Going to the DR

You put together the best team! 

Our last day. Sadness. Excitement. So many conflicting emotions.

We started out with our last two testimonies. The first was…phenomenal. There was a very good reason she waited until the last day – it was the toughest thing to get out. I admire her so much for being so transparent. And she may not realize it, but the things she discussed really opened my eyes and allowed me to acknowledge my own feelings regarding Chris’s past. While God has taught me a lot about forgiveness, I still have a lot to learn. I finally realized some things I was avoiding because I felt “stupid” – no more. Chris and I are heading to a new plateau…and God is leading the way.

The last one was just as awesome. Just as amazing as all the testimonies all week. I have to say, that was my favorite part of the week. You see how very differently God reaches each of us. Some of us had to be broken to learn to lean on Him. Some of us had an easy path, and followed Him our whole lives. What a blessing it must be to be one of those people. If not for one of those people, Shana, inviting me to church 20 years ago…I wouldn’t know God today. How sad that would be.

You also realize that God is truly a healing, redeeming God. Some of us made huge mistakes, some of us sinned and injured others in our sin. But God has forgiven each and every one of us. He has made us clean in His eyes. And listening to the stories – some shocking, totally inconsistent with the way I saw these people – you see that a person’s past does not have to define who they are. Chris and I are not the only ones to have been completely transformed. It is real, and it is all around us.

So that about wraps it up. I don’t know how to end this…because I don’t want it to end. I am still trying to figure out how to bring all of this back into my “normal life”. But what is that now? And how do I share all of this with Chris, who is now half of me? I can’t believe I did all of that without him. But now I’m back…and we’re reconnecting.

Back to real life. No more of this:

 But also…no more of this:

I miss all of you already!

So many songs this week!  Here was our favorite worship song, “Toma Tomalo!”.  Translated, it means “Take, Take, Take It All” (and not “Take, Take, Take It Off” as Alice apparently heard… )

Here is the song we sang in Spanish for the church – “Desde mi Interior” (“From the Inside Out”):

And last - our official theme song!  This was the first song that came up on the iPod our first workday…and, amazingly, it was also the first song that came up last year (RANDOM!).  Should I go again next year (I plan to!), I will make sure this is the first song again.

The dinner was awesome. Odd, though. The couple who hosted were older and spoke no English…if not for their 18 year old granddaughter who knew a lot of English, we would have been unable to communicate. They served us dinner (rice and beans, a carne asada-like meat, plantains, and something I couldn’t identify but was yummy!), but didn’t eat with us. No, instead, they pulled up chairs behind us and watched us eat. We all felt the need to say “delicioso” as often as possible, to make sure they knew we were enjoying it. Oh, and when we walked in, all lights were off and only a candle was on the table. We thought it was “mood lighting” – until the lights came on later and we realized that their power had just gone out. From the dinner, these are all the pictures I have – their puppy was adorable!

Thursday was our first day of mixing concrete. Luckily, there was little else for us to do (most of the remaining work needed to be done by the hired laborers), so we were able to switch out a lot on this tough task. Mixing concrete manually is TOUGH! But we all did it, and did so happily – was a nice change of pace from the slowness of the previous days. We learned a lot about how easy we have it here…not one of us could have told you before how concrete was made manually (not even those with some construction background), since in the US there are machines that do that for us. Hard, dirty work – every last one of us left those shoes behind on the last day. Was humbling to see how happy one of the workers was to get Brian’s shoes…was better than the sandals he’d been working in all week.

That night, the church held a special service for us. For our part, we all sang two songs (“From the Inside Out” and “Mighty to Save”) in English for the congregation, and 3 members sang the former in Spanish as well. For their part, they said the prayer in English – as he struggled through that, I was touched by how much work that must have taken. All for us. I keep using this word…but, it was humbling. They then presented us with gifts. What were they? Personalized shot glasses. Funny, huh? Just goes to show the difference in cultures. In the US, no WAY would any church give out something related to alcohol – not even the most progressive of churches. But in the DR, it isn’t a big deal. Differences…

Friday was our last workday. As we arrived, we felt a little strange…thinking that this was the last time we would see that worksite. We were determined to get as much done as possible on that last day, but our bodies thought otherwise. The week of hard work was taking its toll, as was the lack of sleep. We were ready to go back home, but sad to do so.

We accomplished a lot the last day – mixing and pouring more concrete, putting up rebar, carrying blocks so the workers could build walls. By the end of the day, all the concrete was poured, all 4 walls were under construction…and we deserved a break.

Tomorrow – going home!

