Hi family and friends! Just wanted to let everyone know that the team made it here safely and are ready for a great day tomorrow. :)
More posts to come! Adios!
Please do not post to facebook for the safety of team members and staff.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Travel Day June 12th LBMP
Hola Gringos!
Marisa here. This morning we all woke up very early (well some of us didn't sleep at all... :p) to have a quick breakfast before all but four of us headed back to the U.S. I feel that I can not even describe with words the amazing experiences I had with you all here... but I thought I'd try. First, for all of you returning home, I've made a couple top 5 lists of our time here together with LBMP.
Marisa here. This morning we all woke up very early (well some of us didn't sleep at all... :p) to have a quick breakfast before all but four of us headed back to the U.S. I feel that I can not even describe with words the amazing experiences I had with you all here... but I thought I'd try. First, for all of you returning home, I've made a couple top 5 lists of our time here together with LBMP.
Funny Top 5
5. Eli trying to speak Spanish... and English, plus trying to hear.
4. Griffin's all-natural speedo made of leaves.
3. Brian's M&M smile, and english class photo :D
2. Mitch sleeping on the bus
1. Tortuga/Sarah going to the bathroom in a bucket, and telling us the story during devotions.
God Top 5
5. Waking up to God's beauty surrounding us every single day.
4. Watching every team member grow in their faith and experiencing God in a new way.
3. Seeing the smiles on the children's faces who have almost nothing.
2. Seeing how fiercely the Dominicans worship the Lord from their songs of praise to their every day lives
1. Sharing testimonies in Spanish with the great friends, American and Dominicans, that we've made here and that we'll never forget.
As I reflect on this past week I'm sad that it went so quickly but praise God for all of the new friendships I've made with every single team member. Now all of the LBMP team is probably somewhere over the Atlantic right now, and the Gateway team is on a bus experiencing their last bit of air conditioning that they'll have for a week. Mackenzie, Alexis, Shelby and I are getting so anxious for the next team to come... We've done laundry, cooked, read, almost anything to pass the time, but it hasn't gone quick enough. This will actually be my fifth team in the DR that I get to be a part of, and I know that by no accident did these teams get put together this June - God perfectly planned it out. After the weeks I've spent here, it still never ceases to amaze me how God works in my heart and how much I feel his prensence here and I can't wait for the "newbies" to experience all of this for the first time. They need to be ready to be changed, becasue I can tell you for sure that its going to happen to everyone.
God bless! Praying for you all back home!
Marisa Sonrisa
Hola!
Mackenzie typing. Oh dear, where to even begin! This week has been absolutely INCREDIBLE- there is no way describing it would do it any justice...but I'll try my hardest! Through painting and working on construction on the Creole church almost everyday, we all learned to work together as a team quickly and effeciently(especially taking up 1,000 cement blocks to the top of the church in one day with only 8 people in our construction shift!) We also had lots of fun getting to know each other while working... there are way to many funny instances to name, but Marisa gave you a pretty good idea of what they were like! Anyways, my most favorite part of the whole trip was the relationships. Being able to introduce all of me and Marisa's American friends to our Dominican friends was so awesome because we all had a blast hanging out together- whether it was playing basketball or just talking, we all got to know each other really well. I know this has been talked about before, but hearing the testimonies of all of my friends(Americans and Dominicans) was, without a doubt, amazing. I kept realizing again and again how God can use our past circumstances for His purpose, no matter what our circumstances were like. Each of us has a story, unique and special that God wrote for us..1 Peter 3:15 talks about how we should always be prepared to give a reason to anyone who asks for the hope that we have. Basically, be prepared to share your testimony at any time. It seems that everyone we talk to here is always happy to tell us their testimony, any time and any place, which is great because I love listening to them! I can't wait to hear everyone's testimonies for this next group and to see how the people of the Dominican Republic will change their hearts, just like they change mine for the better everytime I come here.
