Trust and Dependence

The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in Him. –Nahum 1:7

I’ve mentioned the gua guas before—they’re one of the cheaper public transportation options and I can’t imagine why with 5 people crammed in each row meant to sit 4 and others standing in the front (this is the size of a large van by the way, not really a bus). Anyways, there does not exist some brilliant map of the routes these things take nor can you know what the “KM,”  “19,” etc are supposed to be telling you about the direction they are headed in. There’s always a guy working for the bus who’s standing at the open door yelling sing-songy phrases in Spanish trying to get anyone on the streets (and I don’t think they care if you’re going in their direction or not) to get on their bus.

I have taken the gua gua three times now. The most recent adventure on these vehicles—of which I will always compare to the Knight Bus from Harry Potter in how ridiculous you feel riding it—was no different from the others. There I am, standing on the sidewalk, knowing that I need to go in “that” direction to some store on a street that I think I’m pronouncing the name right for, and it’s definitely not within walking distance. I have to try my luck on the gua gua. So one pulls up, and of course the guy has already been yelling yards away for us to hop on, not really caring where we are going. We ask if he’ll let us know when we need to exit when we’re as close to our destination as possible and though he says “yes,” I get the feeling that it’s not on his list of priorities and is probably likely to forget. So we ask the people on the bus if they know where we need to exit. By the way, I say we as if I was a part of this process. While my Spanish is decent, I can’t understand someone else’s to save my life, so I left this part to N and B. So here I am on this bus that just made a turn in the opposite direction that I think we should be going, with two translators who I’m hoping are asking the right questions, and all I can do is just sit there hoping that we’ll make it there somehow.

I don’t like feeling dependent on others. I hate the feeling of helplessness which implies incompetence. Not only that, but here I can’t even fake it that I know what I’m doing. 

And then God speaks. As I sit in scrunched in between 4 people on this rickety bus, praying “God would you please help us get there ok and that we wouldn’t be taken to a place so far away that I can’t figure out how to get back home,” He says, “You might not be able to depend on these, but can’t you depend on me?” I realize that maybe I have been placed here in this helpless position to practice dependence through relying on others. That instead of being discouraged by my inadequacies, I can watch for God to step in and be my rescue. It’s a scary place to be, but won’t it be cool when I have a collection of memories upon which I can praise God for?

First Week of Ministry!

The first two weeks in Santo Domingo have been focused on getting settled into our new apartments. While most of our energy has been put into getting the basics (electricity, air conditioning, gas for the stove, cleaning supplies, food), we had our first staff meeting last Friday to discuss our goal for this week: meet as many students as possible and learn as much as we can about UASD. 

We split our team up in groups and set out to answer these questions about the campus’ geography and social behaviors:

• Where do students go to hang out?
• What time are students on campus and when are they free?
• How do you get to school? How long does it take? When and where do you work on homework?

Our goal is to figure out how available students are to get together for small groups, discipleship, and campus outreach events. Some answers that surprised me:

• The cost per credit hour is 5-25 Dominican Pesos (RD)—the latter if you went to a private high school. This is equivalent to 14 cents-70 cents per credit hour, or about $15 a semester for a full schedule. This explains why there are 180,000 students here! However, it was discouraging to hear that despite having a degree, most students will be unable to find a job after graduation.
• About half of the students I talked to travel up to an hour and a half on the bus to get to school each day! In order to finish their degree quickly, many of them take classes on Saturday too…yuck!

Today one of the key student leaders of Vida Estudantil walked around campus with N and I to help us learn about UASD. It was such a privilege to get to spend this time with her. She has such a passionate heart for sharing the gospel with her peers. She has even shared it with full classrooms! If there’s anyone who will be able to help us learn how to reach students here, it’s her.

On another note…we had an interesting time trying to make Labor Day fun. I bought some break and bake cookie dough and a cookie sheet and brought it over to the boys apartment (the only ones to have a functioning oven) to bake them. As we went to turn on the oven, this is what we saw:We took a guess that 350 degrees was somewhere in between the 3 and 4 mark, and this is what happened: However, we didn’t let it steal our joy! We each got spoons and scooped as much as we could that was edible. But our cookie craving got the best of us; we eventually found ourselves saying, “It’s not that bad if you eat it with the burnt side up!”

