Dominican Republic Team - Wednesday

This trip has been a new experience for me. Being in a leadership position while in-country has certainly taken more out of me than any of my prior trips. There’s a certain amount of fun that has to be withheld in the name of responsibility, and I am learning that constantly. That being said, this trip has been wildly successful and wildly encouraging for me.

There will be much processing to be done in my personal time with the Lord after this trip is over; that is what I keep coming back to. This is a time in my life where spiritual warfare is very real and ever-present within me. Keeping my eyes on the Lord and allowing him to light my path is the eternal source of my strength. This trip, if nothing else, has reinforced within me a reliance on God for everything: energy, positive attitude, sustenance, my future, my successes, etc. That list can continue on forever.

I’m blessed by my team here. It is such an amazing mixture of ages, backgrounds, talents, and personalities that any time we are all together, good times are to be had. This sounds cliché, but I say it very earnestly.

I’m loving it here and do not look forward to returning to the States and to schoolwork. :(

With love,

Griffin

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect out of this week in the Dominican Republic. I’ve been on many missions trips before, but I’ve never done one that included such an abundance of time with children. I have to be honest, I don’t tend to think I’m particularly “good with kids” and so I was quite nervous. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough energy or excitement or grace for all the silliness and curiosity and, let’s be frank: chaos that accompanies large groups of kids. Once I found out we’d have 6 hours of teaching the kids at Ebenezer school plus an extra couple hours with kids at the churches we visited Sunday each evening, I was even more unsure that I would be able to maintain an ability to teach and stay positive all week.

All that said, it has been a truly wonderful time so far. Not only has God answered my prayers and provided the energy to sustain me, but I have been encouraged in a way that has totally surpassed my expectations. There are too many specific moments to recount here, but the most exciting one so far was to hear reports from fellow team members today that the kids really, truly are absorbing everything we’re teaching. Whether it’s the 5^th graders practicing the English greetings we taught them Monday or the 2^nd graders saying they want to be civil engineers after they built marshmallow-tooth pick towers, it’s exciting to know they’re getting it, even within our short time with them! I’ve even been tempted to think that I could see myself teaching elementary-age kids full time…but then I come to my senses and realize that’s not for me (here’s a shout out to those full-time teachers out there. I don’t know how you do it).

Please pray with me for all these kids. They have wonderful teachers and pastors here with them and I am earnestly praying for God’s protection over them all. Pray that God would protect their hearts and minds and that our time with them this week would be nothing but an encouragement: that we would leave them only with more faith in God and knowledge that they are cared for.

~Lauren

Dominican Republic Team - We can finally post to the Blog!

Our first day of teaching flew by like a whirlwind. The children were overjoyed to have us here, and their over-the-top energy kept us on our toes. It took a couple tries for each of us to settle in to our respective stations before we were communicating efficiently, but to see the excitement from the children as they were learning was a blessing and got us excited for the day. The theme for the week is the promises of God, and each day we will be sharing a different promise from the Lord. The promise that we shared today is that God continually loves us, protects us, and walks with us each and every day guarding us from temptation. Regardless of how we act, the love of Christ is eternal and inseparable. We performed a skit as a large group to teach this, then broke it down further in each station.

It was an exciting first day, and we are all stoked to continue and see the kids again tomorrow. Our prayer for today is that we would continue to communicate effectively, and that the Lord would soften the hearts of the children and His Word would impact each and every child. He loves each and every one tremendously, and we have the opportunity to be His voice here this week.

-Armand- (Describing Monday)

The past few days that we’ve spent in the DR have far exceeded my expectations for the trip. There was some initial nervousness present because this trip was my first international experience, in terms of the process of getting here and the initial culture shock I might experience. There were a few hiccups in our travel time (barely making our connecting flight in Boston) but God was truly present in that process and everything worked out the way it was planned due to His protection.

We had the opportunity to spend time at 3 different churches on Sunday, and having spent time with the local community I have grown to be a lot more open-minded of the world around me. There was a significant language barrier and we have our differences, but the Dominicans made us feel welcome in their community. As soon as we arrived many people willingly gave up their seats for us and shook our hands and exchanged hugs afterwards. We may have cultural and language differences, but we believe in and worship the same God in strikingly similar ways.

-Kaitlyn

Since this was my first time leaving the country, let alone my first mission trip, I had no idea what to expect of the Dominican Republic. So far, every day has been an adventure! We rode a bus through Santo Domingo, shopped at Mercado Modelo, almost drank the water, attended multiple churches that spoke multiple languages, taught the kids English, and so many other amazing experiences. Living in the Dominican Republic has opened my eyes to the way other people live. It’s one thing to learn about a different culture in anthropology class, but another to visit and live in their environments; it’s a completely different experience. The way they live compared to the way we live isn’t wrong, it’s just different, and that’s alright. I found it beautiful that the people of the Dominican Republic worship the same God I do, and I can call them my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I’m so thankful to have this opportunity to grow closer to God, teach the beautiful kids of the Dominican, and have a community of believers of my own.

-Kaleb

Sunday and Monday - Dominican Republic Team

Hi everyone! This is Tracy Rath updating the blog from Ohio. David called tonight and they are having trouble with the wifi at the school, so he hasn't been able to update you.  I talked with him briefly and he shared the following:

On Sunday, the team was able to visit 3 churches - 2 in the morning and 1 in the evening.  They also held a Leadership Seminar  - David spoke and then everyone broke up into small groups for discussion. Free time on Sunday was spent going over teaching material and enjoying the lovely view from the rooftop home for the week.