Hasta Pasta!
-Maquendi (or Mackenzie for you English speakers) :)
P.S. I can't wait to share all of our adventures to everyone back home!!
Tuesday June 11 2013 LBMP
Hola Americans!
What a week this has been. This is Eli typing. Like they always say "best for last" :D. This week has been amazing. I think I'm talking on everyones behalf when I say this a was an eye-opener and an experience that we will never forget. Today we worked a classroom in the school, outer-walls surrounding the school, and the pre-school walls across the street. The last three days including Saturday, we've been painting a lot. We have the very artistic people who can paint awesome, but very difficult murals on the wall and then we have the people that try to draw a flower but it ends up looking like a circle. I am the second person. But our talents do not matter in the end because both are being used for a great cause. After we painted, we had a quick lunch and then headed off to our final adventure. I guess you could call it our reward for the trip. First off we toured some bateys which are run-down villages where Haitian and Dominican sugar cane workers live. They are not the cleanest places in the world. After that we headed to a waterfall in the forest. It was quite an event to journey up the water and rocks. Most of us made to the top with a lot of teamwork. Finally to finish our final adventure off in the DR, we went to a beach where there was nice warm water. I enjoyed this trip so much. Not only did I meet and make new relationships with the Dominican people but I also made new relationships within our own group. In about 12 hours we will be US bound! See ya then!
Eli Norden
p.s. Sarah had to use the restroom after the climb of the waterfall so she found the nearest place and was in for a surprise. She asked the lady where the restrooms were and the lady handed her a bucket, a napkin, and then gave her privacy by shutting a "door". That gave everyone a good laugh. Poor tortuga. Ask what she did with the napkin... :-)
What a week this has been. This is Eli typing. Like they always say "best for last" :D. This week has been amazing. I think I'm talking on everyones behalf when I say this a was an eye-opener and an experience that we will never forget. Today we worked a classroom in the school, outer-walls surrounding the school, and the pre-school walls across the street. The last three days including Saturday, we've been painting a lot. We have the very artistic people who can paint awesome, but very difficult murals on the wall and then we have the people that try to draw a flower but it ends up looking like a circle. I am the second person. But our talents do not matter in the end because both are being used for a great cause. After we painted, we had a quick lunch and then headed off to our final adventure. I guess you could call it our reward for the trip. First off we toured some bateys which are run-down villages where Haitian and Dominican sugar cane workers live. They are not the cleanest places in the world. After that we headed to a waterfall in the forest. It was quite an event to journey up the water and rocks. Most of us made to the top with a lot of teamwork. Finally to finish our final adventure off in the DR, we went to a beach where there was nice warm water. I enjoyed this trip so much. Not only did I meet and make new relationships with the Dominican people but I also made new relationships within our own group. In about 12 hours we will be US bound! See ya then!
Eli Norden
p.s. Sarah had to use the restroom after the climb of the waterfall so she found the nearest place and was in for a surprise. She asked the lady where the restrooms were and the lady handed her a bucket, a napkin, and then gave her privacy by shutting a "door". That gave everyone a good laugh. Poor tortuga. Ask what she did with the napkin... :-)
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| All the blocks and sand we carried up are now made into a wall for the Creole church. |
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| Daily life in the bateys. |
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| Our group wandering through the batey streets. |
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| Even though they have little, there is always something to smile about. |
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| This was in Batey 5, about a half hour from Barahona |
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| They all wanted to get in a picture. Only Julie took her camera through the batey so she will have to share them with all once we are home. |
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| A house and stick fencing around it. |
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| Walking up the waterfalls. |
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| Sliding down was lots of fun. |
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| All the gringo guys with Jonathon Sam pose for a picture. |
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| At the beach on the way back from the waterfalls, Lauren got brave enough to ask if the guys would give her a push on the board down the hill into the water! |
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Monday, June 10th LBMP
We have LOTS of pictures today because it was such a special day! Enjoy and keep praying for us. Tomorrow AM we will finish up our painting in the morning and spend the afternoon visiting some nearby bateys, relaxing in the waterfalls and beach. See you all soon!
