In her book Hard Laugher, Anne Lamott writes that a friend of hers wrote a poem called All This, Every Day, and that she thinks that is the finest mantra. This morning I woke up filled with grattitude and thought just that--I have all this, every day! I have warm sun on my skin, a bustling city, poetic music, mountains out the bus window, health, friends, an insane but endearing family, and plums. Fresh, sweet, dripping down your chin plums.
Of course, I also have other things every day, like earthquake aftershocks, an hour and 15 minute long commute, pimples, language barriers, and loneliness. But when I am 80 and my eyes don't work quite right and my butt is saggy and I look back on my life, I know I won't remember sometimes being lonely in Santiago or frustrated by a long commute to school. I will remember that when I was twenty, I did the scary but hard thing and moved to a different country for 5 months. And I don't think I will have regrets, because I am truly thankful for my life as it is happening, and I realize what a gift I've been given.
Now, I'm not going to start singing Raindrops on Roses or anything, but if you haven't felt deep, true thankfulness recently (or ever), I invite you to make that a prayer request. I believe God enjoys blessing us with the realization of his blessing and grace in our lives, and when you ask him for a spirit of thankfulness he delights in giving it to you.
After a terrible, horrible, frustrating week trying to register for my classes and find my way around a foreign university of 40,000 students, God blessed me with a day full of grace. On Thursday I was finally able to register for the classes I needed, find the photocopy place for my textbooks (long story), and find space for a little bit of free time. Earlier in the week I had broken down into tears several times, both times in public with very underprepared male friends. Poor guys. I was frustrated and overwhlemed by trying to get things done in a culture where offices close whenever they please and the natives are unwilling to help a foreigner stumbing her way through the first week of classes. Gracias a Dios, I was blessed with a day of breath, rest, and grace when I needed it most.
Tomorrow I am getting up early to go to Cajon de Maipo, about an hour and a half from Santiago. Some friends and I are going to get out of the city and spend the day ziplining and trekking the foothills of the Andes.
All this, every day!!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Santiago: Earthquake Diaries
It's been a week since the devastating 8.8 earthquake here in Chile. Obviously life here has been chaotic, I didn't have internet working until Thursday and so have been unable to update all of my faithful blog followers :)
Chile is a country that is hurting, but it is amazing to see how people have come together to support one another during this crisis. Saturday after the metaphorical smoke had cleared I knew I should get my own earthquake story on paper (while it was all so fresh in my mind), so I began writing blog posts in Microsoft Word to be published when the internet came back up. So here it is:
Saturday, Feb. 28 12:30p.m.
Well, for a minute there I thought the terrorists had won. Last night I was awakened around 3:35 a.m. by an earthquake that shook the house for almost three minutes. Currently the news is saying it was an 8 on the Richter scale. It’s a horrible feeling to wake up scared, and clouded by sleep I sat in bed for a few seconds paralyzed by fear before I gathered my senses and moved to the doorway of my room. My host mom yelled for me to join her in the kitchen, where she and I and the two dogs rode out the rest of the earthquake in the patio doorway.
After the earthquake passed, waves continued to lapse out of our pool for about 5 minutes. Broken glass littered the floor. The sliding glass doors from my room to the patio had been locked and shut, and were now completely open. Power, internet, and telephone service was cut off. According to the news the death toll is at 122. I think we live our everyday lives with a sense of safety and comfort, always knowing that we are never truly safe in this world, but never truly understanding our helplessness. As the earth shook beneath me, I was terrifyingly aware of my complete vulnerability.
9:52p.m.
I guess I’m not quite sure what to do with this newfound understanding of my powerlessness. I must admit that I am wavering between praising God and questioning him. With the current death toll at 214, I have a hard time marveling at the greatness of God amid my relative inconsequence. I am feeling small and powerlessness, and I suppose that’s appropriate since that’s exactly what I am. I guess that is what makes God great. My life is a drop in the ocean of time, and while my emotions feel to me of great importance, why should God care about them? Yet our great God cares, and he is here with us amid all the destruction and death.
It is hard to be isolated here in a time of crisis. The phones and internet are still out, and so I have been unable to alert my family in the States of my safety, talk with my fellow students here in Chile and make sure they are all okay, or hear the outside world’s reaction to this tragedy. It would be so comforting to me to be able to talk with my parents! Our only connection with the world is the TV, and we have been watching the death toll rise all day. The president, Michelle Bachelet addressed the nation about an hour ago, and apparently this earthquake was the 5th strongest ever recorded in the world—stronger even than Haiti! We have been feeling after-tremors all day, and it has been extremely emotionally draining to face such a fearful event without the support of anyone who knows me or speaks my language.