Interesting Lifestyle Changes

While the focus of this blog is on what God is doing in my life and the lives of others through my year in the Dominican Republic, it would be lacking if I didn’t share with you some of the cultural “differences” (ok what I really mean is things here that make me go “What???”)

::Carros Publicos are shared taxis that follow a route along certain streets in Santo Domingo. For only 20 Dominican Pesos, you and 5 others can ride to your next stop (Note:these are compact cars! And to give you an better sensory picture, there is no air conditioning as you’re practically sitting on your neighbor’s lap!)

::Renting apartments is not easy. Not only do all landlords require that you pay 3 months rent up front, they also do not assume responsibility for the leaky air conditioning units and sink, lack of gas connection to stove, broken lock and key, and dancing washing machine. Hmm.

::Being a girl walking down any street means you will receive cat calls and suggestive comments from men. Fortunately we have 2 great men on our team who accompany us everywhere we go, but it’s still annoying.

::Don’t try to order a free cup of water from any kind of establishment. You’ll either get a weird look (because tap water here is not safe to drink) or just a cup with ice in it (which I’m still trying to figure out why the tap water in solid form is ok to consume…)

::It’s HOT here. And that’s coming from someone who’s called Arizona her home for the last 8 years. The humidity gets to you. I shouldn’t have brought my hair dryer. I am constantly sweaty and thus have no need to maintain the mane. Every time you feel a breeze though, it’s like a kiss from heaven.

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5 Things I’ve Learned

It’s been a while since my last post…that’s because since then the girls have been living in our new apartment (yay!) but without electricity, hot water, or internet (one of which we will never have—hot water!) But I am totally amazed at how generously God answered our prayers to find a place. We have tons of space and a gorgeous view of the Caribbean Sea from our balcony! Thank you for praying that God would provide us with a place to call home.

So, besides figuring out how to accomplish more in daylight and without internet, what have I learned so far?

1. I’ve never played Frogger, but crossing streets in Santo Domingo is what I would imagine to be the most difficult level of the game. Cars follow no rules whatsoever and pedestrians certainly don’t have the right of way. I had my first experience on a “gua gua” (public bus) where you cram about 60+ people—so forget sitting next to the person you got on the bus with—and can easily be confused about your whereabouts as the driver takes whatever road isn’t full of cars trying to push their way through even if it means driving on the wrong side of the road!

2. Church here is a party. Our team attends Primera Iglesia de la Christianizacion Nacional where Crusade national staff, Braulio, Prospero, and Leyla, work out of. I was pleased to hear familiar tunes: “My Redeemer Lives,” “I am a Friend of God,” and “The Revelation Song,” but all in Spanish! There’s even a dance ministry who stand before the stage and praise God through movement. People aren’t afraid to praise God here and they do it with fervor. Now I just have to re-learn all the worship songs from the U.S!

3. The language barrier is a lot more of a challenge than I was expecting. While our team is blessed with 3 fluent Spanish speakers who have been so critical in helping us communicate with national staff, students, and taking care of day to day business, it has been a little frustrating not being able to understand important conversations, communicate my thoughts, and relying on others to help me. That last one is something that God is definitely teaching me how to do better and it even has brought me to a deeper understanding of how much I need to rely on Him. What this means for ministry though, is that I will need to find English speaking students to share Christ with and equip to share their faith. Please pray that God brings these people in my path, and also that He would do the same for the rest of my teammates.

4. God provides caretakers. Prospero and Leyla have been like family to us these last couple of weeks. Not only did they offer their help about things we should know about Dominican culture and the things God is already doing in their ministry, but they actually have spent sometimes over 8 hours a day helping us with our search for apartments, making dozens of phone calls to help us get settled in (setting up appointments to see apartments, setting up our electricity, fixing all the little things that are not working at our place). They are such great examples of loving others through acts of service. So for all of you who have been worried about our safety and being cared for, fear not and ask the Lord that He bless this lovely couple!

