“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
This past week in Jarabacoa feels like much longer than a week – only because each day is filled with a roller coaster of emotions, new experiences, and the challenge of learning a new language. It has been a rich week. I continue to learn a few more Spanish words, but still have a long way to go. There was the first big miscommunication between the Americans and Dominicans at Doulos, but it was amazing to watch the Lord heal those relationships. We need much grace when interacting with each other!
Much of this week was spent at Doulos Discovery School in training. We had time to get to know one another and learn names. We have a very diverse staff and all the training is given in Spanish and English. A large chunk of the training this week was spent focusing on Expeditionary Learning and how to use it effectively. For this, the staff did our own “Slice” of an expedition in three days. The first day we spent discovering our topic through texts and resources, which turned out to be the sugar industry. The second day we took a four hour bus trip to just outside of Santo Domingo and visited a batey. This is a community of Haitians who have crossed the border in order to work in the sugar cane fields. Living conditions are harsh. Part of our expedition was to hear directly from the people of the industry we were studying, but also to provide a service. We brought filters to give to families so that they would have clean drinking water. They told us we were the first outsiders to visit. There is a Haitian on our staff so he was able to translate from Creole to Spanish and then another translated from Spanish to English. It was amazing to see the communication between so many cultures. We prayed together before leaving. The final day of “The Slice” we got together in groups and made our final product of our unit, a poem. It was so great to have a service project as a staff. We took more than 12 hours to travel together, learn, and serve. Of course, there is much more to this than I have room to write, but I wanted to give you a snapshot of expeditionary learning. If you want to hear more about what we did and learned, I would love to share with you – just ask!
I also had my first team leader meeting for Young Life this week. I’m excited to see how God will use this ministry in this community. We will have a Leader’s Weekend at the YL camp in Jarabacoa in a few weeks. Please pray that God would raise up leaders for high school and middle school students.
Thank you for all the notes and prayers. It’s hard to be in a new place at times, but your support is so encouraging. The Spirit is at work here and I’m so thankful to be able to share in this journey with you.