The current public announcement is that we are not to leave our houses until Wednesday, because the roads are cracked and impassable and all of the city buildings need to be tested to ensure that they are not structurally dangerous. This is lonely and boring, especially without internet or phone communication. However, thanks to God we now have power. University classes were supposed to start Monday, and school opening dates have been postponed for at least the next week. Please pray for strength for me and for the people of Chile.
The photo below is of a church that was badly damaged:
and the Museum of Bellas Artes:
Now I'm back to writing in the present moment. I am so thankful for the outpouring of concern and prayers from those of you in the States. It has been a huge blessing to realize that you all care so much! Classes at La Católica, the private school, begin on Monday, but the University of Chile sustained some major damages and classes there don't start until the following Monday. Because they have had to delay classes at the U of Chile, they won't end until July 30, and I am set to return the 14th! Sadly, this means that I won't be able to take classes at the U of Chile. However, I am trusting God that this is what's best for me.
The classes I'm planning on taking are as follows:
Chilean Poetry at the End of the Century- my attempt at getting Spanish Lit credit without having to read Don Quijote
Woman and Society in Chile- YAY
Spanish for Foreigners- snoozefest
Armed Conflict and Humanitarian Work
And guess what? I don't have any classes on Fridays! I am super nervous for the start of classes but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm just taking it one step at a time.
Chile is a country that is hurting, but it is amazing to see how people have come together to support one another during this crisis. Saturday after the metaphorical smoke had cleared I knew I should get my own earthquake story on paper (while it was all so fresh in my mind), so I began writing blog posts in Microsoft Word to be published when the internet came back up. So here it is:
Saturday, Feb. 28 12:30p.m.
Well, for a minute there I thought the terrorists had won. Last night I was awakened around 3:35 a.m. by an earthquake that shook the house for almost three minutes. Currently the news is saying it was an 8 on the Richter scale. It’s a horrible feeling to wake up scared, and clouded by sleep I sat in bed for a few seconds paralyzed by fear before I gathered my senses and moved to the doorway of my room. My host mom yelled for me to join her in the kitchen, where she and I and the two dogs rode out the rest of the earthquake in the patio doorway.
After the earthquake passed, waves continued to lapse out of our pool for about 5 minutes. Broken glass littered the floor. The sliding glass doors from my room to the patio had been locked and shut, and were now completely open. Power, internet, and telephone service was cut off. According to the news the death toll is at 122. I think we live our everyday lives with a sense of safety and comfort, always knowing that we are never truly safe in this world, but never truly understanding our helplessness. As the earth shook beneath me, I was terrifyingly aware of my complete vulnerability.
9:52p.m.
I guess I’m not quite sure what to do with this newfound understanding of my powerlessness. I must admit that I am wavering between praising God and questioning him. With the current death toll at 214, I have a hard time marveling at the greatness of God amid my relative inconsequence. I am feeling small and powerlessness, and I suppose that’s appropriate since that’s exactly what I am. I guess that is what makes God great. My life is a drop in the ocean of time, and while my emotions feel to me of great importance, why should God care about them? Yet our great God cares, and he is here with us amid all the destruction and death.
It is hard to be isolated here in a time of crisis. The phones and internet are still out, and so I have been unable to alert my family in the States of my safety, talk with my fellow students here in Chile and make sure they are all okay, or hear the outside world’s reaction to this tragedy. It would be so comforting to me to be able to talk with my parents! Our only connection with the world is the TV, and we have been watching the death toll rise all day. The president, Michelle Bachelet addressed the nation about an hour ago, and apparently this earthquake was the 5th strongest ever recorded in the world—stronger even than Haiti! We have been feeling after-tremors all day, and it has been extremely emotionally draining to face such a fearful event without the support of anyone who knows me or speaks my language.
The current public announcement is that we are not to leave our houses until Wednesday, because the roads are cracked and impassable and all of the city buildings need to be tested to ensure that they are not structurally dangerous. This is lonely and boring, especially without internet or phone communication. However, thanks to God we now have power. University classes were supposed to start Monday, and school opening dates have been postponed for at least the next week. Please pray for strength for me and for the people of Chile.
