This blog was written by my friend Christina that was on our youth mission trip from RidgePoint Church. I love her heart and I loved the many times we got to chat this week about life in the DR and our own lives. I really didnt know her before the trip but I knew God was working on her heart in the DR and I was honored to talk with her a bunch about it. Here is what she had to say:
Phyllis
asked me to write a blog about my trip to the Dominican Republic. I’ve never wrote a blog before and when
I journal I tend to ramble, so this should be very interesting. :)
Every
time a mission trip was announced at church I wanted to go. I’ve just always let the fear of going take
over and never followed through.
This time was different because it was youth oriented and since I’m a
youth leader I wanted to go even more. Plus, when I was unsure if I was going
or not, Beth was always there to push me along. I waited until the beginning of
July to apply for my passport, which was not very smart! (If you don’t have one
and you plan on going on a trip like this, take my advice and please get your
passport way in advance) :)
Saturday
started a week of a lot of 1sts for me. We made it to the airport, checked
all our luggage with plenty of time to spare. Since I am a procrastinator my
seat on the plane was not with my group. I was completely by myself. I was much
calmer than I thought I would be, since I had never flown before. I did learn on my trip home how to use
the air vent and recline the seat on the plane. Woohoo!!
Sunday
morning we all got ready for church.
I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Church there is so simple. Church was held in Pastor Ivan’s house,
they brought in plastic chairs and made rows for everyone to sit in. There is not enough room for everyone so
they had the windows and doors open for others to look in to see and hear
what’s going on. There was a white sheet type material tacked to the wall so
the lyrics to songs and Bible verses could be projected on it. I have to say
this is one of the first times I really seen that you don’t have to have the
best of anything for God to show up.
He was definitely present Sunday morning. After the message was over everyone held hands in a circle
and prayed. After church, us girls, went to Phyllis’s house and met with the
ladies to make jewelry. We sorted
beads and more beads. We made
bracelets, necklaces and earrings. This was more difficult then I first thought it would be. I believe I had to redo mine several
times before it was right.
So
this was my first full day there and one of the things that stuck out the most
to me was the traffic there is CRAZY.
The line in the road is merely a suggestion. Just about everyone rode on motos. If you had a baby, it's
ok, just put your arm around them to make sure they don’t go anywhere (and we
worry about infant seats here! LOL).
Monday
started our week of sports camp. (Camp
was Mon-Thurs 2:00 – 4:30 and Fri 9:00 – 11:30) I wasn’t really sure what to expect. When we arrived at the
gym, the kids in the barrio where the gym was located started coming up a few
at a time. Naomi had to teach me how to tell them to come back at 2pm. After our 1st bus load got
there it was pointless to tell the other kids to come back at 2pm. They all
greeted me with a smile, but to see them talk to Phyllis, Kathy and Naomi made
my heart smile. I’ve never wanted to learn Spanish before but it is my goal
before my next trip to at least know the basics. I want to know what these kids
are saying to me. By the second or third day I was being greeted with not only
a smile but hugs and a kiss on the cheek.
The
group I was in was red and the kids were 8 and 9 year olds. I had no idea what we were going to do
with them. By the end of the week
we learned they loved to jump rope, play catch and when I say play catch we
used little plastic orange cones and a tennis ball. We held the cones upside down and caught the ball with the
cone and then tossed it to the other person the same way. Our kids here in the
US would think we were crazy if we wanted to play catch like that with them. They
loved to play any game that involved water.
One
of the most challenging parts was not being able to communicate the way I
wanted to. Some of these kids had no idea what structure is. Lines, forget
straight lines we were just shooting for lines. The little girls loved to play with your hair, at any given
time we could look over and Taylor would be sitting on the bleachers with at
least 5 little girls all around her braiding her hair.
Side
note ~ JJ put together a daily devotional pack from the time we met about the
trip until the day we left for our trip.
One of the days was to write out our testimony. I have to say I pouted about this. It
was a reality check for me. I sat and talked with Beth about it one Sunday and
then I got myself together and did it.
JJ
asked for someone to share their testimony each day of sports camp. I wasn’t
going to volunteer, even though I had mine together and had practiced it a few
times. But then he asked who had theirs ready (or something like that) well
there it was, not who wanted to but who had it ready. So Friday, completely out
of my comfort zone I stood before all the kids and gave my testimony.
Most
of the kids where so sweet, they really just wanted someone to either listen to
them or play with them and I was there to do both, even if I had absolutely no
idea what they were saying.
Friday
when it was time to say good bye, I found it really hard. Once we made it back
to our room for the night I had to take some time to just reflect. These were kids that I was there to
help by showing them how Jesus loves and I think they taught me more than I
even knew.
In
our down time during the week, we got to do all sorts of stuff. We went on a hike to the waterfalls; I
learned I was way out of shape. A
huge thank-you to Naomi and Kathy for not leaving me behind. I jumped from a rock that I was sure my
legs were too short to clear but I did it anyways.
One
day we went whitewater rafting. I’m pretty sure my butt is still bruised from
getting down so fast so many times. At different points I think Belinda and I
had a Jacuzzi going on while Luke and Josh paddled. This was so much fun,
another 1st for me.
A
couple days we went to two different Barrio’s to hand out information on Human
Trafficking. We split up into
group and went different directions.
The first house we went to Luke walked in and turned around and told us
to come on. I was nervous about
walking into people’s houses. But
I knew we were there to do work and that God was with us, so we were going to be
fine. When we made it back from
handing out papers, I needed time to process everything I had just seen.
Nothing can prepare you for it. I know it’s not as bad as the trash dumps that
some have visited but this was my first time and it broke me. I wanted to cry
while we were standing there. I
talked to Phyllis about the stuff that “I” take for granted all the time. The little stuff: sturdy walls; complete roofs; bedroom
doors; windows that work; washing machines that you put your dirty clothes in
add soap, close the lid and push start, then come back and throw them in the
dryer etc. At some point I was
talking with Beth and tears started flowing. Our RPC’ers that live there gave
up everything to move there and share God’s word and show these people what his
love looks like. They sold everything and moved. What is it exactly that I
do….there’s a lot of things I could be doing that I don’t, not because I can’t
but because I choose not to.
The
second Barrio that we went to things were about the same. We went out into the barrio two
different times before we left and the second time we met a Haitian guy that
teaches Haitian kids whose parents do not have the money to buy uniforms to
send them to school. He got
FIGHT’s information and they will be going to meet with the parents of those
children sometime in the future to teach them about Human Trafficking.
During
the two days in the Barrios I seen kids from the sports camp and they were
still just as friendly as when they walk through the doors at the gym.
For me this trip was fun,
emotional, tiring and completely out of my comfort zone.
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