Patti Spiegel
Dear Dee, Family, and Friends,
I would like to start off by saying that we all need to give Senora a hard time when she returns home for taking me away from my basketball game to blog. Impatient weenie >:( But in all honesty, I am having the time of my life. I've traveled to so many places over the past couple years, but it's always been for me and my leisure. Touristy type activities. But here, it's by far and away been the best trip I've ever been on, because here, service doesn't feel like a job. We all WANT to help and that in itself is inspiring. . . Today we painted in the morning, and let me tell you, painting is one of the most miserable jobs, but we make it so fun. It makes a world of difference when you're doing something for the good of the community, of the school, and of the church, rather than for yourself. Today we did different paintings including some detail paintings at the preschool. We painted fruits, modes of transportation, and the solar system there. I personally painted a pineapple today and it is a beautiful piece of work. It took me a couple hours and it's nothing special, but it was super fun to paint. Highlight of today was when Megan started painting highly accurate constellations on the solar system wall like a total nerd. It made me a little bit jealous honestly. After the painting there were English lessons. It started off slow, but by the end it atually turned into a spanish lesson for our group. We all ended up sharing our testimonies in spanish. That was the first time I'd ever shared mine out loud. A couple hours later after our Domincan meal (best meal of my life), we all shared them on our own with the Dominicans. We gathered in a circle and explained our journies. One by one we told each other about our lives and our religious walks with no shame or fear. I shared mine again in this larger group, in spanish, and it took me longer because I'm not as quick at my conjugations, but it was an amzing feeling. It's funny how even now, just after that talk, my testimony has changed. Hearing their testomnies alone has allowed me to grow in my faith and change my ideas. I just can't express my thanks in enough words. I don't want to leave here, but I can't wait to see the people I miss so dearly back home and share with them all that I have come to learn.
PS Griff got it wrong. I rocked the electric guitar like a boss while Mitch played the acoustic. I am clearly the more hardcore rocker.
-Sarah
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| One of the completed hop-scotch games in front of the preschool. |
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| Megan and Julie are "out of this world" painting the solar system. |
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| Sarah, KC, Lauren and Mackenzie are decorating the outside wall with fruits, named in Spanish. |
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| Lauren beginning her artistic mango and Mackenzie starting the bananas. |
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| While some painted at the preschool the rest repainted the wall by the basketball courtyard. Here is Alexis touching up at the bottom of the wall. |
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| Eli going up for the poster dunk... but don't let him fool you he was rim stuffed. |
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| Leslie and Eli brightening up the place. |
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| Don't mess with these two... Griffin and Brian are ferocious rollers! |
Hey everyone! Mitch here. I held out as long as I could, but Spej finally made me slow down for a minute and come blog for all of you. I have been enjoying every minute of this trip whether it be working, worshipping, or winning a game of basketball. Sarah and I got the easiest day to write because it was by far the most eventful and rewarding day for me. The only problem is Sarah already wrote about basically all of the important things, so I'm going to have to be creative. One amazing thing I did today was I got to ride with Oscar (who works here) into town on his motorcycle! We needed some painting supplies, and I had previously mentioned that I had interest in purchasing a machete, so they invited me to tag along. Motorcycles and mopeds are the most common way of transportation here I'd say. I mean if we had weather like this all the time I think I would zoom around on a motorcycle too. A little bit later, Marisa also had the opportunity to ride the motorcycle, and she loved it just as much as I did. In the evening there was some boys my age playing basketball outside, so they challenged me to a game of 5 on 5, Dominicans vs. Americans. So I brought my all-star team of us five boys and Marisa. Some of them are much better athletes than us, but they were no match for the skills of the gringos. We beat them on the last play with me feeding the ball to Brad for a fastbreak dunk! (Ok the rims are a little shorter, but it was still cool). But I especially enjoy doing things like this because it helps us find a commonality in which we could talk about and compete, and it also jump starts friendships and getting to know each other. I myself have become good friends with Moise's son Jonathon. He is about my age, but we both love to talk about and play basketball. He speaks some English, but I really use the time to practice my Spanish, which I have come to use more than I could have imagined while I've been here. I wasn't sure when I left at how well I would be able to communicate, but it's really been no problem at all. I mean shared my testimony entirely in spanish tonight. I thought that was hard in English! Well we are leaving soon, which is something I don't want to do, but it will be nice to see you all again!