5. Lastly, I’ve learned that pioneering a STiNT team, especially never having done this kind of mission, let alone lead one, is tough and it requires me to confess Proverbs 30:1-3 “I am weary and worn out, O God. I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense. I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One.” Talk about being humbled. Don’t misunderstand; I also know and am holding on to God’s promise in James 1:5 that He will give wisdom to those that have none. I have simply just been hit with the reality that all of my planning and knowledge means nothing and that if I want to see my team succeed in directing Dominican students to seek Christ wholeheartedly, I need to rely on His strength (Isaiah 40:31). Trying to give myself permission to say, “I don’t know,” asking for help from those that know more than I, or make mistakes has been a painful death to my pride…but I pray that I’m able to surrender daily to humility for the sake of God’s glory.

Still Searching

We thought we had found a place to call home, then thought twice about it when half of the group didn’t want to send pictures home or describe the place in great detail for fear of what our parents might think. While it was easy on the budget, it was definitely not the safest place for us to live, especially being “extranjeros” or foreigners (I still can’t get over that that word comes from the Spanish word “extrana” which means “weird,” so I can only infer what that means about us).

On the complete other side of the spectrum, though, was my experience riding the metro for the first time! It is very new and super clean. Many of the passengers are students which makes me feel more comfortable. Hopefully we can find a place closer to campus. Keep praying.

As promised, here are a few pictures. The first is of the church radio station…so cool! Then a pic of our team with Leyla and Prospero, Dominican Pesos, and my super tasty meal described in the previous post :)

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Don't worry guys...the food is awesome!

Ok so the title of this one isn't representative of this whole blog, however it is a HUGE praise that I can safely say that I am loving Dominican cuisine. And it's not just like, "Yeah, that McDonald's in Santo Domingo was great," we were actually blessed to have one of the women from the church we are partnering with cook us a meal for lunch as we met with the church leaders for the first time. She prepared such a feast: roast beef, potato salad, avocados, beans, rice, fried plantains (a traditional and VERY tasty dish), and served us candied papaya for dessert AND gave us our first taste of Dominican coffee...yum! Needless to say, we were all dragging a little after stuffing ourselves on a great meal. Braulio (the national director of CCC here) told me that I'll have to owe him a dollar for every pound I gain here because it means they've fed us too well!
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The other adventure of our day was scouting apartments. Leyla and Prospero (lead student ministries thru CCC at the church) were more than helpful during this process. They spent all day explaining our options, warning us about common scams and concerns, and showing us different apartments around the city. They are really taking care of us like our parents would if we needed help moving to a different part of the US. We'll likely be moving into the same complex that they live in which really puts us at ease, knowing that if there ever was anything we needed, they'd only be a few doors away! Praise God!
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Some of the crazier things that we've experienced today:
--driving through town in crazy traffic (the cars get within inches of one another!)
--checking out the RADIO STATION that the church runs (they also run tv programs..how cool is that?! And they are totally open to us participating in the future!)
--Walking a few miles in the sweaty heat of the day (thank God for waterproof eyeliner/mascara!)
--Hearing la musica that everyone blares through their homes (this is totally normal for the daytime...shouldn't be a problem though, it's got a fun beat!)
--Watched my teammates communicate brilliantly in Spanish with the nationals about getting an apartment that will suit our needs (fyi these are NOT on our list of needs: AC, dish washer, hot water. We do need: safe location, proximity to ministry/transit, 2 apartments within our budget). We're pretty sure the girls have found one and are praying that all works out well with the one below that one that's available for the guys. Please pray about this.
--Saw many of the lids from manholes on the street were stolen. Don't wanna fall in one of those!
--Experienced shopping at "Jumbo," which is equivalent to a Super Walmart with major appliances. It is weird getting used to seeing pricing in Dominican Pesos. For example, $50 US dollars looks like $1,800!
--Took our first ride in a private taxi that fits 7 people...btw it's a compact car. Four in the back and two can sit in the passenger's seat! Let's just say we're getting more comfortable with each other faster than we expected ;)
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Anyways, I'll be uploading pictures soon but hope you're enjoying the stories in the mean time!

Leaving today!

Well, it’s about 2 am Chicago time…our shuttle leaves in about 2 hours. I can’t sleep, but it’s not so bad as Brianna can’t either. I’m not sure if it’s nerves, being tired, or excitement, but we’re pretty slap happy. It was a nice relief from the stress that this week has brought on. We’ve been receiving great coaching here at briefing, but it’s been a busy week. I’m sure things will settle down once we find apartments in country, but at the moment, I feel like I’m sprinting through a marathon. I know that being up this late is not really helping that, but I am pretty sure this is just one of those nights I’m not going to get much rest anyways.

