New Job

Hello friends! I'm now heading into my forth week living here in Santiago.  Last post I shared how I ended up here just 10 days after being offer the job and only 3 weeks after learning that the school, Santiago Christian School, had an open position.  I might add that coming on staff at the last minute does have certain advantages.  First, everyone thinks your a saint (okay, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration) for coming and makes a big deal about how brave I am to do it. I guess they don't realize that staying is a dream come true for me :D   Second, coming at the last minute means that my housing had to me arranged at the last minute. So I ended up with the nicest and biggest apartment--the school just remolded it (last week they installed granite countertops in the kitchen!). 

Now to answer a few questions that I've been asked often these past weeks

What's it like? Well the SCS Family is amazing. From the minute I got here I felt welcomed into the wonderful staff community. Friendships began to develop almost immediately and the fellowship among the staff amazed me. I'm so blessed to work with people who enjoyed starting each day of in-service with worship. And a school where each week begins with Monday morning worship. Hey, maybe Mondays won't be so bad :)  I've felt so welcomed and cared  for these past 3 weeks--staff cook-outs, a snorkeling outing, returning staff members who take us running, shopping, out to eat (and refuse to let us pay), or to church.  

What grade am I teaching? I'm not teaching any particular grade. I'm a full time substitute. That means I could be in any K-12 class on any given day.  I'm the primary elementary substitute so I'll mostly be there but I will also sub for the secondary classes when needed. Sometimes I may have my subbing assignments in advance but other times I might not know until the day of...you never know when a teacher might wake up sick.  This week Thursday I begin 8 days in a Kindergarten class while the teacher is in the States!! I've been with this class most of the time since school started last week and already love them to pieces.  

So what do I do if there's no one to sub for?  The last few weeks have been interesting. Since I don't have my   own classroom I've had lots of free time during our in-service weeks. I bounced between classrooms, helping teachers set up, helped make bulletin boards for the library, and somehow volunteered myself as Data Entry Assistant. I´ve spent the past few weeks working on a new dismissal system for the school. I assigned each of the nearly 400 families in the school a number to be used as a dismissal code. Rather than having to call all four names of the children in one family (as we do now), all four siblings have the same code.  1 thing to say instead of 4. We're hoping once the new system is introduced in September dismissal will run much more smoothly.

Where will I live? SCS arranges housing for their staff. I've been blessed to be in a huge, beautiful apartment that's just been remodeled. The school's trying to sell to so eventually I'll have to move out, but that probably won't be for a while yet. Typically, (single) SCS staff would share with other staff. This semester instead of rooming with staff members I'm sharing the apartment with two loving student teachers. Having student taught in the DR myself just last fall, I'm pretty familiar with what that's like. 

Don't b afraid to send me your question if I didn't answer it--it could a great topic for my next post :)

Now that it's taken me all week to get this written, I'm not longer heading into my forth week as I said at the beginning. I've nearly done with it. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings :)

Good Things

Let all that I am praise the Lord, with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget the good things he does for me.  Psalm 103:1-2

It's been quite a while since one of my 'weekly' blog posts. It's about time I share with all of you how I ended up where I am now--living and working (yes, working: a full time paid job) in the Dominican Republic. The answer is actually just one word, God. However, I'm guessing you are reading this because you want the story behind all that and how God lead me here. Great! I'm hoping so :)

I'm a chronological thinker, so I'm going to write this out in timeline form. So from the beginning:

May 11, 2013: Graduated from Trinity International University with a degree in Elementary Education

May 25: Flew to the Dominican Republic for a 2 1/2 month internship with SCORE International. End date was set as August 3.

At this point I had no job lined up once the internship ended. I planned to apply online to Lake County school districts or schools near my parents. During the first week I discovered that completing online applications with an iPad proved difficult and tedious. That combined with my responsibilities as an intern meant I didn't get very far in the job hunt process. 

June 25: I decided to Google English taught schools within the Dominican Republic. I'd heard of a few and thought I'd find out more about them.  The Santiago Christian School website would not load on my iPad; I didn't think much of it.