Hasta pasta,
Mitch
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| One of the English conversation groups with Yessica. |
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| Another group helping Jonathon with his English. |
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| Marisa and Alexis chillin' with their new friends. |
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| Not only did the Dominicans learn English, but the Americans learned a lot about Spanish in the process. |
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| Mackenzie blends in nicely in this one! |
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| Mitch and Oscar going to get painting supplies. |
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| Marisa, about to head to the grocery store. |
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| Street scene in Barahona. |
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| The yummy Dominican meal that Ruth and Carlota prepared for us. Everyone's favorite meal so far! |
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| This was a very special evening. Each person you see here shared their testimony in Spanish in a circle in the courtyard. My students all did an AMAZING job being able to do this using their Spanish. I (Mrs. Spiegel) sat back in awe and listened but helped very little. What a blessing to hear how they met God in a personal way and although each story was different, each had a personal encounter with the God of this universe. I got teary-eyed just listening. |
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday June 9th 2013 LBMP
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| On the bus heading to the river for baptism |
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| Awwwww... Mommy y su hija |
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| Mitch and Daniel on the bus going to the river for the baptism. |
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| Las profesores |
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| Moise beginning the baptism |
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| The group waiting for their turn to enter the river. |
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| One of the 15-20 people getting baptized |
We have been doing many different activities in the last 5 days, including construction jobs, teaching, and painting. The weather here is wonderful like always, and I wish I could express how amazing of a country the Dominican Republic is. I especially requested to write on the blog after at least one church service because that is one of the most spectacular parts of the entire journey. The culture of the church service is very different from that of a traditional American church. The instruments are basically the same: guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, drums, and microphones. However, the difference shows up in the enthusiasm of the congregation to participate in singing, clapping, and even dancing. The dance instructor for the chicas at the church, Daniela, put it this way, "When you sing or dance for a worship song, you are doing it for and in front of God, his eyes are looking directly at you, so why wouldn’t you do your best?" That really stuck with me and I hope to be able to bring that back with me. Also, our group performed a song this morning, and will play another this evening. Sarah played the electric guitar, Mitch played his guitar, Megan played keyboard, then there was me on the bass. I would have been fine with that except the fact that I was told I was going to be playing on Saturday, with only one band practice for me to learn two songs. Luckily, both songs are very simple and at least the first song went smoothly. I am looking forward to this afternoon and the rest of the trip. See you soon!
Griffin Rath
PS We sang a simple verse in Spanish called "Te doy Gloria/I give you glory" then English and back to Spanish. Since this morning was a Creole and Spanish church service together, so they sang in Creole too. It was a great experience not to perform for the people but to be able to worship and have them participate with us. Tonight we will sing "Alabare" and the congregration knows the song better than us so I know they will enjoy and sing with us. All is going great here, everyone is happy and healthy and our God is good!
