After writing this month's update, and after talking to a good friend who said she wished I updated my blog more often, I have realized that I do need to update this site on a more regular basis. So, this one is pretty long as I have tried to include everything I could think of that has happened over the last month! From now on, my plan will be to update weekly, as Sunday afternoons are pretty quiet around here, so feel free to check each week for new updates!

Now that I have been here for a little more than six weeks, in some ways Santiago is beginning to feel like home to me, but I have also been experiencing a bit of homesickness. While discussing this with a close friend, she commented that some people who know how close we are have asked her how she is dealing with me living down here, and she has responded that first, she knows I am doing what God has called me to do, so even though she would selfishly want me there she cannot be upset about the situation, and second, she hears a peace and contentedness in my voice that she has never heard before, and that is even further verification that I am where I am supposed to be. Hearing this from her has helped me as I attempt to adjust to this new way of life and to do what God leads me to do each day. I honestly did not know there was any change in how I sounded, but I have felt at peace here and a sense of being “in the right place at the right time” that I have not felt as strongly before. It seems that each day presents a situation or circumstance for which I can see God has prepared me, and though I am not following the timeline I had written out prior to coming down, I know that I start each day asking for God’s guidance and each day His timeline is being followed, and there is nothing more I could want or need.

A few weeks ago the staff took a day trip to the capitol, Santo Domingo, to visit the colonial section of the city and enjoy a break from “regular” work. I also was able to meet up with Stephanie Haugen (formerly Stephanie Cherry for those of you who go to NECC), who is currently working with her husband in Santo Domingo for Willow Creek Christian Church. She has been here six months, and it was great to meet with her and get her input on adjusting to the culture and learning the language! While we were together, we visited the first church built in the “new” world in the 1500’s. It is a Catholic church simply known as the Cathedral and still holds services today. The staff also visited the first government building in the Dominican where Christopher Columbus and his brother worked, and where the first courthouse in the Americas was located!

This last week I experienced my first “team” – which was from Kentwood Christian Church in Michigan – and I was able to work with them one day at the construction site of a new church in an area of Santiago called Hato del Yaque and one day doing children’s ministry in another area known as La Mosca (literally “The Fly” because it is a community located at the base of a huge mountain of trash that burns constantly and attracts thousands of flies). In Hato del Yaque the team was involved in construction of a church, and I worked with the group that was putting up the walls of the church, which consisted of making sure they had the concrete block, mortar, and concrete they needed, so I was hauling buckets of mortar and concrete and lifting concrete blocks all morning. When lunch came, I was ready for a break! It was some of the hardest, most physically demanding work I have ever done, and I have a new appreciation for the work the teams do when they come down and that the national workers we support do every day to help build up their communities.

We were working next to a public school, and when the morning session ended, the children came by the work site to see the Americans working. Even though we have teams coming down throughout the year, Americans are still a pretty rare site in Santiago, and we regularly attract attention wherever we go. When a group of students ended up close to where I was working, we had an impromptu English class that I would have loved to continue, but we had to get back to work! This prompted one of the workers to ask if I would offer a class for them on Saturdays, and I said I would be happy to! As I put my ideas together for January, including a class for the workers will be on my list of things to do!

At La Mosca the team brought materials to share the store of Jesus feeding the five thousand, taught about the importance of sharing with one another, and led the children in crafts that told them about God’s love for them. The children were very receptive and enjoyed their time with the team, basking in the love they were being shown and sharing their bright-eyed smiles as they made paper roses and colored scenes that depicted the story they had been told, but as we drove away I could not help thinking what the rest of their day would be like.


This is the poorest area I have ever seen, with children running around in whatever clothes had been given to them or they found in the mountain of garbage that looms over their shacks, dust constantly being kicked up from the dirt roads, smoke from the burning garbage seeming to soak into your skin and take over your sense of smell, and a sense of hopelessness and despair in the older people who watched us drive up in our air conditioned bus and attempt to bring some measure of joy into the lives of their children. When faced with these circumstances, I wonder if we truly can make a difference, but I am encouraged by my memories of the light in children’s eyes. Recently I was reading an article in the Fall 2006 issue of Compassion Magazine in which Compassion International President Wes Stafford addressed this issue by explaining, “Poverty is a mindset, a spirit that tells its victims they do not matter. We then move from this state to despair, apathy and finally fatalism. We can change this by telling the little ones that to God they matter. They start to gain courage and confidence and then start to change things. When a child moves from ‘I don’t matter’ to ‘I can fix this,’ we have won the battle.” Offering this afternoon of children’s ministry was one step in the process of telling these children that they matter to God, and the ongoing work of G.O. Ministries in La Mosca will continue to work toward sharing this truth with them and helping them gain the strength to bring about change in their communities as we all continue to learn that with God all things are possible.


In a recent e-mail, a friend asked me a series of questions I thought you all might be interested in hearing the answers to as well! So, here goes …

Tell me more about a typical day for you.

There really is no such thing as a “typical” day here. One of the things I have realized is that in some ways just getting the simplest things done can be complicated here, such as going to the store. We have one vehicle (a 90s model Toyota pick-up) for staff use that occasionally chooses (rather randomly from what I can tell) not to work. So, if I need something from La Sirena (the Dominican version of Wal-Mart), if the truck is available and running, and I can find someone to go with me who can drive the truck, since I am not able to go anywhere on my own, and I am not brave enough – yet – to drive down here (more on that later), then we can go.