June 26: While at Highlands (the sports complex), I ended up talking with the board president of a Christian school in Santo Domingo. His school was holding a soccer camp there. He was not sure if there where any open positions but gives me his email and says to email him my resume. I told him about my Google searches the night before and he said maybe this is what they call 'God coincidences'.  I send my resume in the following Saturday and he replied saying he'd sent it on to the Head of School.

July 5: I sent a follow up email to the school in Santo Domingo. I never heard back from the board president or the Head of School. This planted in my mind that it might actually to possible to work at a school here. Yet, at this point, I still continued to work on a job application for a US school district. 

July 8: TIU Division of Education sends an email about an opening at a Christian school in Paraguay.  Not the DR but still a Spanish speaking country.  The email includes a link to the Mission: Teach website, which lists positions for Christian school worldwide. Roadblock: I can't upload my resume from the iPad.

July 13: I am able to borrow a laptop to upload m resume to the Mission: Teach website. I send an inquiry to the school in Paraguay, but then begin to look through the schools listed to see if any are in the DR. Santiago Christian School had both 1st and 3rd grade positions listed as open.  I immediately send an email to the school.  About 8 hours later, the elementary principal has emailed me back--there's currently an open position for a full time substitute. There was definitely some screaming, cheering, and excitement as I shared this news with my fellow intern girls!! Three week whirlwind begins.

July 16: After 2 1/2 days of working on the SCS job application--resume, work history, personal essays, testimony, medical forms and contacting references--I submit the completed application and related documents. (And thanks to Haley for the use of her laptop.)  A few days later a job interview is set up for Monday.

July 22: Skype interview with Santiago Christian School. I felt it had gone very well.

July 25: Officially offered the position as full-time substitute. 

July 29: After much prayer over the weekend, I officially  accept the position. God reminded me of my quote at the top of this blog, 'Go to the people. Live among them.'

August 4: I move to Santiago!

I began this blog with Psalm 103:1-2. That last line really sums up the past few weeks.  "May I never forget the good things he does for me." When I first flew to the DR this summer, I had packed for an internship. Shorts and t-shirts, stuff that could get muddy and sweaty in Bateys (sugar cane villages). Not exactly the stuff you wear to teach in. My suitcases were actually the lightest   I've ever packed them. I was even able to take a few books out of my carry-on and pack them in my checked bag. I didn't need bedding, towels, or kitchen supplies since I'd be living at the SCORE complex. 

Once people found out I had the job, even before it was certain, I started to receive all sorts of things. My intern director allowed me to look through the ministry supply closet for clothes and other items I could use. I found clothes, shoes, an alarm clock, Sensodyne tooth paste (this in itself is a huge blessing since my wisdom teeth have been cutting all summer), towels, and bed sheets. Various groups had given us interns all their left over toiletries. My roommate and I spilt what we had; I still ended up with over 3 ziplock bags (2 1/2 gallon size) full of sunscreen, bug spray, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and more. There's more than enough to get me through the entire school year. 

A few days before my move, I'm just chatting with one of the leaders from the group that week. I told her about this new job.  A few hours later, myself and another intern are helping her with the donations her church brought. She asks if I need anything and starts digging through this huge pile of clothes. She somehow pulls out all really nice clothes that I could wear to work. Then, she takes me to her room and gives me one of her very own skirts. It's super cute and looks practically brand new.  Blessings, blessings! So many blessings. 

By the time I was all packed up my suitcases could barely close. These suitcases were right at 50 pounds when I flew down here and easily had room for more stuff. One man who, thankfully, helped me carry them up two flights of stairs estimated they were close to 100 pounds each!

This post is so long already and I'm just to moving day now.  How these first two weeks in Santiago have gone will have to wait for the next post. 

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support. Thank you Lord for the millions of blessings I've been given!

