Monday - November 27, 2006

So much has happened since I last updated, that I hardly know where to start. From my second trip to Haiti on November 10 to deliver the school supplies to leaving the DR on November 16 for our staff retreat to surprising my family in Disney World on November 20, the last three weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind! I am now in the states and will be until January 4, and it looks like the next five weeks will be just as hectic as the last few have been!

The second trip to Haiti was just as memorable as the first, though it ended with some sadness for me as I do not know when I will be able to go back again. I met the administrator of the school and we visited each class to let them know about the school supplies they would be given and the books that were going to be purchased for the school. They were very excited and appreciative - I continue to be impressed by the humbleness with which the children I have encountered in Haiti and the DR receive gifts. There is no greediness or expression of rightful ownership displayed - instead, there is a graciousness and warm expression of thankfulness. In all, we took a notebook, packet of pencils, and eraser for each of the 153 children in the school, and a notebook, packet of pens, box of chalk, and a chalkboard eraser for each of the teachers, along with two gallons of blackboard paint to transform the press board "blackboards" (which you can see behind us in the picture above) into actual ones for each classroom. After purchasing all this, there was $300 left, which I gave to the school for the purchase of textbooks that they desperately need since in each classroom 20 to 25 students are currently sharing only a handful of books for each subject.

Just before we left, I was able to share one more special gift with these children that was the result of a special gift to me from a dear friend of mine. You may remember that I had put granola bars on my "wish list" shortly after I arrived in the DR and found out how expensive they are here. As a result of that, I received several boxes of granola bars - the majority from one friend who sent a total of 154 granola/breakfast bars! While I was very happy to receive these, even after sharing several with the other G.O. staff and snacking on them for several weeks, I had almost 40 bars left, so I took them with me to Haiti and shared them with the children at the orphanage. This also became a great lesson in cross-cultural ministry for me as I realized after handing them out that these children had not seen anything like these before and did not know how to open the wrappers. After helping them figure that part out, they discovered that a treat was inside, and it was fun to experience their discovery with them! If I get to go back, I know what I will take with me again - even if I have to buy the boxes in the DR!

After returning to Santiago, I was able to host a "Teacher Appreciation" event for the teachers at the school G.O. supports and where I have been working for the last three months. We had pizza (which is a special treat for the people in this area and is very popular) and I expressed my thanks to them for welcoming me to the school and into their classrooms and for all the work they do with the children. After that, I introduced Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences and gave them an "MI Quiz" which they took and then I briefly explained how just as they all had different primary "intelligences," their students do as well, and though we tend to teach mainly to verbal and logical learners (and in my observations at the school, teaching to these types of learners was primarily what I saw), the majority of us actually learn best through other techniques. This will be something I will explain further in the teacher training on January 8th, but I wanted to introduce it to them with the hopes that they would start to evaluate their own lesson planning prior to that day.

We ended the night with each of the teachers and administrators receiving small gifts of appreciation that I used my ministry money for this month to buy. During my time at the school, I witnessed each teacher being given a piece of chalk for each day by the administration and sharing blackboard erasers, so I made sure to give a box of chalk (colored - just for fun) and an eraser to each teacher. These are basic tools that make a teacher's job easier, and hopefully, in a small way, these gifts helped do just that.

The next day, I went and said good-bye to the students, thanking them for their attention and encouraging them to continue working hard in school (especially in their English classes), and letting them know when I would return. What was most exciting for me in doing this was that I spoke to them first in Spanish and then translated all I said into English! My Spanish was not perfect, but it was certainly more than I could do when I first arrived in Santiago!

Before leaving the DR, I was also able to meet with the pastor of the church in Hoya del Caimito, which is where I live, who is also the president of G.O. in the Dominican, and with the pastor of the church in Hoya de Bartola (or the "hole" as it is commonly called), to discuss the ministries I would like to begin in their churches. Both were excited and encouraging, and we were able to plan out specific start dates for the English and Drama ministries! Beginning in the second week of January in Caimito, I will teach an English class on Saturday mornings for adult learners and a Drama class on Monday afternoons for 3rd through 5th graders. In Bartola, I will teach an English class on Tuesday afternoons for 12 to 14 year olds. This schedule will allow me to work with teams when they are in and in the school in Caimito when there are not any teams here. I am very excited to be able to begin teaching again! The first few months here were a wonderful blessing, during which I was able to begin building the relationships that will enable me to begin these ministries in January. The overall plan is to train a Dominican to take over the English and Drama ministry in each church so that I can then move to another church and start the process all over again! Please pray that I continue to take one step at a time and follow God's leading, as I can have the tendency to jump ahead of Him at times!

