Week 1

June 3: The first team that came on a mission trip with Makarios was Parkway Fellowship. Like said before, we all went to church on Sunday and spent quality time getting to know each other all day. On Monday, however, we started to adventure! The interns started the day with another orientation about the Mak House (how to do laundry, cook, clean, etc.), but after that we all went on a waterfall hike with the Parkway team. It was about an hour long hike to the first waterfall, and the water was so cold and refreshing! We jumped off ledges and took lots of pictures. Once everyone was exhausted from treading water, we hiked another hour back to the car. In the evening, we attended English worship. This is for all of the missionaries in Montellano to get together and worship the Lord in English instead of Spanish. It’s a great time for them to decompress and talk to people in their own language, so it was awesome to get to know more of the missionaries and their stories in a language I could understand! Gary, the worship pastor of Parkway, led worship and Heath, the main pastor of Parkway, preached to all of us. It was a very inspiring message and I’m glad we were all there to listen to it. When we all got home, Gary accidentally ran through the glass door and completely shattered it, so we took the night taking care of the glass covered floor and Gary’s face (which was all cut up). However, after everything was all cleaned up and Gary’s face was mended to, we all ended the night singing worship songs together! Quite the day if you ask me!!

June 4: Today was a very calm day with little activity and a lot of quality time spent together. The interns woke up and went to the grocery store called Jumbo. Nate calls it Jimbo cause gig’em right?? After picking up a few last minute goodies, we went to tour one of the communities Makarios works with called Pancho Mateo. All of the kids were still in school so no one was out to play, but it was nice to see all of the houses and the adults in them! We even saw some colorful chicks!! After the tour of Pancho Mateo, we visited the school and took a tour of that. It’s amazing to see how much it has grown and how different it is compared to when I took my first trip 4 years ago. There are so many new additions to the building, and so many more kids attending. Once we were ready to head back, we spontaneously took motos (the Dominican word for motorcycles) to the Mak House instead of Emily’s car. Taking public transportation was super intimidating at first, but ended up being so much fun! It even had an incredible view of Montellano and the mountains. For the rest of the night, we just spent time talking and playing card games! It was a very restful day that was needed to prepare for a busy week next week!

June 5: We got our Dominican phones!! They look like the type of phone you would get in 6th grade, and we will use them for getting in contact with each other in the communities. After getting our fancy new phones, we toured Tamarindo with a staff member called Migue. Migue is so awesome and so passionate about the Lord and his community. We found out that he wants to possibly be a missionary in America, and show Americans how to establish community throughout their neighborhoods. Since everyone knows everyone in the Dominican communities, it is so foreign to them that we don’t even know the people that live down the block from us. After listening to Migue and seeing how people interact with each other throughout Tamarindo and Pancho Mateo, it does show how Americans lack the sense of community with the people we should be closest to. Neighbors never go outside much unless it is to take the trash out, whereas, Dominicans are rarely inside their houses, for they are all spending time with their friends, family, and neighbors. After the tour, we ate lunch at the school and I played baseball and soccer with a few kids named Angel, Lucas, and Esteicy. Next, after hanging out at the school for a couple hours, we went to tour the last community Makarios works with called Chichigua. Chichigua is the least wealthy community out of the three, but they are so loving and kind and patient with the circumstances they are given. The kids are so cute and friendly, and we were able to read and color with them! They have such big smiles and even bigger hearts, and God is working so much in that community! Makarios has definitely been such a blessing in those kid’s lives because they are given an incredible chance that is not offered everywhere. I had such an amazing time playing with the kiddos and talking to them with the little Spanish I have! To wrap up the night, Emily, Carson, and I ran to the water tower which was on top of a hill near the Mak House, and we all were amazed by the view. The hill looks out across all of Montellano, and it was so incredible to see all of God’s beauty in the nature and the progress throughout the city.

June 6: BEACH DAY!! After the team had a busy week working with the Makarios students in chapel and worship, we were able to accompany them to the beach for a restful day off of work. I got my hair braided, read a book, and even swam a couple times! It was so nice to rest and mentally and spiritually prepare for the week ahead of us. This week was fairly easy because it was just orientation week and the team only consisted of four people, but the following weeks are going to be super busy and action packed!! To get to the beach, we had to take public transportation ON OUR OWN. Emily dropped us off at a gas station and we had to hold the number 5 on our fingers on the side of the road to get a guagua (mini bus/van) to pick us up. We squeezed with 40 other people on a guagua that was supposed to hold 20-30 people, so to say we were squished is an understatement!! However, it was an exciting adventure and now we are basically pros (not really) at taking public transportation!! Before we hit the sand and the water, we stopped at a cute coffee shop called Vagamundo (I originally thought it was called Bora Bora, but that was actually the name of the dish I ate hahaha). It is owned by a family in California that supports an orphanage in Sosua (a town here), and a lot of the workers are guys from that orphanage. The coffee shop teaches the guys work skills and accountability. It has an amazing story behind it, and amazing food in it, so it is going to be a popular stop for me every week! After eating and enjoying the sunshine at the beach, we headed home (back to the Mak House) to play the card game called “Luck” that we are all obsessed with now. We basically played that for the rest of the night and headed to bed shortly after playing!

June 7: Today the Parkway Fellowship team left us 😦 I had such an incredible time getting to know them and to see how God has impacted their lives. They were all such positive people who are truly inspiring in so many ways. They follow the Lord so willingly and are so uplifting to everyone they come in contact with. Once they sadly left, we took our off day snorkeling in Sosua! It was so beautiful and the reefs were filled with so many colorful fish. I have never done something like that before, so it was so cool to see how creative God is. I even found two sand dollars!! After snorkeling for an our or two, we went to a very Americanized BBQ restaurant where I had wings and sweet tea! It was yet another stress-free day that was needed to experience a few fun things before the crazy schedules start!

This week was a very calm, adventurous week that opened my eyes to many different things in the Dominican Republic. It was a great week to dip our toes into the new culture, and a great week to explore the area around us! I started Luke in my bible and the main word that has been catching my attention this week has been the word: obedient. It has shown up multiple times in Luke, in Heath’s message he shared on Monday, and in many conversations I’ve had with the interns and the team. I think that that will be my word for the summer. Obedient. I need to hold myself accountable to read my bible every day and open my eyes to the Lord in ways I never have before. This summer will be such a growing experience for me if I am just obedient to Him, for I will learn more and grow through the Lord instead of the human things on Earth. I am so excited for more teams to come and to make relationships with people that are intentional and encouraging. But I am more excited to grow with the Lord this summer and use what he teaches me in my everyday life, even after I leave the Dominican. I can’t wait to be more like Jesus and to love the way that he does!! One week down, 8 more to go!!