and the journey continues...

Today marks exactly 2 months since my last post. The time has flown by as I was surrounded by such a great community of family and friends during my trip home.  The first two weeks of July were pure relaxation as I spent time with family and got reacquainted with 3 of my favorite little people in the world.... my 3 nieces.  We spent a week together, having fun in the water, zoo trips and a day at the amusement park. The only movie that I saw during my trip home was Monsters University. Guess who picked the movie??!! It wasn't me :).

We also did a day fishing trip.  I haven't been fishing in over 30 years, but I can definitely report that my fishing skills have not improved in the least. I left our fishing trip having caught a whopping ONE fish. However, I did help bait many lines for these little ones using squid and shrimp. It was way too gross, but these cute faces can get me to do almost anything! 

Next, I spent 4 weeks in Chicagoland reconnecting with friends and earning a few dollar bills while working as a NP again. It was wonderful to reconnect with my Lawndale family and to provide direct patient care. Again that theme of community resurfaced as I saw how God provided for me during those 4 weeks. I paid $0 dollars for housing thanks to the generosity of a few kind folks. I was treated to numerous good meals and those of you who know me, know I enjoy dining on an eclectic mix of foods. So, during those 4 weeks I stuffed myself on American, Mexican, Afghan, Korean, Italian, Japanese and Thai cuisines along with some Chicago favorites like deep dish pizza and Portillos.  I even cooked up a Dominican meal or two to share with friends and family.  On the weekends I made a couple of quick trips to visit friends in nearby states, but there is just never enough time. 

Those 2 months went by like a whirlwind of the best kind. Now, I'm back in the DR, but this time I'm in the rural area outside of Santiago. Yes, I'm becoming a campesina (country girl).  Rural (campo) way of life is way different that city life, but I guess that's no big surprise.  (I'm sure there will be a future post on that topic.) For now, let me update you on how I am spending my days. I am serving with a local non-profit organization, Project Hearts, to continue the launch of a community health project.  Project Hearts is supported by several US organizations,  primarily Grace Cares and Christian Medical Mission (CMM). CMM is sponsoring my time here in the DR by providing housing and a stipend which allows me to fully focus on the work in the community. CMM has really been an answer to prayer. When I first began praying about the idea to extend my time here in the DR, the idea of raising support was one of the barriers that I anticipated. There just was not enough time and I was running low on energy to make it all happen. This awesome group, were indeed a godsend. Thank you CMM. 

The community health program started in June identifying leaders in the community to train as lay health promoters.  These women meet weekly for training and then are asked to complete so many home visits a week sharing this pertinent health information with their community.  The lay community health model has been used in many countries to drastically improve the health of the people.  My predecessor, Meghan, did an amazing job with leadership training with the women and discussing water safety and purification. My assignment is to carry the torch forward by building in accountability and structure into the program, along with creating new modules on topics such as women's health, basic first aid, and nutrition.  We are actively recruiting for a director for the program who can commit to spend at least  a year focusing on developing the community health leader program. 

If you have made it this far in this long post... THANK YOU! I would like to share with you a few ways that you can support the work here in prayer. 

• Pray for me that I will be Christ's ambassador and able to share his love with those I encounter. 

• Pray for unity amongst the organizations that are collaborating on this project - Grace Cares, Project Hearts and CMM.

• Pray for further growth in language acquisition so I may communicate effectively with the people. Rural accents are a LOT harder to understand, so please pray that my ears and brain will be able to decipher the rural, Caribbean Spanish. 

• Pray for the search for a Director for the community health program. 

• Pray for strong work relationships with Ruben and Anel, the executive director and project manager for Project Hearts. Also pray for relationships and a social community in this area that I will not feel isolated and alone. 

• Pray for Mark and Ruth, two of the leaders from CMM who will be attending the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) training. Pray that we may be able to incorporate that model into our work here in Baitoa. 