Returning to the states on November 16 for our staff retreat was a blessing, and we were able to relax and spend time getting to know one another better and being thankful for the family God has led each of us to through being a part of G.O. Ministries. There were times when I separated myself from the group to have some down time on my own with God, and I was able to reflect on the last three months. There have been some rough spots, and beginning something new is never easy, especially when it also means beginning new relationships as well as a new way of life. While I have never felt completely alone and have clearly felt God's presence, there were times when I just did not understand why certain things happened (or did not happen). During one particular quiet time, God led me to Isaiah 55:8-9 that says "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Through reflecting on and journaling about those verses, God reminded me, once again, that He is in control, and though I may want certain things to happen in a certain way at a certain time, it may not be what is best, and though I do not need the things I think I want, what I do need is to trust Him and let Him do His work, His way, in His time. He will certainly give us and do for us immeasurably more than we could ever or would ever dream of for ourselves.

One of the blessings He gave me and my family was allowing me to be in Orlando, Florida, at the same time they were for a vacation in Disney World! When they first planned to spend Thanksgiving week in Disney, we all believed that I would be in the Dominican at that time and would not be able to go. However, after finding out that as a result of the staff retreat, I would end up in Orlando on the 20th, I called my dad, and we were able to arrange (with my mom's help) for me to surprise my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew in Disney World! It was hard to keep the secret, and I had to be a bit sketchy with my sister about the details of my return to the U.S. (which I still can't believe she let me get away with), but it was all worth it to see the looks on their faces when I showed up just as they had finished riding Space Mountain for the first time (can anyone ever ride Space Mountain just once?). My niece pretty much always stayed attached to me in some way for the rest of the day (that's her hugging me in the picture), and I think it took an hour or two for the look of shock to totally leave my sister's face (she's the one with her hand on her forehead). The rest of the week was fun and exciting as we explored new and old attractions at Disney, and sitting down with my family for Thanksgiving dinner reminded me of all I have to be thankful for at this time in my life.

I will be in Virginia until the 29th when I leave for Louisville, and I will be in Louisville until December 22 when I will return to Virginia until January 4. Hopefully, I will be able to see each of you and get caught up in person! If not, please know that I am thankful for your prayers and support, and I thank God for you each time I think of you. I am still trying to work out the details for a reception in Louisville (location has been a challenge), and I will let you know when I have more information.

May God bless you in all you do, and I pray that this Christmas will be a time for you to celebrate Christ's birth and the reason for His coming!

Con amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine

Thursday - November 2, 2006

Well, I missed updating last week, but that was because we had teams from four different churches here, and we were a bit busy! Last week, we actually had more women here than we had beds available in the dorm, so our bunk beds in the apartment came in handy and we each had roommates for a few nights!

Two weeks ago, I was able to visit our ministry hub in Ouanamenthe, Haiti, where G.O. supports a church, school, feeding center, and orphanage. It was an amazing experience that had a profound effect on me. Earlier, I had written that La Mosca in Santiago was the poorest area I had ever seen. but Haiti now has that distinction. I truly cannot imagine anything worse - from children running around in the streets naked and dirty, to people living in houses made only of sticks and mud; I was overwhelmed by the need that surrounded me. The only way to truly describe how I felt was that it made my heart hurt, and I imagine that is only the smallest percentage of what God feels when He sees his children struggling to survive in places overrun with such poverty.

There were bright spots, though, in this country of contrasts. At the school, we saw little girls dressed in beautiful dresses, likely the only decent piece of clothing each of them owns, and the church was painted a bright and welcoming blue (which, naturally, I loved). While at the orphanage, we played with the children after they had eaten lunch, and their smiles were bright and beautiful. While we could not talk to one another except through the little bit of French I remember from high school and college, and which they are now studying in school (90% of Haitians speak Creole, even though French is the official language of the country), we could communicate through hugs, smiles, and laughter. Sitting and playing with or just holding these children whose parents have either died or abandoned them because of their physical disabilities, which are seen as evil here, I experienced some of the best few hours I have had since I left the US. The shy and quiet ones always seems to get my attention the quickest, and to be able to draw a smile out of a child and eventually draw that child onto your lap who previously had been hovering around the edges of a group, and then giving that child a few moments of undivided love and attention is to me one of the greatest gifts God gives us to share. When it was time to leave, I was not ready to go, and I am looking forward to going back and laughing with and sharing God's love with those children again.