Faithfulness

Each week here a new group comes in for their short term mission trip. Well actually, there's usually many groups heree but the interns typical stick with one group for the week. That allows us to connect with the group and get to know them a little bit by the end of the week.  However, this week after 3 days I still felt like I hadn't connected much with the group. In the van, I mostly talked with the missionary/pastor/driver and during ministry times I was mostly with the Dominican youth that were working with us. That's great for practicing Spanish but it means I didn't spend as much time with my group.  That being said I was quite surprised by the response I got from them on thier last night.  Two of the girls made a bracelet for me and another team member gave me a hug and thanked me working with them this week. 
That made me realize that sometimes I can't see the impact I make on people, but that doesn't mean no one's watching.  All week I'd gone in and given my all to whatever ministry we were doing.   The first two mornings were VBS with kids so it was pretty natural for me to jump in and start doing stuff.  According to one group member, I was 'rocking out' to the worship songs with the kids.  On Wednesday, we had a work  project building a fence around a church. This mean cuting down trees and branches for posts and stringing barbed wire. Tools required: machetes, hammers, and several metal poles as post hole diggers. It was great hanging out with older people (over 9 years old) during the day; they'd even help correct my Spanish which was very helpful.  One girl even taught me how to 'mow' with a machete. You use a hooked stick to hold the grass/weeds back and then swing the machete below that to cut the grass off near the ground. Throughout this week I was faithful to serve where I was needed each day, even though to me it seemed like I wasn't making much of a difference to the team.  In return, God was faithful to me and allowed me to see that during those times I wasn't with the team they were still watching me; that made an impact on them without me knowing it.

PRAYER UPDATES
1. Spanish-I'm learning more everyday but I'm not sure if I'll be fluent before I leave.  Pray that I'll be proactive in practicing Spanih and not give in to fear and shyness.
2. Financial-My goal is to raise $1,500 in support to cover airfare and other expenses. So far I've just over $500. Pray that the remaining money needed to cover my expenses would be provided.
3. Future Plans-As of now, I still don't have a job after my intership ends. Pray that I would know where the Lord wants me to be this fall (and afterward).

Translating

Well, by week 3 I'd missed writing a weekly blog post. If I'm keeping my dates right I just finished my fifth week as an intern here in the DR. My time is flying by and I'm already dreading how fast August 3rd is approaching.  As you probably already know my primary goal over this summer and my time overseas is to focus on practicing my Spanish and to be able to serve as a translator.  So after 5 weeks it's about time I give you all an update on how that's going.

I arrived knowing a decent amount of Spanish and would frequently help translate small conversations. For example, when we take groups out to a village I'd translate one-on-one converrsations between a kid and a group member. Some groups have member who know a fair amount of Spanish while others don't.  One common request amoung the kids is "caballo", they're asking for a piggy-back ride. (That's actually the Spanish word for 'horse'. Makes a lot more sense to me. When have you seen someone rid a pig??) These small conversations/translations were fun and the longer I'm here the better I am at them. Still, the idea of tranlating to an entire group seemed  to far beyond me.

However, that began to change about 10 days ago; I translated from Spanish to English for the entire group. I'd been with the group for the past few days and as they prepared the leave the village for the last time everyone--Americans and Dominicans--gathered for prayer. The group had spent the week doing ministry with Omar, a Dominican who works with one of the SCORE missionaries, but he doesn't speak English. Somehow (God's creativity, I presume) our official translator wasn't present at the moment, so I ended up translating for Omar.  All in all, what I translated was rather short--"Thanks for coming. We're sad to see you leave. Have a safe flight."  But the fact that I did it for a group of about 20 people amazed me. It was such an encouragement to have that experience and realize I really can translate.

Then this past week I was really put to the test. Another group had come in; the ladies and I were at a morning devotional with a group of Dominican women. The Dominican lady giving the devotional asked if I was translating. "No way." I said. However, the missionary said that I'm able to translate and kindly forced me to do it. I sort of tag teamed with a Dominican women who knew some English. I would translate from Spanish to English and she would translate from English to Spanish. I have to admit I pretty much hated translating during the entire devotional, but at the same time knew it was the best possible way to practice so I was also super thankful for the opportunity. Translating requires a lot more than simply knowing two languages. It's a constant cycle of listening to the Spanish, mentally translating it to English, remembering it while hearing the second part of the sentence, translating the second part to Spanish, and then speaking the entire sentence in English. It was such a stressful process but I'm so glad I'm able to say I did it.  Obviously, as my Spanish get better the translating will get easier.