What a difference. While day one of work was brutally intense, days two and three were all about…patience. We spent most of both of these days with little to do. With the site cleared, deep gulleys had to be dug in order for the walls to be erected. No power tools, manual labor was all we had to work with. And essentially, the locals wanted to provide all of that labor.

We spent most of the first morning just standing around, many frustrated that they had “nothing to do”. Until it occurred to us…we do have things to do. Just different things from what we thought we had signed up for. We were surrounded by neighborhood kids, intrigued by the (obvious) foreigners. We also had an open grass field next to the church filled with trash, begging to be cleaned. Teams took turns playing with and talking to the kids, and filling garbage bags with trash and weeds from the field. By the end of the day, we had built a baseball diamond (“if you build it…”) and were watching the local boys playing baseball there (“…they will come!”). We have no idea how long that baseball diamond will last…but at least we know we made a difference to those boys for a few hours.

Oh, did I mention one of the guys on our trip is a former pro baseball player? Oh, how excited those kids were to meet him, to get to throw with him, to have him autograph his baseball cards for them!! Wow…what a thrill that must have been. In the DR, kids are raised to be pro baseball players…those who “make it” are natural heroes. God definitely put Andrew on this trip for a reason…

My team was “team leader” for the day on day five, and we started with a devotional I found in “My Utmost For His Highest” on service. It was about how our service is not for man, but for God, and we should not be affected by the ingratitude of those we think we are serving. It was especially significant after the stress of the prior day, as many were still a little frustrated that they were not “doing what they came to do.” It is important for all of us to remember that God’s purposes for us here may have nothing to do with what we signed up for.

The workday was even slower than the day before. We were slowed down by a heavy downpour in the morning, and spent most of the rest of the morning just taking buckets of water out of the ditches built the day before. By noon, we were basically back to where we had left off the day before. In the afternoon, we had a little work…but today, people naturally sought out the kids and focused on building those relationships, instead of looking for tasks. We finally “got” that we are here for those kids, too. That is part of our job. And we may be the only “Christ” that some of these kids ever meet. What a responsibility…and a blessing.

Tonight, we are having dinners in the homes of members of the church. We are going in groups of 4-5, and my team does not have a fluent Spanish speaker. This should be…interesting. But, again, I’m trusting God will take care of us through this.

And I’m praying I don’t have to eat fish…

Amazing what a group of 20 pretty unskilled but very determined people can accomplish together in a day. Our purpose this trip is to build 2 classrooms onto Pastor Rafael’s church – our first task, to clear the jobsite. Here is what it looked like at the beginning of the day:

Keep in mind, we had no power tools, no equipment. In fact, at the beginning of the day, we didn’t have any tools at all. We carried this rubble BY HAND away, and the progress was slow. Each one of us would have told you there was no way we could finish this task in one day. Maybe two, if we were lucky. Even once we got some buckets, it still seemed impossible. But we all came together, we figured out a way to get things done more quickly (bucket lines!). The weird part is that we all sort of fell into this team – no leader emerged telling us what to do, but instead we just sort of fell into line and did what needed to be done to get the job done. All this, of a group of 20 people who were strangers until just a couple of months ago.

We broke for lunch and headed back to the hotel, where we ate more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (our lunch every day this trip – we’re on a tight budget!), then less than an hour later were back at the church. Luckily, clouds came our way, diminishing the intensity of the sun and allowing us to power through the rest of the day. To our amazement, we got through the pile – here is what it looked like at the end of the day:

By the time we left, we were all EXHAUSTED. To a degree I have never before experienced. And we smelled like…well, I can’t even describe. As soon as we got back, everyone showered, then on to dinner. Shockingly, NOT more rice, beans, meat and plantains. No, the group leaders decided to take us out for dinner – we had PIZZA! Even more fun, it was Brian’s birthday (happy 31st, young’un!), so we had a cake. A CHEESECAKE, from Cheesecake Factory – SCORE!

As part of this trip, each of us has to give our testimony during one of our twice daily devotionals. Since everyone has to go, I decided to bite the bullet and do mine early – I did it this first workday evening. (I think you all knew I wasn’t going to choose morning…do you know we have to do these devotionals at 7:30 AM??). It was weird to give it, even though I’ve given it a few times even in the last year. Thing is…it has totally changed in the last 6 months. Chris is SUCH a part of who I am in Christ today – his love and our relationship have taught me so much more about God’s love. I didn’t know what I was missing out on by closing my heart.

(I won’t write the whole testimony here, but will write it up and put it on my main blog shortly – check over there soon on the “Who I Am” page.)