We’ll be greeting at the airport by Leyla tomorrow and taken to a hotel where we’ll stay for a few days until we can find housing. I’m really looking forward to the lunch that Braulio has invited our team to the following day. We’ll get to meet others who will be working along side us in our mission and they’ll hopefully be a lot of help as we try to make Santo Domingo our new home.

Oh yeah, as this was my first time in Chicago, here’s a picture of our team during our free time (plus Joel, a friend from ASU who will be spending a year in East Asia)

Meet my team!

Now that I am in Chicago at briefing, I have finally had the opportunity to meet everyone on my team! I’ll tell you a little bit about them so you know who you’ll be praying for this year :)

(Stole most of this from Natasha’s--of my teammates--blog…she wrote everyone’s biographies so well! I did write her biography though)

-- Jimmy (23) is from University of Arizona (Tuscon) and studied math. He went to DR for a summer project last year, so he knows the church leadership we are going to be working with and some of the students. He has amazing stories about how he got to share the gospel with students there... in a nutshell, the professors allowed them to take up class time, take the students outside, and talk to them... and then bring them back to class! How cool is that?

--Robert (23) is from Arizona State University (ASU). He has already worked for one year at ASU with Campus Crusade and for the last year and a half, he and I led freshmen small groups together.  Rob answered the call to STiNT in DR at a training weekend in April. Rob had thought to continue serving at ASU, but the DR team needed another man (so Jimmy wouldn't be alone), so Rob stepped up. This story is super amazing too! God used crazy circumstances and calls to get Rob to commit to DR.

--Brianna (25) (pronounced Brye-anna--> the anna as in banana... she is very particular about this!) is a highschool Spanish teacher in Georgia. She has been teaching for 3 years and loves everything Spanish! She is the sweetest and most encouraging girl ever. And she laughs a lot. She likes to exercise (so glad to have workout buddies!) and I know that I’ll learn alot about how to share my faith in another language from her as she reads from and memorizes Scripture in Spanish!

--Natasha (21) is from Rice University in Houston, TX and received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry in just 3 years! She comes from a bilingual home as her parents are from Latin America, so she has excellent Spanish skills as well. She is creative, likes to cook (which I’m super excited about), and loves to dance. She’s very insightful and humble and I’m looking forward to learning from her tenderness!

--Jessica (Me, 22) is also from ASU and have had my heart set on serving in DR since November of 2009 when I heard about how fruitful that year’s summer project was (the same one that Jimmy went on!) While I’ve had 6 years of Spanish education, I am really excited to coming home fluent (hopefully).

Other people we'll be getting to know:
--Braulio is the pastor of the church that has played a critical role in casting vision throughout their community to reach college students in Santo Domingo. They have been praying Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few,” in anticipation of the formation of our team.

--Leyla has works for the local church we are working with and has partnered with Campus Crusade during last summer and this summer to reach out to students on campus. She will play an integral part in getting us up to speed on what the campus is like and what needs the people have.

--Prospero is Leyla's husband and a lawyer for the church. He is also involved in the ministry.

Chicago!

I will be leaving Tempe at 6 am tomorrow for briefing in Chicago! Please pray that my 70 lb and 50 lb checked bags get on the plane ok, my new Visa card works properly, and that we make it there safely! I’ve got to get some rest now, but I’ll say this: I can really relate to Owen Wilson’s character in Armageddon when he says, “It's like I'm 98% excited and 2% scared. Or...or maybe it's 2% excited 98% scared...I dunno, that's what makes it so intense!” 

One hundred percent!

Great news! As of today, I am fully supported for this year of ministry! Praise God! And thank you all for your prayerful consideration to help me meet this need. Whether you gave $10 a month, $20, or $1,000, I couldn’t have done it without you. I thank you sincerely for your part in sending me. As I ponder your generosity, I am reminded of the believers in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5:

¹ Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. ² They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

³ For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. ⁴ They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. ⁵ They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

I’m in Phoenix now, saying goodbye to friends, then will be leaving for briefing in Chicago later this week where our team will come together for the first time! Keep us in your prayers. Please be praying that I enjoy the next few days with my family and friends and that I am able to leave bravely and step forward with courage!