So far the best way to practice Spanish is with those who don't know English. Like Omar, who knows some English but not enough to make speaking English easier than Spanish. I'm also able to practice with the bus drivers. One of them, Nino, is especially helpful; he basically forces me to speak Spanish and when someone tries to translate for me he replies, "No, no, ella sabe. Ella sabe."  "She knows. She knows."  It's definately encouraging to have someone show so much confidence in me when I don't always feel that way.  Granted there's times we don't alway understand each other the first time something is said but we're usually able to figure it out.
Besides translating, I am beging to understand more and more spoken Spanish. This past Sunday at church the entire sermon was in Spanish but I was able to understand the sermon  nearly as well as one preached in English. I'm still learning everyday, and at times I get discouraged, but everytime I use my Spanish I'm encouraged that I can do this.

To end, here's a few Dominican Spanish words.  Many of them are different than what I learned in school or have a different meaning.  Do you know the meaning of any of these??

-Mame
-La guagua
-Guapo
-Mata
-Guineo
-Que lo que
-Un chin/ una bina

More Than Conquerors

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Ephesians 6:12 has long been one of my favorite verses. It can be so easy for me to get distracted by the little things in life. This verse reminds me that the phyiscial struggless in life, both the little and big things, are not the biggest stuggle I'm in. As a believer, my biggest struggle is the spiritul battle.  Unfortuantely, that can easily become the first struggle to be forgotten. Spiritual battles aren't often seen, so the visible difficulities can quickly take over my focus. That's why I love Ephesians 6:12; no matter what is going on in my life it refocuses my attention on the reality of Spiriual struggles.
This week has been a perfect example of that. I spent the past three days in San Jose and La Riconada where SCORE missionaries work. For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to visit villages like this, let me try to paint a picture of it for you. It's a long, bumpy ride along a dirt road to enter either village. The homes vary from small concert buildings to roughly constructed structures of tin or woods. Few, if any, have running water inside their home; each village has a well/pump for water.  Most do have electric wires running to their home, but the power goes out often. It might be on for 6 hours a day. Or there might not be power for three days. Food comes mostly from what can be grown or raised in the area, which isn't enough many times. Its not anywhere close to the American idea of a decent standard of living. So it's easy as an American to visit and think about all the American conveniences they don't have: toilets, indoor plumbing, safety, sanitation, proper medical care, air conditioning, abundant store bought food, etc.

Yet the lack of material things is not the biggest issue in San Jose and La Riconada. During the VBS program on Friday I held a baby with a little pouch tied around her ankles. Her mother has taken her to the loca witch doctor. The pouch is meant to keep evil spirits away from her. There's a very real Spiritual battle going on in these villages; voodoo is very common, but it's often hidden. Had I not known to suspect it I won't have thought to ask about that strange little anklet. The battle here is not against flesh and blood but spiritual powers.

While most Americans pobably didn't grow up with Voodoo common place, that doesn't mean we don't face spiritual battle. I wonder if being in America actually may make it harder to see the spiritual battles sometimes.  When I'm surrounded by modern conveniences and the comforts of a developed nation it's easy to get wrapped up in them and forget about the spiritual battle that is going on.  No matter what culture, country, economic status, or the condition of your home, everyone faces a spiritual battle, especially for believers.

However, as believers we know that Christ has won this Spiriual battle. "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39

First Week

  It's officially been one week since I arrived in the Dominican Republic.  Already I feel right at home.  It's so great to be back the culture and around Spanish. Somethings are just like I remember them, but at times I notice differences between Jarabacoa and where I am now, Juan Dolio.  Although  I suppose that part of that may because I have a lot more opportunies to spend free time (and even ministry times) with Dominicans rather than American missionarries.  I've quickly settled into the routine here.  Generally, each week I'll be paired with a group to help with and translate what I can.  This week I was with Bethel Baptist from Alabama. Throughout the week we visited several different sugar cane villages, called Bateys. The group had prepared a VBS type program for the kids in each village--songs, a Bible story, and crafts.