• Pray for safe travel. The rural roads are very bad in some areas and a lot of the travel is by  motorcycle. 

Ok, I leave you with one last picture. The view from my house every morning. Aren't you jealous??!

Me voy pero llevo conmigo.... Lessons in love

First, let me apologize for being out of touch the last 30 days. I’ve thought of you, the readers of my blog, often. I just could not summon the energy/mojo/wit to write. So, here comes my last blog post for a little while. Why? Well, I’m in the airport returning to the US today. It’s been a super emotional 30 days, and an even more emotional week. 

If you would have asked me on Monday or Tuesday if I was ready to go, you would have heard a YES, most definitely. This week had a rough start. Monday night I woke up to a movie style explosion, white lights, am I alive or dead, kind of craziness. It was scary. I think I was more afraid than I’ve ever been before. At that moment, I just wanted to see my family, my mom, dad, siblings, nieces. Yes, I was scared. Thankfully we found out it was ‘just’ a power line transformer that blew and caught on fire. Thankfully it only burned for 90 minutes before the power company got their act together to shut off the current so the firemen could put out the fire. Thankfully the post that was burning and aiming for our backyard, actually slipped backwards and propped itself up on another pole instead of setting our yard on fire. That’s alot to be thankful for. 

The next night brought it’s own adventure as I woke up 2:59am with a GINORMOUS cockroach crawling on my forehead. I.am.not.exxagerating. Yo brinque, gire, grite, llore, baile y mas por el asusto. Yes, I jumped, shouted, screamed, danced, cried and more with fright. You know a bug is big if you can see it moving in the dark. Then it flew. It FLEW ya’ll!!! Then I jumped, shouted, screamed, danced and cried some more. The next 45 minutes were war between me, the cockroach, and the bathroom cleaner spray bottle. By 4:30 I was ready to fall asleep, but who can sleep when every time your eyes close you either see bright explosion lights or feel creepy crawly legs. 

So, yes, by Wednesday I was so ready to go home. I’m done Lord. I can’t do, go, say anymore. I’m done. DONE!! So, If I’m so done, why am I fighting tears now. Why are these poor people stuck on this flight beside me giving me the side eye for crying non-stop. What changed between explosion craziness and cockroach wars. Ok, here goes.

Those things are minor compared to the love, friendship, grace and mercy I have experienced, shared and received this year. These light and present afflictions are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed.  If God has received any Glory this year, if one little life has been touched this year, it’s so worth it. I can’t believe I say that now because IF I could have summoned an airplane to Calle 2, Casa #23 on Wednesday, I would have been gone!  The mission would have been aborted, but I’m glad I held on.  God’s love is amazing. He doesn’t let go of us and he is calling us to love as he loves. To hold on when it’s not easy. To trust that his Glory will be revealed the more that we learn to love as He does. I learned alot about love this year from 18 five year olds and 4 flawed but beautiful Dominicans. I miss them. I love them. Aren’t we all flawed yet beautiful in God’s eyes. I’m done writing now..... I gotta stop crying eventually....  

Restless

It’s late. I’m restless. Honestly, I’ve been restless for the last 24 hours or so. It took me a while to pinpoint the issue. I fell asleep last night praying and crying out to God as this uneasiness in my soul is uncomfortable. Then it hit me... tomorrow will mark the beginning of my last 30 days here with Futuro Lleno de Esperanza. 

I’m thankful for this 9months. I can’t believe how swiftly it has flown by. It’s been amazing, rewarding, strengthening and purifying. It’s also been hard. Lonely at times. Challenging.   That’s what happens when you step out on faith. The road is not always smooth, but you always finish the journey having grown in ways that you didn’t sign up for. Seriously. 

I leave tomorrow for a couple of days in Santo Domingo.  I’m excited to see the capital city and the southern part of the country.  I’m excited to meet some folks who I most likely will be spending alot of time with in August. Yep, it seems that the Lord has me on this island for a little while longer.  And that’s a good thing. I’m excited to be able to continue to serve here.  I don’t know about you, but for me, anytime when I think about launching out into a new direction, a new assignment, DOUBT, creeps in. big time. 

