows me knows how important birthdays are to me.  God knows that too.  And guess what, he gave me one heck of a birthday.

 

I am so blessed by the love and support I have both here and in the states, so please, don't worry about me too much....

 

AND!!  As of yesterday I officially have a real first aid kit in my car, with suture material and all...get ready DR.  Traveling wanna-be-Dr. Quinn-medicine-woman-who-also-loves-Jesus has arrived.  :)

 

Restaurant on top of the mountain!

Kim, Mary Ellen, me and Karen

Fundraiser- missionary model calendar...

thoughts?? haha

 

Gorgeous Jarabacoa!!

Kenny, Karen, me, Kim, Mary Ellen and Dick

Yummy!!!

Jarabacoa at night!

 

 

I am blessed!!!



Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am God; Be still, and know that I am God...BE STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD."  Psalm 46:10


These words of reassurance from our Heavenly Father are being repeated over and over again in my head.  I am grasping to them because today I am floundering.

This week begins my sixth in the DR.  The honeymoon is over.  I have already surpassed the amount of time I have spent in this country prior to moving here.  This is my home now.  I no longer have a job or a place in the states, this is my place.  Then, why does it just not feel right, natural and normal....to my frame of reference?

Since I last wrote I have completed three full weeks of Spanish, Julian continues to heal, I have taught a CPR class to missionaries, I cared for a sick SI Dominican employee who needed to be hospitalized and then did a follow up home visit and I cared for Inesa (Yocasta's daughter) who stuck her hand in a fan.  And I haven't even started my medical site. 

Needed I am.  But anywhere has need.  I think I have made it through chaos but am entering into "re-settlement," which I truthfully find a little more uncomfortable.  Moving was insane.  I knew the emotions I was feeling at that time.  But, right now?  I have days where I am on top of this world...surreal to be here.  But then there's days like today.  Days where I don't understand why Dominicans do certain things.  Nights where I am up at 1 am battling cockroaches in my room, my space.

And, at the risk of sounding whiny, I miss convenience.  I miss having a big enough refrigerator to hold food for several days instead of having to go to the veggie market daily.  I miss having an oven or microwave to cook in.  I miss having veggie burgers and food that doesn't take forever to make.  I miss having radio stations I understand or brands of food I recognize.  I miss comprehending every word spoken to me or walking down the street without being gawked at or whistled to.  I miss understanding the culture I live in. 

But, most of all I miss my "people."  Saturday is my birthday.  Just 28, not a big deal.  But 28 without my friends and family.  I have wonderful support here from other missionaries but it's still not the same.  I will miss hearing my birth story from my Mom or traveling to the city to spend a dinner and night out with friends.

You see, we all have days when we turn to God and say "really?"  This morning, I wrestled with him as tears stung behind my eyes challenging him to remove these feelings I have.  Haven't I given enough?  Why do I have to hurt and feel inadequate too?  And I know that hurting has just begun.  I already have missed a college friends wedding, what other life events will go on without me?

And then I am reminded that He knows how I feel.  That I am not alone.  Ever.  That I need to "be still and know that He is God."  That He left things behind too.  That He asks for our best and when we've given all we can His Spirit will carry us.  That He works through us best when we are on the floor, crying out to him.

I am stinking at being a good servant, and for that I am ashamed.  But, I am trusting that He is with me and will not abandon me.  This is where He wants me.  I need to surrender all my inadequacies, feelings of sadness, missing home and question marks to Him.  And that is where He will work.

Please pray for me to love on all the Dominicans I encounter, whether I understand their culture or language.  Please pray that I may have patience on myself as acclimating to a new place, let alone culture, takes time.  And pray that I may learn the language I need to serve these beautiful people better.