Update #9

So here we are, on the plane, the first leg of our journey home.

 

After breakast (Heuvos!) the kids spent some time journaling and pondering their experiences. Look for their journal entries to be posted here soon. At 9:30 we walked down the dirt street one last time headed to church at San Jose. We carried no guitars this time. As Connor observed, it was time for us to just worship, to just be with God. We arrived and made ourselves comfortable, soon joined by Molly and her friends who were assisting residents of The Hogar. The service began with a lively (of course!) hymn and the brief procession. We followed the lectionary in English while it was read aloud in Spanish and then Karen translated Margarita's sermon for us. Today the topic was Jesus as the Bread of Life. It is my hope that we shared that bread with all those whom we met this week. (If you want to read today's lectionary, check it out at www.textweek.com) Rev. Margarita talked about how we will never be spiritually hungry when we accept the Bread of Life. This is a reminder for us that there is so much more to life and love than that which is tangible, an ideal lesson for us this week. It was nice to get a reminder of that lesson in the homily today. It is almost as if God wanted to make sure we got it.

 

The kids have been through a lot this week. They have made sacrifices and endured hardships that most teenagers would not be willing to do. Away from their friends, families and comfortable homes, they have been in a place where they do not even speak the language. Although the food has been wonderful, it is not what they are used to eating, and they miss American food. They have had limited showers, no make up and were not even able to shave duing much of the trip. Out of respect for the local people, they brought a very meager wardrobe and wore the same clothes again and again. Modesty standards here are different than in the US, and as missionaries we needed to be overly respectful of the customs. Devout Christians always wear pants or skirts that fall below the knee. To be sure, some people here do wear shorts, but since we are here representing the church, we were conservative. Americans have a reputation of dressing inappropriately, we refected the Domincan culture rather than our own, which earned us respect, enabling us to minister to people who trusted us and appreciated the efforts we made. A return to shorts is very much looked forward to by everyone. The plumbing issues were challenging, it is hard to believe that so many people in the world do not have clean water to drink, a concept that was really made real when we saw a kid using a tin can to fetch water from the gutter in front of his house when we were on the way to the waterfall. (I won't even tell you which one drank water from the river.) The kids look forward to brushing their teeth with tap water which a couple of brave (Foolish?) members of our team did, despite the warnings. It was hard sometimes to follow the team schedule, rather than making individual decisions. There was no sleeping late, something that most teenagers do during summer vacation. Some of us got sick, there were a few minor (VERY MINOR, moms!) injuries, bug bites and a lot of heat.

 

On the other hand though there was a river, corn fritters, laughter, new experiences, shopping, pollo fritto, new friends, a waterfall, a bus with curtains, first time air travel, music, punderful humor, playful children, cookies, chickens to catch, a beach, worship, Molly, photo ops, machetes, a pool, prayers, Pepto, beautiful scenery, fresh coconuts and the presence of the living Christ.

 

We can't really ask for a better way to spend a week.

 

At church today Margarita thanked us for our work here, and brought us to the front to pray for our safe travel home and our return to the D.R. someday. When it came time to pass the peace, the joy and singing was not a surprise and our whole team joined in with enthusiasm sharing freely La Paz de Dios with everyone. Nick commented that the peace should be shared that way in every church, and I agree. The closing hymn was one that we sang there last week, "Joyful Joyful"  and with a smile of joy directed at us, Mikeus began to strum his guitar, playing the American version  of the song. This was a gesture of respect, friendship and brotherhood in Christ that touched my heart.

 

God led us here to make a difference, but I think that we have also learned and we have been changed as well. Perhaps not in enormous and visible ways, but still... We return with new ideas, an understanding of how others live, inspired to make change in our own churches and communities and hopefully to continue to make changes in ourselves, with God's help, of course.

 

As we fly above the clouds, the kids are enjoying many of the comforts of home. Snacks, Cokes, a movie to watch, and the not so joyful school books. They don't look any different, and they may not yet feel any different, but I can see changes in them. They worked hard, prayed with enthusiasm and supported one another throughout. They accepted a three year old into their trip and treated her with love and respect, even when she didn't deserve it. The kids certainly made a difference in my life.

 

God bless them and thank you for bringing them into my family. I will always treasure memories of Laura's quiet peacefulness, Connor's perpetual positivity, Sam-Neill's perserverence, Rhett's enthusiasm, Madison's dedication, Nick's sense of humor and Sally's exceptional calmness.

 

We will land in Atlanta soon, and the journey into the rest of our walk with Christ begins. Can seven kids change the world? Yes,  with God's help.

 

Yours in Christ,

Dorothy