Tuesday
What a welcome to the Dominican!! From just two years ago, I can see a complete
difference in the way we as a group are accepted here. Our arrival at the airport began with a worker
welcome right in the tarmac followed by some of the nicest government employees
I have ever met. Even the passport
stampers were pleasant and welcoming.
Not a single bag of ours was searched, and therefore not a single item
(sports equipment nor vitamins) was taken!
This to me shows the miracle of God’s work at hand. In just two years, the city’s knowledge of
God’s work is evident and they are allowing that work to happen. They are not attempting to hinder us in any
way. I pray Satan stays at bay the next
week (especially the next four days) as camp begins.
“So then, welcome him
in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him…” Philippians 2:29
Wednesday
Not being an author naturally, I know my ability to describe
what took place today will be lacking.
However, it is a sight I will never forget and want to share. Upon arrival to our specific camp site, we
were informed all the children were gathered for a presentation and we were to
go and meet them. After loading up with
our equipment, water, and other needed supplies for the camp, we began our trek
to meet the kids. It was one of those
walks when you begin to understand how much we have in America. How clean it is, how “safe” you feel, and the
American culture overall. It was one of
those moments when you start to question if being here is the right thing for
you, that is until God suddenly moves and shows you exactly why you are in this
place. After about 10 minutes of walking,
the AIM group stopped mid-street to see over 1,000 (yes you read that
correctly) children parading towards us.
There were children, children and more children! There was music and laughter and smiles and
just pure joy in that place. You could
feel God around us; sense His presence and His love. It was one of those moments when you just
know God is here with us. One of those
moments you are so blessed to be in, but at the same time you wish you could
stand back and just look on from the outside.
It was amazing!
On another note, you may wonder how do we know we actually
had 1,000 kids?! Well, our Dominican
counterparts had prepared 800 hotdogs for our site alone, brought another 100
with them that morning and still had to cut some in half. Being the first year for this site, this is a
miraculous number and one AIM has not seen in the past. Pray for God to be glorified throughout our
time here and for these children to be reached with God’s love and salvation!
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14
Thursday
Day 2 of camp has commenced, and we are seeing lots of
children and their smiling faces. But
today, the story belongs to some of the AIM team members and their growth. Our team for our specific site is made up of
about 25 people from all ages and backgrounds.
One of those members is a recent high school graduate who was offered a
trip with AIM through FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). This is her first time on the trip, does not
know Spanish, and is somewhat hesitant with her role. However, she “stepped out of the boat” today
and took a leadership role among our team.
Last night, she found a song for the Bible portion of our morning,
practiced it, and sang it (in Spanish) during the Bible story portion of
camp. She led a group of 500+ rowdy
children through a song with hand motions and foreign words. (I don’t even want to try to sing in front of
people much less in a foreign language.)
She is speaking Spanish to anyone she can (including everyone at the
hotel) and is growing so fast. She has
truly taken this trip to heart and is allowing herself to grow in Christ during
her time here.
Another one of our team members I want to highlight is
actually the leader of our site and my husband, J. I am so proud of his growth over the past
several months as he has “stepped out of the boat” and taken leading others to
heart. J’s normal personality is one to
take a backseat and allow others to be in charge/take lead. However, in the past 6 months, he has truly
had to step up his game and take initiative in many aspects of our life and
move to the Dominican. No matter how
well we plan and prepare for the camps, there are always struggles, changes and
for lack of better words chaos at times.
However, J. has learned to take these times in stride and work through
them. He is willing to make those tough
decisions as needed and was leading our group like a pro. I cannot wait to see the work the Lord
continues to do in his life and the growth that I get to witness throughout our
life together.
“For God is working in
you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13
Philippians 2:13
Friday
Day 3 of camp and God continues to move in mysterious
ways. In many of the communities in the
Dominican, trash is thrown just anywhere and parks (baseball fields, soccer
fields, etc) are not maintained. The
grass is grown up, there is trash gathered everywhere and many of the
facilities are rotting away. However,
God’s light was shining through several men in the community today. When we pulled up to the area, there were
several men working with machetes to slash down the 3 ½ foot grass that has
grown around the basketball court, there was a man with a rake tending to the
dirt in the baseball field and there was a man with an weed-eater mowing down
the foot high grass on the extra-large soccer field (imagine a field capable of
fitting 3 soccer fields). These men were
not being paid for this, they were not asked to do this, but rather these men
were simply “loving” through their actions.
They were showing self-sacrifice by improving the facilities these
children were playing at.
Every evening we have “story time” where the AIM group tells
stories about their sites and what they saw happening with God’s people that
day (we have 10 sites this year therefore there is a lot going on we don’t get
to see). As we finished this special
time, Fred reminded us of the ultimate goal of this week: love. We are to love on these children, the
coaches, the community, our Dominican counterparts, and each other. For without love, there would be no reason to
be here. God loves us and we must show
His love to others. Love can be shown in
many ways, but for children, love is easily shown through play. Therefore, we are playing with these
Dominican children to show them God’s love.
“For God so loved the
world that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not parish
but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Saturday
Last day of camp and this is always a hard day. You get attached to the children so
quickly. They are unbelievably sweet and
engaging and happy. It’s always hard to
let them go. But, we remain faithful in
knowing the seeds have been planted by God and that God will water them and
harvest them in His timing. Although it
can seem overwhelming that the children we reach are but a drop in the bucket,
we continue to pray and seek God knowing He has a plan in reaching each one of
the children we see. Please keep praying
for these communities to seek God and His salvation. Pray for those who are struggling and need a
miracle in their life. Pray for the AIM
team as they have been reached and blessed in so many ways.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seen and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9
Sunday
Today
is church day and one of my favorite days.
I must say you have never seen Worship before if you have not seen the
Dominicans praise God. There is
something so sincere and devoted in each of them as they raise their hands and
sing their hearts out. As J says, “they
plug in and turn to 11.” Even though I
cannot understand every word in every song or even every word in the sermon, I
feel God’s presence in this place. I
feel His hands surrounding the people and embracing them. I feel His love and compassion for these
people. The Dominicans are a special
group of people who rely on God wholeheartedly.
I pray my time in the Dominican and our time living here will help me
grow in my dependence on God.
“Let everything that has
breath praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
Monday
Every
morning we have a devotional with the group before heading off for the
activities of the day. Today, our
devotional was focused on telling our story.
We were pushed to listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and tell our
story whenever possible. Whether in
church, at a restaurant, to the person waiting in line with you, etc. You never know when God may be planting the
seed for someone, watering it, or even harvesting it. Listen to that prompting and follow through
with it. Allow God and the Holy Spirit
to shine through you and use you.
He said to them, "Go into
all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be
saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Mark 16:15-16
Mark 16:15-16
Tuesday
Last
day as a group and it’s always sad. You
have built a relationship with your team members through sweat, heat, even
tears. You have seen growth in those
around you, built up new friendships, laughed and loved together. Although you know you will “facebook” each
other and “stay in touch”, you know it won’t be the same as we all head back to
our hectic schedules. My prayer for all
of my team members as we head back to our “real lives” is that we would
continue to focus on God. It seems so
easy while here in the Dominican to spend time with Him, read the Bible, and
have quiet time while staring at the beautiful ocean. But, the true test comes when we resume our
daily routines and slowly place God on the back burner. Keep God at the center of everything you
do. He is always patient, always waiting
and always accepting after we fall.
Continue to move towards Him.
Jesus said, "I am the light
of the world. Whoever follows me will
never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