It was amazing how easy it was to give my testimony. I did gloss over a couple of things, things that shaped how I came to God but aren’t necessarily pertinent to who I am in Him today. But I didn’t skip over anything because I was afraid of being transparent – I did so only so that I had time to give the last 6 months its due. THAT explains who I really am today…and my future.

Church was amazing. How odd that something in a language you can’t even comprehend can touch you?

The songs were in Spanish, but a couple of them were ones we knew. I know enough Spanish that I could tell from the lyrics exactly what the first one was, and found myself singing it in English in my head before the music started. But when the band got going (AMAZING band! Louder than North Point, if you can believe it! ), and the whole church started singing…I was singing right along with them in Spanish. It felt right, somehow.

The sermon was obviously in Spanish as well, and I understood none of it. I tried to pay attention, but you can only do that for so long when you have no idea what is going on. What I did notice, though, was how intensely the audience was listening. A group of kids next to us was furiously taking notes. KIDS! And they even offered to let us borrow their pens so we could take notes too. WOW! Even more shocking once we found out what the sermon was really about later on: obeying traffic laws.

Sounds weird…but apparently, Pastor Rafael had been convicted recently on this based on some personal experiences. The DR system of law is quite corrupt, as it is in many third world countries, and it is common practice to drive without licenses (he said 99% of his church does so), and if caught breaking a law, bribery of the officer is expected. Pastor Rafael told the congregation in no uncertain terms that they should respect the government, they should get their licenses and obey traffic laws. In addition, he pointed out that it would be impossible to represent oneself as a Christian and invite someone to church once you had bribed them – so this should not be tolerated. I wish I had understood the sermon, how cool it must have been!

At the end, we took communion. I realized how very, very long it has been since I’ve done this. And how much I’ve missed it! Perhaps it has more sentimental meaning to me because I accepted Christ right after taking communion, on a Maundy Thursday. I know it is simple symbolism, but it hit me. It also hit me how much I have missed going to church with Chris. Also a simple thing, also I guess symbolic – it isn’t like I need to be touching Chris to worship God with him – but oh so important. I love to worship God with him, next to him. So I’ve been convicted…I will make the effort to go to church with Chris every week. Yes, even the weeks he has the girls and goes to the 9 am service. If I can make that sacrifice for anyone…I can do it for him. I will do anything for him.

Well, that about wraps up the day. Tomorrow: first work day. Can’t wait!

Day two of our trip, and we still haven’t started our “mission”. Or have we?

Today we went to the beach. Yay, BEACH! First up: the food run. To save money (we are on a tighter budget than normal, due to increased airfare costs), we went to a grocery store to grab the makings for sandwiches. Here is the store:

Note the NUMEROUS scooters outside. I can’t even BEGIN to describe this whole scooter thing! Everyone and their moms (literally…) rides them, and they ride them like maniacs. We have nearly hit approximately half the native population of the DR already. And these people use them to transport everything…we have seen people carrying 5 gallon containers of gas, a ladder…and even a DOOR! Yep, a freaking door!! I’m sure there will be more stories and pictures on these in coming blogs.

Next up: the beach. It looked very different from any beach I’ve ever been to…silly San Diego girl and her preconceived notions of what a beach should be!

All along the upper edge of the beach are little tourist “shops”. These are really tents, and all them contain basically the same things: paintings, sarongs, wooden carvings, and (costume) jewelry. Oh, and cigars and liquor. A few of the guys (and one girl!) got excited about the cigars…apparently, DR cigars are pretty cool. Who knew? But, anyway, nearly everyone got a chance to practice their negotiation skills, and in a foreign language no less. Here are the shops (from behind), and an apparent “boat graveyard” – we couldn’t tell if these were just junked boats, or if perhaps they were washed up here in a prior storm.

Of course, the day wasn’t perfect. Of course. Carl got stung by a sea urchin – OUCH! Our first aid kit had tweezers, but they were ineffective in pulling the stingers (?) out. A local told us that melting hot wax on the stingers should bring them out. No such luck – but made for fun pictures.

Next up – the rain. Yeah, the beach isn’t nearly as fun in the rain. Especially when you’re trying to make sandwiches and eat chips (yum, soggy chips!!).

But all in all, a very, very cool day. Now on to church – I’m guessing it’ll be in Spanish and I’ll have no idea what they are talking about (well, I assume it’ll be about “Dios”…). Chris and I WILL learn some Spanish before we do this next year – I can’t be lazy about it again!!

