Today
was just a day full of laughter. I have
made so many wonderful friends, and I really don’t want to go back to America
next week. Two girls I got especially close
to, Lori and Lauren, and I basically laughed the entire day, whether on the
bus, in the SCORE lobby, or in our room.
They’re like sisters now, and that just reaffirms my belief that the
body and family of Christ can be just as strong, if not stronger than blood
relatives.
We
went to a village called Quisqueya and visited what I believe is one of the
most well-established day care centers in the DR, Emmanuel House. They have such nice facilities, and direct
their own child sponsorship program. Since
Compassion International is so close to my heart, I really connected with this program
as well. In the afternoon we went out into
the village and got to see the poorest village in Quisqueya. It was around 3 pm, and we met a family who
had 5 kids and they hadn’t eaten a single thing that day. Our hearts broke for this family, and our
small group of 8 decided to buy them food. We headed out to the local grocery
store which only took pesos. God had
provided me with around 1500 pesos from my college minister, Brian Fulton, so
we got to use that, plus some money from three others in our group to buy not
one, but three families food that would last them probably a month. It was a relief situation, they needed food,
and God provided. I hope that one day
one of those babies will be able to group up and say that even when there was
no hope, Jehovah Jireh was still good and true to provide.
God
answered a HUGE prayer and concern of mine today. I was anxious about how to
get into a Gospel conversation with a Dominican. I was using the language barrier as an
excuse, and really just didn’t apply myself to learn the Gospel in Spanish. However, after Wednesday night, I decided to
learn the Evangecube in Spanish and was able to share it with several kids
today. Also, we were at the baseball game, and for some reason, I felt like I
needed to walk to the side of the dugout to chat with some teenagers standing
over there. I met a girl named Joanna who
knew English! So we talked for a couple minutes about why we were in the DR, and
this man standing nearby who knew English too said, “This is very
important. You and I are Christians, but
Joanna is not. You need to tell her
about Jesus.” Today has been the epitome of “making the most of every
opportunity” and God has definitely blessed it.
Oh!
One quick note, Dominican cake is no bueno.
I didn’t think it was possible for me not to like sweets, but let me
tell you, it is.
Also,
I saw many examples of people suffering for Christ today. For example, our translator, Augusto, who was
sharing at the baseball game, had to yell and strain his voice to translate for
the men in our group preaching the Gospel. And then when we were out in the village
helping the family out, another translator, Daphna, didn’t want to go back into
the village to give them their food, because she was so torn up about the
conditions, but she went anyway for the sake of the Gospel. While we were in the village, I taught the
kids the Spanish version of our local VBS song, “Fly” where it says “Anything
is possible with God”, and they absolutely LOVED it and sang along. “Anything” means anything. Achievements, help, overcoming obstacles, and
even suffering is possible with God.
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