In addition to the villages there are two ministries we visited the week that I especially enjoyed.  On Monday we went to San Jose were SCORE Craig and Joanna live.  I hadn't planned it but these are the same missionaries whose blog I read last semester after a friend shared it on Facebook. It's an amazing story of what God's doing here in the DR. If you'd like to read that blog follow this link.  Craig and Joanna have built a house in the village of San Jose and live right among the people they serve. There's a group of kids from the village that practically live on their front porch. Craig pastors the church, they've begun a pre-school, and have a feeding program. They also reach out to the surrounding villages and are hoping to plant churches in those as well. Our ministry on Monday consisted of building benches to be used in the church or school and playing with the kids. Soccer, baseball, Frisbee, swings, etc. During the afternoon it rained, even poured for a while; Craig passed out shampoo to the kids and they all took showers! I was especially drawn to one boy, Mudo. He can't hear and as a result can't speak either. It was amazing to see how the kids had learned to communicate with him. At first, I though how devastating it was that he had no assistance or
interventions. Even if someone would teach him Sign Language there's no one in his village who could understand that.  However, after watching them I began to wonder if it was actually easier to live with his handicap here than it would be in the States. In this village much of the economy is farming. Even young boys know how to drive cattle and ride horses. I realized there's many farming activities one could learn just by watching. Even Craig is able to communicate very similar things to Mudo, such as distinguishing between Coke and water. Yet Craig doesn't know how Mudo is able to understand the difference. I definitely hope to return to San Jose many times this summer.

The second ministry I want to share about in the Lily House.  This ministry serves women who had previously worked as prositutes and their children.  There are two parts to this. First the house where the women can live with their children and the day care for the children while thier mothers are at work. Second there is the training program.  The women work during the day learning skills such as jewelry making, sewing, cooking, and spa/salon.  Much of the jewelry is already bein sold here at the SCORE store.  Recently a family donated to the Lily House to build several shops/business for the ladies to work in.  They are just about ready to open a salon/spa, a store (for jewelry, etc.) and a cafe. All three are absolutely beautiful and once its done the entrance will open up right to the main street; perfect for business not just from SCORE groups but from the public and the tourists from the nearby hotels. I'm so excited to see how this ministry continues to grow during my summer here.

Besides to ministries that the groups do for the Dominicans, is especially encouraging to get to know the individual group members and hear what God has used their trip to teach them.  I was able to have several very good conversations with a member of the team this week. Some of the biggest lessons are the ones least expected. It's amaing to see how God uses a trip to a foreign country to teach something no one could have intended.

As always, thanks for your prayers and support!

Still

Recently, I've been so busy and stressed about all the homework I have due before the end of the year (graduation!) that I haven't spent time with God like I should.  Even thought mentally I recognized that I was putting God off to do homework, it didn't translate into action.  Everyday I'd go to class, do some homework, go to work, whatever and still not set aside time to spend with God.

Tonight, I was sent this song and encouraged to get alone to spend some time in stillness before God.  It was exactly the reminder I needed (just another way God shows he isn't gonna let me go).  I love how slow this song is because it made me slow down.  I had to stop my rushing and stressing and truly "be still and know". As I sat there dwelling in God's presence, he replaced all that stress with peace and calmness.   I was reminded that everything is God's.  Every little detail of my life, He will handle and much better than I can. That's why I can depend on Him ( yet so often I start believing the lie that I have to figure everything out on my own).

Everything is God's.  Whether it's remembering to eat enough, having enough focus to write a paper, managing my time, or figuring out what I'm doing with my life after graduation.  That's all God's.  So I got my Bible and journal and dug into God's word. Even then my mind was still all over the place and I'd rush through it. I'd stop, read it again and again, until I'd really paid attention to each word. I took my journal and wrote down my thoughts, those things I'm trying to handle on my own, what He's teaching me, anything and everything ends up in my journal.  If you haven't spent some time with God in a while, I encourage you to.

Dependence:  Everything is God's.