What an exciting week!
We can hardly believe it has been one week. There are a few things that we miss (hot showers, air conditioning, parents) but definitely a few that we would like to take home with us (Norma's cooking, the ocean (minus the sea urchins), the cute kids, and our puppy friend, Stevie). The cooking has been fabulous and the people have been great! Today was a very interesting day; we started out early to drive to a Haitian village in the countryside. Boca Christian had visited there 2 years ago. Once there, we began to pass out tennis balls to the children but ended up having to culminate the task and leave because we were overrun by a multitude of disobedient kids. Then we headed on our way to get some lunch at a restaurant. We were originally supposed to get there by horse, but the discomfort of horseback riding with sunburn prevented many to desire the experience, so only four of us ended up horseback riding while the rest of us walked. Lunch consisted of homemade rice, beans, chicken, pork, potato salad, and yucca. We then headed to the market, where we had previously visited within the first few days in the country. This allowed us to buy a few more souvenirs if we so desired. We then left the market to visit Freddy's (our amazing bus driver) home, where we had the opportunity to meet his wife and beloved 6 month daughter, Samira. He showed us the project his church is working on and the vision the members of the church have for the future. We got to see the room already built (which is now used for Sunday school) and the land they hope to see used for more construction in the future, if it is the Lord's will. This neighborhood was so rundown and poor, but these people are so in love with the Lord and seek to serve Him wholeheartedly. We also went to the supermarket, the only place where we had to convert dollars to pesos. Before heading back to the mission house, we had the opportunity to visit a historic fort, which is the equivalent of the Washington monument in the Dominican. Back "home", we ate Norma's amazing food and had devotion, where we read from James 4: 1-12 and Galatians 2: 20 (you should read it now ;)). We are now relaxing in our rooms and on the balcony, getting ready to sleep pretty soon and get rest for our trip back home.
This has been such an amazing trip, but words cannot describe everything we have experienced. We have fantastic pictures, but once again we send out apologies for the technical difficulties we have had as we have not been able to load them up on the blog. Please come to our mission trip chapel on Friday if you would like to see the pics and hear us share the stories. Thank you again for the prayers, and please continue to pray for the Dominican Republic. To God be the glory!