Patti Spiegel
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| Everyone was in front for our song so we didn't get a picture during the service, but afterwards, Ruth took our picture while we sang it again! |
This afternoon was quite relaxing for everybody. Finally we were able to lie down and catch up on some much-needed sleep. Most of the guys, like me, ended up playing cards and enjoying each other's company during our time off. Around 5:30, we ate some dinner. I believe we had spaghetti, salad, and, of course, a combination of fresh fruits, such as pineapples and mangos. After dinner, we went to the night service of our church, and it was very cool. Even though there were less people than in the morning, I felt that everyone there was truly happy to have us as a part of their service. The sermon was done by a young man named Yoel, who we all know well. We were all very impressed by his message, which lasted for about half an hour. The entire service lasted for and hour and a half, and there was A LOT of singing. It is actually really cool to hear them sing because everybody does it with their entire heart and soul because they are a happy and enjoyable people. Oh yeah, we also sang another song tonight called Alabare. It was all in Spanish and most of the congregation knew it and sang along with us. We're all having a great time down here, so don't worry so much (Mom :))
-Brian Dailey
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| See how happy Brian is to get an M&M?! |
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| "Daniel the Great!" He told me to put that caption!! :-) This is Moise' yougest son and he is certainly a ham!! |
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| Yoel preaching during the evening message. |
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday June 8th LBMP
Hola!!
I can't imagine sleeping in a more tranquil environment. Technically, we're sleeping inside but it feels as though we are outside with the breeze that flows through the windows at night. Today we were all able to sleep in a little bit since the kids are no longer in school AND it's Saturday ;). After breakfast we split up into two groups. My group went to the construction site in the morning and then painted in the afternoon whereas the other group painted in the morning and went to the construction site in the afternoon. Our job today at the construction site was to carry the cement blocks up onto the roof. I'm actually starting to get a tan line around my wrists now from wearing my gloves! It's quite hysterical. We had forgotten to bring extra water to the construction site, but thankfully Moise showed up with Gatorade and saved the day! So far, it has been a wonderful adventure here. As for me (and I think I can speak for the rest of the group as well) we are all learning and growing a lot here, individually and as a group. I praise God for this opportunity to be here.
Shelby
Hola!
To start off a great Saturday here in Barahona, I went outside with a few others to watch the sun come up over the mountains! After our morning activities, my group came back to the school and started painting the hallways. It's amazing to see how much we can get done together! Once we had finished painting, we went back to the fifth floor. This was when I noticed that the view, already breath-taking, was even more spectacular than before because the ocean was the bluest I'd ever seen it! Of course I had to take a picture. Later, many of us went to the courtyard and made some new friends with the Dominicans. We raced, played games, and learned new dances. We even taught a little bit of swing dance!! After a delicious dinner and a devotional session, we hit the sack, excited for what God is planning for us tomorrow :)
Megan
I can't imagine sleeping in a more tranquil environment. Technically, we're sleeping inside but it feels as though we are outside with the breeze that flows through the windows at night. Today we were all able to sleep in a little bit since the kids are no longer in school AND it's Saturday ;). After breakfast we split up into two groups. My group went to the construction site in the morning and then painted in the afternoon whereas the other group painted in the morning and went to the construction site in the afternoon. Our job today at the construction site was to carry the cement blocks up onto the roof. I'm actually starting to get a tan line around my wrists now from wearing my gloves! It's quite hysterical. We had forgotten to bring extra water to the construction site, but thankfully Moise showed up with Gatorade and saved the day! So far, it has been a wonderful adventure here. As for me (and I think I can speak for the rest of the group as well) we are all learning and growing a lot here, individually and as a group. I praise God for this opportunity to be here.
Shelby
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| Moving the cement blocks up to the roof by forming a human chain, assembly line. |
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| The second floor where they will use the sand and blocks to build the exterior wall. |
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| The morning painting crew worked at the preschool and painting the inside of the exterior wall completely around the school. Since school is out now, thework begins to get ready for next school year. Brad poses for me for a photo op. |
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| In the patio of the prechool we are preparing to paint 2 hopscotch grids so the children have some games on the ground. Today we painted the white oil based background and on Monday we will decorate it with bright colors. |
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| Looking for the roof to the preschool you can see the dried area we will paint on Monday. |
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| The afternoon work crew at the Crole church was moving fill dirt from around the cistern where there is to much into the future sanctuary where the level is too low. Lots of digging and wheelbarrows! |
Hola!