Today was the big kick-off of ministry.  The team worked with the students at the Mission Possible School. Everything went great. Later in the after, the team headed to one of the churches on the edge of town and held an after school program for children in the community.  The students in all settings had fun playing games, learning some English, and being reminded that God loves them and nothing can separate them from his love.

Continue praying for this team as tomorrow is another full day of camps and hopefully they will get the wifi working, so some pictures can be posted as well.

Dominican Republic Team - Hold that plane

After an initial delayed flight in Cleveland, our H2O Kent State Team headed to Boston where they would catch a flight to the Dominican Republic. Through some great team work where those seated in the front of the plane got to the gate in Boston and told them the rest of the team was coming, this group was off to the DR and then made it to their hotel in Santo Domingo.  Today they finish their travel by bus and will arrive in Barahona.  Pray for their week - the teaching they will be doing at our Mission Possible school, the sharing of the gospel to the community, and the relationships they will form with our Christian brothers and sisters.

Thursday - Exploring Dupin and St. Marc

Ending the day singing the praise song “ I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back,” with our Haitian friends and listening to the waves roll in was a gift to our souls.  We are all walking this together and could be no more grateful for the gift it has been.

Our day began with a ride up to Dupin to continue our routine of a seminar with the teachers and stations for the kiddos.  All went fabulously and again we were blessed by the joy and enthusiasm of the teachers and the students.

Our ride back down led to a meeting up with a second vehicle to divide our team for two different teaching opportunities for the afternoon.  The teacher seminar was presented at St. Marc for their staff while the second group headed off to the teacher school to present their lessons with the first, second and third year students.  It is such a gift to be able to share the knowledge we have gained along our journeys.  Their enthusiasm was energizing.

As we met back together at the mission center, several sponsored students and their families joined us for dinner.  Of course our sweet cook Maude made us an amazing dinner of beans and rice, plantains, chicken, bread fruit, and salad.  Yum! Hearts were full sitting across the table from our Haitian “family.”

A gentle rain after our worship time closed out the evening.  It seems surreal that tomorrow is our last day to serve the teachers during this trip.  We pray we have served him well.

Always and Forever,

    Nicole Seitz

Wednesday - The Journey to Chardene

Hello from Haiti!

This is my first trip to Haiti and I know there is no way I will adequately be able to express my feelings with my words in a post, but here I go….

Each day begins as we gather for breakfast as a team. This team has just been so much fun to be around this week. We have laughed together, comforted one another, gathered for worship, encouraged each other, and maybe suddenly burst into random songs and dances as well. I know an instant smile will appear on my face when I think back on our interactions this week.

Today we left for Chardene after breakfast. I have really enjoyed the drive to each school in the morning. I never get tired of seeing new areas of God’s creation and seeing all the different landscapes has brought me joy. I am really trying to take it all in and not take for granted all of the sights I get to see. It has also been fun to see all of the different schools as each one seems to have its own unique aspects.

Our team has two different sections each morning while we are at the schools. Half of our team has training sessions for the teachers each morning, while the other half does VBS-type activities with the students while their teachers are out of the classroom. I have the opportunity to share a Bible story with the kids each morning.  As Mackenzie mentioned yesterday, we are teaching the story of Jesus calming the storm. It has been fun to make storms with the kids as we all sit on the “boat” we make on the floor and act out the Bible story. I had a class today that was particularly engaged, keeping their eyes on me the entire time and acting out the motions with enthusiasm—even with the language barrier. The smiles I get to see from the kids on a daily basis just make my day.

I look forward to everything else that God has in store for me the rest of the week. I will forever be thankful for this opportunity.

Kristi St. AmourJ

Tuesday - Dance for Degeance

Bonjour! Mackenzie here. Today was such a soul-boosting day! We all hiked up to my favorite school here, Degeance. For those of you who don’t know me well, I am quite the uncoordinated person, and so this hike was REALLY challenging for me. Even walking across flat ground is difficult! When we finally arrived to Degeance, it was like my heart just filled with overwhelming joy that, embarrassingly enough, made me cry. Let me tell you why:

Yesterday was challenging for me, as I didn’t seem to be able to click well with the kiddos that I worked with in Brenda’s and my music and movement station. Each school has its own personality, if you will. The pure sweetness, genuine hugs, laughs, and singing from the Degeance kids were incredible. As I am jumping, clapping, singing, and dancing in front of all of them, no one laughed at how uncoordinated I was nor how silly I looked. As I danced, I lost my breath (clearly), but gained an inner peace that I had not experienced in such a long time. The kids made rain through egg shakers, thunder through rhythm sticks, and wind with rhythm scarves. The animation alone was hilarious as we acted out the bible story of Jesus and the disciples on the boat during the storm. The disciples were scared and cried out to Jesus to save them from the storm (look up Matthew 8 for the story). With this in mind, we all acted out each character and event from the story. This actually solidified the themes that the kids learned from their craft and bible story station. Brenda and I worked so well together and I am so grateful that I have been able to get to know her and serve together. Ultimately, I am overwhelmed at this opportunity to come here. This team is incredible and so fun to get to know! I feel lifted up and encouraged by them all day, every day. I am so excited for the rest of this week. Thank You, Lord, for the blessings You have given me.

                -Mackenzie Lyon