The photo below is of a church that was badly damaged:
and the Museum of Bellas Artes:
Now I'm back to writing in the present moment. I am so thankful for the outpouring of concern and prayers from those of you in the States. It has been a huge blessing to realize that you all care so much! Classes at La Católica, the private school, begin on Monday, but the University of Chile sustained some major damages and classes there don't start until the following Monday. Because they have had to delay classes at the U of Chile, they won't end until July 30, and I am set to return the 14th! Sadly, this means that I won't be able to take classes at the U of Chile. However, I am trusting God that this is what's best for me.
The classes I'm planning on taking are as follows:
Chilean Poetry at the End of the Century- my attempt at getting Spanish Lit credit without having to read Don Quijote
Woman and Society in Chile- YAY
Spanish for Foreigners- snoozefest
Armed Conflict and Humanitarian Work
And guess what? I don't have any classes on Fridays! I am super nervous for the start of classes but I'm sure it will be fine. I'm just taking it one step at a time.
Monday, February 22, 2010
"Gracias a Dios"
Today I was reading an article that defined culture shock as “An abrupt loss of the familiar that produces feelings of isolation and frustration. “ When I travel to other countries I spend a lot of time marveling at things that are very unfamiliar, and at some point I always find myself captivated by the idea that “this is normal to them!” It is humbling to realize that the way that I live is not the obvious best, but just one way to exist out of many. Living in a foreign language further magnifies these differences, because language shapes the way we see and interpret the world. It is very common here in Chile to begin sentences with “Gracias a Dios…” (which means thanks to God). Whereas we might say, “It’s nice that…” or “I’m lucky because…” Spanish speakers commonly attribute the good and enjoyable things in life to God. This has blessed me enormously as I now find myself giving praise to God for things I am excited about or thankful for. James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift is from above, and the Spanish way of speaking reminds me daily that this is true.
I don’t think you can ever completely understand how much language shapes our thinking until you spend time living in another language. A friend once told me about how when she changes from her native English to speaking her second language, she feels her personality changes a little bit. That is, there are certain feelings and ideas that are not provided for in every language. For example, my Spanish-speaking self is never sarcastic (this is kind of a bad example because I’m sure there are plenty of sarcastic Spanish-speakers, but I just don’t know how to make my sarcasm properly understood). I am marveling every day at the way that my thinking is being changed and expanded by the lexicon and grammatical rules of Spanish. I also now have trouble translating things. When I learn a new word, I write the definition in Spanish because English translations are never enough to fully describe the full meanings of Spanish words. I feel you can’t really understand the richness and color in a culture until you start thinking like them (that is, in their language).
Earlier today I was speaking Spanish when a friend interrupted and asked me a question in English. My response was a sentence with English words in the order one would say them in Spanish. A look of complete shock passed over my face as I realized what I had done. It has not yet been a week but already Spanish is becoming part of the way I think, and I feel that English alone will never again be enough to express myself completely. With every day I spend here I realize more and more how much I don’t know and will never understand. However, gracias a Dios my heart is overflowing with wonder at the wide world he has made for us to explore—we can never run out of new and interesting things to experience! Oh how he loves us!
I don’t think you can ever completely understand how much language shapes our thinking until you spend time living in another language. A friend once told me about how when she changes from her native English to speaking her second language, she feels her personality changes a little bit. That is, there are certain feelings and ideas that are not provided for in every language. For example, my Spanish-speaking self is never sarcastic (this is kind of a bad example because I’m sure there are plenty of sarcastic Spanish-speakers, but I just don’t know how to make my sarcasm properly understood). I am marveling every day at the way that my thinking is being changed and expanded by the lexicon and grammatical rules of Spanish. I also now have trouble translating things. When I learn a new word, I write the definition in Spanish because English translations are never enough to fully describe the full meanings of Spanish words. I feel you can’t really understand the richness and color in a culture until you start thinking like them (that is, in their language).
Earlier today I was speaking Spanish when a friend interrupted and asked me a question in English. My response was a sentence with English words in the order one would say them in Spanish. A look of complete shock passed over my face as I realized what I had done. It has not yet been a week but already Spanish is becoming part of the way I think, and I feel that English alone will never again be enough to express myself completely. With every day I spend here I realize more and more how much I don’t know and will never understand. However, gracias a Dios my heart is overflowing with wonder at the wide world he has made for us to explore—we can never run out of new and interesting things to experience! Oh how he loves us!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
¡Bienvenidos a Chile!