To start off a great Saturday here in Barahona, I went outside with a few others to watch the sun come up over the mountains! After our morning activities, my group came back to the school and started painting the hallways. It's amazing to see how much we can get done together! Once we had finished painting, we went back to the fifth floor. This was when I noticed that the view, already breath-taking, was even more spectacular than before because the ocean was the bluest I'd ever seen it! Of course I had to take a picture. Later, many of us went to the courtyard and made some new friends with the Dominicans. We raced, played games, and learned new dances. We even taught a little bit of swing dance!! After a delicious dinner and a devotional session, we hit the sack, excited for what God is planning for us tomorrow :)
Megan
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| The sugar cane factory |
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| The amazing view of the Caribbean sea we have from the roof every day! Today is was so clear and so blue. Below you can see the batey where many of the school children live. |
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Friday June 7 LBMP
Hola!
The trip so far has been wonderful. While I have loved everything, I have to say that eating pizza a couple of nights ago was the best. Not only did I fall in love with the pizza (maybe the best I've had so far), but we also talked and got to know each other (the air conditioning wasn't bad either). We've worked on building the new church for the past couple afternoons but today we started to paint the school, a change that was welcome since my muscles were aching. Not to mention that the painting was indoors, giving me time to recover from my sunburns. This morning we went over to the preschool for their end of the year party. All of the girls were in dresses and looked adorable! We sang and danced with the children and I was afraid that a couple of the girls, like Alexis, were going to smuggle one of them back into our room. Overall I've had a great time but I have missed home. Can't wait to see you all soon!
-K.C.
The trip so far has been wonderful. While I have loved everything, I have to say that eating pizza a couple of nights ago was the best. Not only did I fall in love with the pizza (maybe the best I've had so far), but we also talked and got to know each other (the air conditioning wasn't bad either). We've worked on building the new church for the past couple afternoons but today we started to paint the school, a change that was welcome since my muscles were aching. Not to mention that the painting was indoors, giving me time to recover from my sunburns. This morning we went over to the preschool for their end of the year party. All of the girls were in dresses and looked adorable! We sang and danced with the children and I was afraid that a couple of the girls, like Alexis, were going to smuggle one of them back into our room. Overall I've had a great time but I have missed home. Can't wait to see you all soon!
-K.C.
Dear Findlay,
This place is far better than I could have imagined. Everything here is absolutely beautiful, the people, the places, the food. All great! The church has been coming along very nicely, and although I dont know what they could possibly do with all of the sand we put on top of the roof, it still looks incredible. The amount of work Moise and Mission Possible have gotten done since they started is a total blessing. Today at the end of the year celebration for the preschoolers, every person there was having a blast. Everybody had more than one child surrounding them and playing with them or taking pictures. The kids are all adorable and were always smiling.There was a game that they loved to play where they would sneak up behind you and tickle your sides or your neck. And while it's okay with one little kid, having six of them is a little painful! We all got to spend a few hours with them and that has been my favorite part of this trip so far. It also helped that they talked much slower in Spanish than the adults which made it easier to understand. I'm so excited for the rest of our time here, and pray that it is as great as we all hope!
Hasta Luego!
=Brad
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| At the preschool party end of year fiesta! |
One of the tables where the children were sitting for the party.
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| The party in full swing! |
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| Sorting dental supplies for the children takes lots of concentration. |
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| Leslie at the party with two of her newest little friends. |
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| Shelby is a talented artist! She can paint AROUND the murals really well :) |
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| The hunchback of the Republica Dominicana. |
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| Sadrac and the Gringos (our unofficial band name) preparing for Sunday morning worship! |
Trying to put the vocals with the instrument section. We are singing two songs, one Sunday morning and one Sunday eveining service.
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