Like the disciples in Matthew 8, I'm so prone to forget that I'm not on the ship by myself.  I'm not journeying alone.   I have a heavenly father, who is Super-Capable, can not fail, who is with me. I have no need to be afraid or worried.  I was looking for devotionals on this topic and ran across Renee Swope’s 7 day doubt diet/devotional. It’s free on itunes/ilibrary, nook, kindle, etc. Maybe doubt is keeping you from making that tough leap, from starting a new job, getting involved in a new area of ministry, etc, etc. As Renee says, maybe it’s fear or worry that you have blamed all these years, when at the core, it’s self-doubt.  ........ I double dare you to join me in this 7 days of digging into the Word of God to see what He says about having a confident heart in Him.  

Prayer Excerpt from day 1 of  Renee Swope’s devotional 7-Day Doubt Diet

{Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ.  Show me how to recognize when I’m tempted to throw away my confidence, and help me throw away my insecurity instead. ... ... When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her (him) who believes. In Jesus name, Amen. } 

Meet Robert

Meet Robert.

Robert Luis is one of the l8 five year olds that I have had the privilege of teaching over this last year.  Robert has worn glasses for most of his five year old life. However, they are usually hand me down glasses, that often don't fit well. Mom, has a hard time getting Robert back for follow-up visits so I really don't know how old the prescription is on these glasses. What I do know is that Robert still can't see with the glasses on.






So, Robert passes most of his days getting himself into trouble. Because, what is a kid to do when you can't see the board, nor the paper that is right in front of you, or the book that is 3 fingers away from your nose.  If you are Robert, you climb under the table, you run out into the hallway, you try fighting with the other boys. If you are Robert, that usually doesn't go so well, because he can't really see the other boys to hit them, so he throws a lot of air punches. The other boys, can always see Robert and their punches hurt.









Guess what?? Robert got new glasses 3 days ago. His mom took out a pretty significant loan to take Robert to a local eye doctor and a special pediatric optics place to get glasses that actually fit, are child friendly (Green - Robert's favorite color and plastic), and are the correct prescription!! Woo-Hoo! I must tell you as his teacher I was hoping for a Robert that would sit still and get some work done instead of wandering all over the place. Did. Not. Happen. I'm still hoping, but I imagine it's a process. But at recess, I was looking out at the playground and guess what. Robert can play now! Robert can socialize with other kids. Is that Robert in the line for the slide??

Notice that there is no gap in the line. Robert can keep up now!

That never would have happened before. Robert would barely make it to step #1 or  2 before the other kids would pass him up as he tried to find his way back down.  C'mon now, this is the slide. The most popular thing on the playground so you can't be holding up the line. It really was a safety hazard as the kid could not see the step! If you could see Robert now. Robert went up the slide over and over again. Then down the slide backwards. Then up the slide side instead of the steps.  He had so much fun. Check him out!

Well, I must admit that I had some ulterior motives in introducing you to Robert. He is one really cute kid... and pretty smart too.  Those glasses and the consult cost a nice chunk of money and the loan is fairly significant for this family of five.  I'm not sure of mom's plan for paying it off, but as you mother's out there know, that a true mom will find a way to move mountains for her baby! Mom took a big leap of faith with this loan.  Melanie and I were chatting and trying to figure out how to best help this family.  Melanie got to talking to some friends via social media and before we knew it some $$$ started rolling in. I was working on this blogpost all weekend but blogger was being really crazy and erased my post. Then last night I got a surprise donation on my Pay it Square fundraising page!  What an unexpected and surprise blessing!!  Thank you LORD!!! We now have enough to pay for the consult, the glasses and are well on the way to being able to purchase a spare pair!!

I'm praising God for these wonderful blessings!