As promised, here is my first weekly update! Things are pretty quiet here right now. The team from Michigan left on Tuesday, after having a "despedida" Monday evening, which is literally a "leaving party." This is something that happens with each team and is a time for the group members and national workers to share what the experiences of the last week have taught them and to celebrate their new relationships as brothers and sisters in Christ. The team also watches a video presentation put together by our staff photographer/web site designer (who is also part of the Sports Ministry team - she stays very busy and does a great job all around!). The presentation was great to watch, and it was an emotional time for many of the group members. It was also hard for many of them to say good-bye to the national workers with whom they had worked so closely. I was sad to see this team go too, as I had been able to connect with a few of them even though I had only worked with them part of the time they had been here. I told them that since they were my first experience with a team, I would measure all others by them!
For a bit of a break, my roommates and I decided to go to the beach for two days, and it was wonderful to get away and have some "bonding" time! On Thursday, we took a bus to Sosua (which cost $100 pesos each way - equivalent to $3 U.S.), which is on the northern coast of the island, and it was beautiful! The picture to the right is a self-portrait of Jen and I as we prepare to leave Santiago.
While in Sosua, we snorkled and swam in an ocean of crystal clear water (it looked like a swimming pool!), laid out on the beach , relaxed by the pool, and had some great meals! Can you tell that I enjoyed the trip? :)
The picture to the left is the view from our hotel room, and the one to the right is of the bay on which Sosua sits.
We returned Saturday afternoon in time to greet our staff member who was returning from a two month stay in the states after being flown there for emergency medical care, which you may remember happened on the same day I arrived here. He is completely healed of Dengue Fever (which has become an epidemic here in the DR and in a few other Carribean, Central, and South American countries) and feeling much better - for which we all praise God! Please pray for continued protection for all of us as there is no vaccination for Dengue, which is spread by mosquitos. The government here is trying to combat the disease through spraying susceptible areas for mosquitos, educating the public, and offering free testing, but people are still contracting the disease, and the DR is the only country curently dealing with Dengue that has had deaths associated with it, primarily due to people not going in for treatment until it is too late.
We returned Saturday afternoon in time to greet our staff member who was returning from a two month stay in the states after being flown there for emergency medical care, which you may remember happened on the same day I arrived here. He is completely healed of Dengue Fever (which has become an epidemic here in the DR and in a few other Carribean, Central, and South American countries) and feeling much better - for which we all praise God! Please pray for continued protection for all of us as there is no vaccination for Dengue, which is spread by mosquitos. The government here is trying to combat the disease through spraying susceptible areas for mosquitos, educating the public, and offering free testing, but people are still contracting the disease, and the DR is the only country curently dealing with Dengue that has had deaths associated with it, primarily due to people not going in for treatment until it is too late.
This week I will be meeting with the principal of the school to decide on a date for the teacher training, continuing to work with Raquel, and for the next two weeks I will also be scoring for the SAT. We have two teams coming on Saturday, and I will be working with them as well, continuing to learn more about the ministry. Please pray that I balance my time well! Scoring for the SAT is something I enjoy doing and that keeps my English skills sharp, and I hope to be able to keep it up while I am here. The next two weeks will be a test of that, as my primary responsibility is to the ministry. It is important to me to always do the best I can in any situation to which I have committed myself, and my prayer is that I will not overextend myself and thus not be able to do the work God has called me here to do. I continue to pray each day that I will be able to discern His voice in my life and follow the promptings of His Spirit.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. I will be returning to the states in late November and will be in Louisville for the first three weeks of December, and I hope to see all of you then!
Con amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine
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