Our first day has been…eventful.    Our flight was fine, though I did have some interesting seatmates.  The man next to me was John, he was on his way to Punta Cana (DR) with his wife & 2 kids for vacation at Club Med (which gave me ideas for my honeymoon…but I digress… ).  He and his son, Owen, were next to me; wife and daughter in the row in front of us.  EVERYONE on the plane knew Owen by the time we landed – he was the loudest person on the flight!  John apologized repeatedly and profusely for Owen – the yelling, the kicking, the incessant flirting (he kinda liked me ), but there was no need, I knew he was doing what he could.  The interesting part, though, was that John and I ended up TALKING.  I NEVER talk to people on a plane, but he and I had an actual conversation. 

I remembered Mark telling us during our first meeting that even our flight was an opportunity to witness.  Apparently, most people going to Punta Cana ARE NOT going there for mission trips – imagine that!  No, most are going on vacation, and chances are good they wouldn’t understand what we’re doing.  So, I took the opening and told John exactly what we were doing and why.  And you know what?  HE WAS INTERESTED.  He asked me lots of questions, and I had a chance – a small one – to witness.  But I will admit, I did not take advantage of one opportunity:  I never invited him to North Point.  Remember Andy’s recent series, where he talked about actually INVITING people to church?  I didn’t do this.  John asked about my church, and I answered vaguely – didn’t even mention the name.  Sigh…what a missed opportunity.

Well…on to the DR.  We landed, then waited in the airport for over an hour for our transportation to be ready.  Very few of us had any idea WHY we were waiting…but we trusted, and stood there, and waited patiently.  FINALLY, we got our rental vans (the delay was apparently that only one van was available, despite our reservation being for 2…), and we were on our way.  I got in Will’s van…and it wasn’t 15 minutes later that we hit our first roadbump.  Literally, actually.  We went over a speedbump, and our spare tire fell off.  Or, rather, it started dragging…we had no choice but to pull over and inspect.

We were blessed, though, even in our trouble.  Amazingly, this happened right next to a mechanic’s place…and he was ready and willing to help!  It seemed all we needed to do was reattach the tire to the undercarriage, but we actually did not have the right tool.  The mechanic did, and saved the day.  Ana translated for us – don’t think we would have gotten far without her!  Within 20 minutes, we were back on the road.  Jeremiah said it all:  “Suck it, Satan!”.

Okay, sure, so we got a little lost – after all, we didn’t really know where we were going, we had intended to follow Mark.  We did eventually make it, though, and everything was good.  Well, until we tried to take another trip later, and the van (same one) wouldn’t start. 

(No worries…just a loose battery wire).

Next up:  dinner.  FINALLY.  After all that, we were FAMISHED!  Here’s the spread…we are going to have an awesome week!  We’ve already been tested…and we came out victorious!

Tomorrow:  THE BEACH!  SWEET!

Today is the day. I am in the airport now, sitting at my gate. Lots of delays in getting checked in for most folks, but I was able to check in easily. Actually, I was the first one through! So, I have plenty of alone time here to get some thoughts down.

First thought: Chris is amazing. He not only got up early to take me to MARTA (on a weekend he has the girls…had to sneak out on them while they slept! ), but he wrote me the most amazing letter. And I mean WROTE – like, by hand (anyone remember how to do that anymore?). If I ever doubted God in his heart, I don’t now. And no, I never doubted it. What I have been insecure about is how much he (and I) want God to rule over our relationship. No more question. God is in control. He has been the whole time, whether or not we acknowledged it. We just need to remember to thank Him for it. For us.

I look out the window behind me and see a number of Marines standing on the tarmac. They are holding flags, they are in their blues. I don’t know what this means…but I have a feeling they are there to welcome home a…fallen soldier. I keep looking for a coffin to disembark. That may not be what this is about at all – but I am hit by the realization that so many people are out there fighting for us, and I never even think about it. People sacrificing their lives. I grew up in a military town and developed a bad attitude toward them – just thought of them as dudes trying to pick up girls. How humiliating, how jaded, how unfair. They are people, yes – men who want to fall in love as much as anyone else. And then they are more than that – people who believe in the ideals of this country more than the value of their own lives. They believe in something bigger.

They may or may not realize that GOD is something bigger. I do. I want to live my life like that. I want to be willing to lay my life down for HIM. Would I do it? Or would I be Peter, denying Jesus three times before the rooster crows? If a gun were to my head…would I die for Him?

And there it is, there’s the coffin. This is the closest I’ve ever been to one. It isn’t even a normal coffin…it is wrapped in a white (cardboard?) box, on a wood pallet. The family is gathered as well, they keep looking away.

This person, whether they know it or not, died for me. For my freedom. What a sacrifice…for little old me. Who is doing so little with that freedom. Isn’t that why Jesus died? For me? So what I have done to deserve it? What am I doing with it? What am I doing for Him?

I’m so humbled.