This first picture was taken our second night in Chile. We had a welcome dinner for all the exchange students. The drink is my first Pisco Sour, the official drink of Chile. Pisco is a kind of brandy, and when mixed with eggs and lemon juice it is a Pisco Sour. They also mix Pisco with Coke, which is called a Piscola.
The second picture is one that I took of the city from the balcony of our hotel room the first day. SO BEAUTIFUL!
Hola hola! Many of you have been asking why I haven't updated my blog yet, and it's because I haven't had a moment to spare! Right now it is almost 3am and I just got back from hanging out with friends. They definitely operate on a different schedule here. We eat dinner at 8:30 or 9:00 and nobody starts hanging out at night until 11 or 12. It's hard to believe I have only been here for four days, I have learned so much in such a short time! We arrrived around 9am on Wednesday and after waiting for the rest of the flights to come in got to our orientation hotel around noon. Everyone in the group is fun and interesting in a different way, and so far I have had a great time getting to know everyone (there are about 40 of us in the program). Santiago is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It is completely clean, cute, and beautiful. It has been in the mid 80s here every day and I am getting super tan!
My host family is FANTASTIC! My mom is the kindest, sweetest woman, and she always calls me "mi amor" (my love) or "mi gringita" (my little white girl). My dad is also very helpful (but a little more serious) and I have a 25 year old brother that I haven't met yet, although tonight I talked to him on the phone and he seems very nice. My mom told him I like to play tennis and he said he wants to play with me :) Also, my dad is the same height as me (and my mom is shorter)! haha. I have my own room and bathroom, and my house has a pool! Tomorrow I am having a bunch of friends over after church to lay by the pool and tan and eat and do homework (that's right, its not all fun here-we already have homework). We are taking a class called "Contemporary Chile" that is only for the Americans in our program. It is all day every day for the next two weeks, and we get two credits for it. It's basically a class to help us understand Chilean culture and politics. Then actual classes start two weeks from Monday. I am super nervous for those, but trying not to worry now because I still have two weeks to learn my way around the city and take a class with only gringos.
So far, the language has been both very fun and very frustrating. I now LOVE speaking spanish and am already having trouble thinking of words and spelling in English. On Thursday we signed our language contracts. We are only allowed to speak, read, or listen to English when we are communicating with people in the States or if it is an emergency. This means that even all of the Americans in my program only speak Spanish to each other! It is exhausting to try to speak Spanish when you know that the other person would understand you much easier if you were speaking to them in English, but they say that you learn Spanish much faster if you are not constantly switching between languages. I have even changed all the lanugage settings on my computer, email, facebook, etc. to Spanish. Let me tell you, it can be exhausting but I am pretty sure in these 4 days I have already learned more than I did in 7 years of lanuage classes.
I hope that all is well there in the States. I miss the familiarities of home, and being here can be lonely, but so far I am in good spirits as I know that I have been given the chance of a lifetime to learn and live in a different culture for 5 months. Also, in case anyone wants to know, I am three hours ahead of the central time zone (two ahead of you in Michigan). Thank you to all of you who have been contacting me via facebook and skype. Although I am busy here it is such an encouragement to know that you are thinking of me and praying for me. Thanks for reading, be talking to you soon!
The second picture is one that I took of the city from the balcony of our hotel room the first day. SO BEAUTIFUL!
Hola hola! Many of you have been asking why I haven't updated my blog yet, and it's because I haven't had a moment to spare! Right now it is almost 3am and I just got back from hanging out with friends. They definitely operate on a different schedule here. We eat dinner at 8:30 or 9:00 and nobody starts hanging out at night until 11 or 12. It's hard to believe I have only been here for four days, I have learned so much in such a short time! We arrrived around 9am on Wednesday and after waiting for the rest of the flights to come in got to our orientation hotel around noon. Everyone in the group is fun and interesting in a different way, and so far I have had a great time getting to know everyone (there are about 40 of us in the program). Santiago is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It is completely clean, cute, and beautiful. It has been in the mid 80s here every day and I am getting super tan!