I will be going back on November 10th to take much needed school supplies that I will purchase with the balance of the money donated by Woodland Hills Church of Christ. We will be taking textbooks, notebooks, pens, pencils, chalk, and some blackboard paint to use to cover the pressboard they are now using as "chalkboards." The school is located on the second floor of the building that houses the church, and that area is also used as a dormitory to house groups when they come to work in Haiti. Two of the classes actually meet in rooms where there are also bunk beds! The other classes meet in an open area with nothing to separate one class from the other except for a foot or two of space between the desks. The good news is that there is a new school being built next to the church that will have a total of 16 rooms once both floors are finished! What struck me the most was the difference between the children we met on the street and those in the school - here was hope and joy, out there was hunger and sadness. The work of the church (which has 800 members), school, feeding center, and orphanage has already begun to make a difference in this community, as concrete block houses are slowly beginning to replace those of mud and sticks, but there is still much work to be done. While it may seem overwhelming to us, nothing is impossible to God, and He is clearly doing His work in Haiti, and all we have to do is follow His guidance to support that work in any way we can!

After returning from Haiti, I was able to jump in (literally on Tuesday when I worked with the soccer clinic with the children from La Mosca) and start working with the teams. The soccer clinic was a lot of fun, and a few of those skills I learned as an eight-year-old seemed to come back to me pretty easily (though I would say I was about as good as I was back then, which is actually pretty bad, but it's the spirit that counts - right?). There was also a medical clinic going on at the same time at the church in La Mosca, and when we got rained out of the afternoon activities at the soccer clinic, we were able to go help that group out as well.

That same week, another group came in to do another medical clinic immediately after the first one in another area of the city called Los Perez. The pastor of the church there, Nico, is one of my favorite people here - he always has a smile on his face and a warm greeting for whomever he meets! This medical clinic also offered dental care, which consisted of pulling teeth since preventative care is only for those who can afford it, which is a small percentage of the people here - one patient had seven teeth pulled! I was assigned to taking pictures, but also ended up helping out in the pharmacy (don't worry - only with organizing, not with filling prescriptions!), and being assigned to guarding the door when it came time to stop allowing patients in for the day. In the middle of the day, a storm rolled in and everyone from outside ended up inside - talk about hot, muggy, and "close"! Through it all, the doctors, nurses, and dental team kept working, and it was a great day overall.

The next day I was assigned to the construction team, to once again take pictures, but we got rained out again. So, they did some impromptu children's ministry that was a nice surprise for the children and certainly something I was better suited for than construction, even though I was looking forward to getting to work on building the church at Hato del Yaque again!

On the fourth day of each team's visit, we went out and evangelized in the neighborhood where the clinics were offered, explaining that while we came to offer these clinics to meet the physical needs of the body, it is the spiritual needs of our souls that are most important, and only God can truly bring help and healing into our lives. Doing this was new for me, but I found that I enjoyed meeting the people of each community, inviting them to church, and sharing the Truth with them. On the evangelism day in Los Perez, I was in a group with Nico, who speaks more English than I realized, and he insisted I translate for him! It was rough going, to say the least, but he helped me, and we were able to get our message across! At one house we met up with a young man who had come to the clinic who also spoke very good English, and he joined us for the rest of the morning acting as translator, which was a huge relief for me! My Spanish is coming along, but I still have a long way to go!

Over and over again at the houses we visited, the people told us how grateful they were that the teams had come to help their communities, and the work the teams did, whether it was construction, children's ministry, or medical/dental help, was a great way to open the door to talk about the One who sent them. God has given each one of us talents to share with others, and there is no better way to use them than to lead others to knowing about Him and His redemptive love for us.

This coming week, I will be hosting a "Teacher Appreciation" event for the teachers at the G.O. school here in Hoya del Caimito as a precursor to the teacher training that has been scheduled for January 8. While I was hoping to do the training before I came back to the states for the holidays, it is better to offer it before the start of the new semester, as the training involves classroom management strategies that are best introduced at the beginning of a semester. God's timing is perfect, and I know His hand has been in this, so the postponement is not a disappointment. One thing I will do with the extra time is work on preparing my presentation in Spanish so that I will not need a translator, which would be very exciting!

Over the next few weeks, I will be preparing to return to the states. Please pray that I am able to get everything organized, and that I don't forget anything! Also, please pray for safety on the trip to Haiti and for all of the G.O. staff as we are traveling over the next few weeks. I will probably wait to update again until after the trip to Haiti.

I will be in Louisville the first three weeks of December and am planning to have a reception for all my supporters - watch your e-mail for more information!

Thank you for supporting my ministry!

Con amor de Jesucristo,
Catherine