The trip itself only takes about 20 minutes (my family is laughing right now as they read this, since I insist that it only takes about 20 minutes to get anywhere in Louisville too), but with the heat and traffic, you’re already a bit worn out when you get there. The traffic is a bit crazy – there are lanes and lights and traffic laws, but no one pays attention to them. The one thing all drivers do is honk to let you know they are passing, or crossing an intersection, or turning. So, pretty much all you hear is a lot of honking while you try not to worry about the other vehicles that are passing by with barely a few inches separating them from you.

After arriving at the store, you try to get everything you can think of, since you may or may not get back here in the next week or so, while also figuring out exchange rates and trying not to audibly gasp at the price of a box of granola bars. Getting through the line is pretty much the same as at home though, whatever lane you choose ends up moving the slowest, and then back out into the heat and traffic to go home. Only now, all your purchases are in the back of the truck, and if there are just two of you, you are cautiously watching the truck bed each time you stop to make sure no one helps “lighten” the load a little. However, if all of the seven staff members who currently share access to the truck wanted to go, then five people are in the back of the truck with the purchases, so you do not have to worry about the bags disappearing, but if you are the driver, you do have to watch that you do not lose a passenger! All that just to go to the store – I’m usually pretty beat when we get back!

When do you think you'll actually get into a classroom and begin teaching?

My observations in the school went well, and I was able to see every class except the ones for the 2 and 3 year olds. I also met with the principal of the school and we talked about how I can help there as well as what items the teachers and students most need that I can help purchase through my ministry money, the teacher training I would like to offer on classroom management, and how I can get involved in teaching this semester. As a result, I have a new assignment – to work with the new English teacher they hired for the first through fifth grades. Her name is Raquel, and she is a young Dominican who speaks English very well but has not had any teacher training. She is very enthusiastic about teaching and very energetic, and with some guidance, she will do well. I will be sitting in on her classes with her as a mentor teacher and then meeting with her after each school day to discuss the day’s events. She is very receptive to me and I am excited about building this relationship!

The principal and I also talked about planning the teacher training for the first week of November, so I have begun putting together some materials for that. It looks like I will not begin teaching in earnest until January when I return from the states, and then it will probably be in the churches G.O. supports as opposed to the school, providing an outreach to the communities they serve. The longer I am here, the more that idea appeals to me, as it will be a new ministry in the churches and a way for me to get more directly involved with the people in the community. Also, almost every day I see children playing in the streets or looking for something to do when they are not in school, and I am looking forward to starting up the drama ministry in January as an outreach for them.

What is your apartment like? Your roommates?

I live in a three-bedroom apartment with two other single female full-time staff members, and so far things have been going well. Our apartment is large by Dominican standards – about 1000 to 1100 square feet and in addition to our bedrooms, we have two bathrooms, a living room / dining room area, kitchen (that is in desperate need of new cabinets), and a laundry room (where we have a washing machine but no dryer). We each have bunk beds in our rooms because in the summer we will host any single female interns who come to work with G.O. We also recently put screens on the windows in the living room area, and that has helped cut down on the mosquitoes quite a bit. My room is decorated in blue and yellow - no surprise to anyone there!

How about the food?

So far I have enjoyed the Dominican food I have had – particularly fried plantains, yuca, and mangoes! When teams are here, we eat a lot of chicken and rice as the main staples, and the sauces used for flavoring are very good. I have not come across anything very spicy and have not had any significant problems with the food.

Is it hot/muggy/rainy?

September and October are very warm here, and it seems very strange to me that it is October 9th and nearly 95 degrees today. There is a pretty constant breeze though, which helps, and it gets cooler at night. Some days it is muggy, but nothing like Louisville in August! The last week we have had rain in the evenings, which has brought welcome relief from the heat, but so far it has only rained all day or been overcast all day two or three of the days. Usually, the sun is out almost all day, and the weather is generally beautiful.

How have things been going in your ministry?

With part of the money from Woodland Hills Church of Christ, we were able to purchase 24 new desks for the school to make sure every student has a desk! As the principal said, “It is like a gift from heaven!” The new desks are for the first grade classroom and are designed for smaller children, and the larger desks in that room can then be moved to other classrooms where they are needed. I also used my ministry money for September to buy five radio / cd / cassette players for the school. These are for the preschool through second grade classes whose curriculum included media that could not be used without them.

Working with Raquel has been a blessing, and she has already made some significant improvement in her classroom management! She and I put together a list of class rules and consequences that she presented to her students at the beginning of each class on Friday, and the students responded well to them and as a result to her! This week I will be working with her on developing more engaging lessons now that she has their attention. She loves the English language, and I hope to help her translate that love for the language to her students so that they will be inspired by her and the lessons she teaches.

While I have not been teaching myself, I have enjoyed being in classes with Raquel and interacting with the students as I help her become more comfortable in her role. Being in the school has also helped me improve my Spanish, which is very important for me if I want to begin teaching on my own in the churches in January!

Prayer Requests:
Sale of condo (with the recent heavy rains in Louisville, the roof has started leaking, and that will need to be fixed before it can sell)
Fundraising (This month I will be contacting the churches where I put in requests)
Peace and patience during this time of adjustment
Becoming more fluent in Spanish
Development of strong relationships with staff and nationals
Safety and positive experiences for the teams coming this month