Our Last Day at Ebenezer in the DR

Buenos tardes! Our team had a busy day of camp today and I loved every second. I was able to help Jeanette in her science station as we taught the kids about the elements of flight through making some sweet paper airplanes. It was the perfect visual for them to see how God lifts us up on wings like eagles daily (Isaiah 40:31).  The oldest group we had today created some home-made fidget spinners and let me tell you, those are a lot harder to make than they may seem haha.  Before lunch time, a few of us had the privilege of sharing our testimonies in front of all the kids. It was extremely difficult for me to say goodbye to my new friends, but I can definitely say they’ve taught me a lot in the short time I’ve been here with them.  Their compassion, zeal for life, and all-around enthusiasm for literally everything is contagious. We capped off the evening with a relaxing trip to the beach and came home to a few Dominican pizzas which were promptly devoured J Sad to say that today is our last day in the DR, but I think we’re all ready to come home (and eat some ice cream!)

-Elizabeth

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We spent today hosting the second day of the camp.  Both the team and the kids had a blast.  I was a group leader today, so I got to experience every station in the camp. The kids seemed to really enjoy each station: bible lesson, science, and games.  It was exciting to see that the kids remembered the bible verse they had learned two days ago.  They also had a lot of fun building paper airplanes and doing competitions to see whose could fly farthest. They love competitions! Games were all about competing against one another. After all the stations were completed, some of our group members gave their testimonies.  It was nice to see how there are many aspects of how people can be brought to God. After that, more competition! We started a large game of volleyball. Oh, how they got super into that game! We then ate lunch with the kids. Once they all left, we got to head to the beach. It was a great way to end our trip here in the DR. Prayers for safe travels tomorrow. See you all soon!

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~Suzanne

A Day of Worship

Today was full of worshiping with our Dominican friends.  We started the morning at the Creole church where we looked at the freedom we have with Jesus.  After church, we made ourselves a lovely lunch and then the guys played some basketball with some of the guys from the church.  Later in the afternoon, we were split into 4 groups and, with members of the Spanish church, went on a prayer walk where we stopped and prayed for individuals in the community and invited them to church.  Once again, we were blessed to worship only this time we were at the Spanish church.  God is so amazing because even though we do not speak the same language we have the common bond of worship to God.  Today we experienced worship in Creole, Spanish and English; 3 languages all worshiping the same God.  Our evening ended with each of us sharing our testimonies with each other.  Tomorrow we will be sharing these testimonies at camp with the kids.  It is our last day, so pray that we can touch the hearts of these children.

Ebenezer's Creole Church

Drake in Action

Nathan fighting for the ball

The dedicated basketball crew.  It was so hot, but they kept playing

Our team after church at Ebenezer - Spanish Church

From the DR side of things - Youth camp, Haitian weddings, and baby bats

Hola, today was our first full day in the DR! Due to a funeral of a community member, plans were slightly altered. Instead of having a morning and afternoon camp, we invited all kids to come in the morning. I was with Jeanette teaching science this morning so we got to teach the kids all about waves and how they contribute to natural events like earthquakes and tsunamis.  Each kid received a slinky to help demonstrate the types of waves; they loved testing out their new slinkies and seeing how far they could make them travel. It was awesome being able to teach them something new while also having a ton of fun! It was a slight struggle to transition from Creole to Spanish, however, my Spanish knowledge is much greater. After eating lunch with the kids, we had a little free time before setting off for quite an adventure. The taxi picked us up and we were headed to a Haitian wedding. Let me tell yah, I’ve never experienced such a wedding. For starters they originally said the wedding started at 2pm, but didn’t actually start until 5 (thank goodness we didn’t show up until 4:30).  It was neat to see the wedding party perform a dance as they awaited the bride and groom. There was also a good amount of singing, but the rest of the details we’ll just have to tell you when we get home. After the wedding, we headed back to the school to find some sweet baby bats and with that we will see you all very soon!

~Lisa

The rest of our crew was busy at camp as well.  Besides the Science lessons, we had a game station in the courtyard and Bible time that focused on Psalm 18:2 - God as our refuge and rock. Tomorrow we will be attending church in the morning at the Creole church.  Then, after lunch we will join the Spanish church for evangelism walks around their neighborhood before attending church in the evening. 

We will also be working on our individual testimonies that will be shared at the end of camp on Monday.  Pray that God speaks to each of us and we can clearly know what he wants us to share with these kids in the DR.  We love and miss our families, but are loving what God is doing here in the DR.

Goodbye, Haiti!

It’s hard to believe that today was our final full day in Haiti. We have shared a lot of laughs, prayers, and sweat through out the week. Rene told us last night that this morning would be a “spirit-led morning”, and it was perfect. We hiked up to Degeance to do a prayer walk through the school grounds and the community. We had the privilege of laying hands on several adults and many children. We spoke life over the land and covered them with the blood of Jesus. As we hiked past the school, we came upon a giant tree that is used as an alter for voodoo ceremonies. Standing around the tree, I felt darkness and a tightness in my chest. There were hundreds of birds in the tree and as we began to pray, their singing became louder and louder. Even the birds were praising God with us! As we continued to pray and rebuke the evil I felt the darkness lift and my chest begin to loosen. God was moving. A group of students followed us to the tree and through the village. Claudia got to see Dashna again and tell her one last time that she loved her. :) After our prayer walk we had lunch and then headed back to St. Marc to finish painting the classrooms. With a little bit of team work and a whole lot of Jesus music, we got the job done. Prayers would be appreciated tomorrow morning as we head back to the US after church in the morning. We are sad to be leaving this beautiful country but excited to come back and continue to intercede for the Haitian people in different ways. Thank you for your prayers this week and we will see you tomorrow night!

-       -- Jenna