Hello friends and family!
Yesterday was our 4th day here in the Dominican Republic. After breakfast, our taxi driver, Flaco, took all of us to the school. We watched as the children all lined up for their daily morning routine. After, all the men, except for Darren, went off to work at the construction site. Once the students were in their classrooms Tracy and us went in to speak to the girls about abstinence. Darren was in a different room to speak to the boys. None of us really knew what to expect or how they would react. However, it went so well! They girls were very responsive and even asked really great questions. We both got to share a few things from our own perspective. We explained the importance of finding a guy with a strong relationship with God and why it is important to wait until marriage for sex. At the end, we asked the girls to make a commitment to abstain from sex until marriage, and those who commit, to stand up. We were so happy to see every girl in the room stand and commit to waiting.
We all met together at the hotel for lunch. After lunch, the men, plus the group that was at the school, changed into work clothes and headed off to the construction site. It was great to see everyone working so hard to get this church built! We helped by taking rocks from around the site and filling the bottom layer of the holes that were dug. Then, once those were filled, we started relocating dirt that was dug out of the trenches and holes. We went home absolutely filthy, but happy with the work we were able to get done. After dinner, a few of us gathered around the tables for a couple rounds of euchre. Which, we both found to be a tad challenging...but we'll be great by the end of the week!
Love you all and we can't wait to tell everyone about all of our amazing experiences this week!
Mackenzie and Shelby
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