My host family is FANTASTIC! My mom is the kindest, sweetest woman, and she always calls me "mi amor" (my love) or "mi gringita" (my little white girl). My dad is also very helpful (but a little more serious) and I have a 25 year old brother that I haven't met yet, although tonight I talked to him on the phone and he seems very nice. My mom told him I like to play tennis and he said he wants to play with me :) Also, my dad is the same height as me (and my mom is shorter)! haha. I have my own room and bathroom, and my house has a pool! Tomorrow I am having a bunch of friends over after church to lay by the pool and tan and eat and do homework (that's right, its not all fun here-we already have homework). We are taking a class called "Contemporary Chile" that is only for the Americans in our program. It is all day every day for the next two weeks, and we get two credits for it. It's basically a class to help us understand Chilean culture and politics. Then actual classes start two weeks from Monday. I am super nervous for those, but trying not to worry now because I still have two weeks to learn my way around the city and take a class with only gringos.
So far, the language has been both very fun and very frustrating. I now LOVE speaking spanish and am already having trouble thinking of words and spelling in English. On Thursday we signed our language contracts. We are only allowed to speak, read, or listen to English when we are communicating with people in the States or if it is an emergency. This means that even all of the Americans in my program only speak Spanish to each other! It is exhausting to try to speak Spanish when you know that the other person would understand you much easier if you were speaking to them in English, but they say that you learn Spanish much faster if you are not constantly switching between languages. I have even changed all the lanugage settings on my computer, email, facebook, etc. to Spanish. Let me tell you, it can be exhausting but I am pretty sure in these 4 days I have already learned more than I did in 7 years of lanuage classes.
I hope that all is well there in the States. I miss the familiarities of home, and being here can be lonely, but so far I am in good spirits as I know that I have been given the chance of a lifetime to learn and live in a different culture for 5 months. Also, in case anyone wants to know, I am three hours ahead of the central time zone (two ahead of you in Michigan). Thank you to all of you who have been contacting me via facebook and skype. Although I am busy here it is such an encouragement to know that you are thinking of me and praying for me. Thanks for reading, be talking to you soon!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Pack, Re-Pack, Be Packed
Well, its hard to believe that in just 48 hours I will (Lord willing) be boarding a flight to Santiago, Chile--my home for the next five months. I feel bipolar, as my emotions are constantly shifting from nervous to excited and back. The packing has gotten pretty intense, my biggest issue at the moment is that my bag weighs 6 pounds heavier than is allowed. Yikes. Anyway, if you got an email from me and have been invited to keep up with my travels through this blog, its because you have known me and been loved by me in some part of my life, whether you're a lifelong friend, fellow Hope student, or someone I connected with on another international experience. So thanks for being there for me in whatever capacity you have, and thanks for walking alongside me as I learn more about who I am and what God has for me. I am honored to have you in my life!
Let me give you a few pre-departure prayer requests. If you think of it, please pray:
-For safe travels to and from Santiago, and safety and health while I am in Chile.
-That all of the Spanish I have trudged through learning in the past 7 years will not leak out of my head before I get there, and that I will do well in my classes there despite the language difference.
-That I will both be a blessing and be blessed by my host family. A good relationship with them would make my time in Santiago exponentially better.
-That I will be challenged but sustained in my faith as I am there. Distance from my spiritual community could cause me to be complacent about growing in my relationship with God, but I pray that I am able to dig even deeper into my faith during my time away.
Last but not least, here is my long-awaited address in Chile. I would very much appreciate cards, letters, poems, music, art, money, books, food, pictures, and anything else you are legally allowed to send through the postal service. My birthday is April 21.
Amy Clinton
c/o CIEE
Diagonal Paraguay 265
Piso 17, Oficina 1701
Santiago, Chile
Also, make sure you see the post below about my phone number in Chile. Now I'm off to reckon with that extra 6 pounds.
Let me give you a few pre-departure prayer requests. If you think of it, please pray:
-For safe travels to and from Santiago, and safety and health while I am in Chile.
-That all of the Spanish I have trudged through learning in the past 7 years will not leak out of my head before I get there, and that I will do well in my classes there despite the language difference.
-That I will both be a blessing and be blessed by my host family. A good relationship with them would make my time in Santiago exponentially better.
-That I will be challenged but sustained in my faith as I am there. Distance from my spiritual community could cause me to be complacent about growing in my relationship with God, but I pray that I am able to dig even deeper into my faith during my time away.
Last but not least, here is my long-awaited address in Chile. I would very much appreciate cards, letters, poems, music, art, money, books, food, pictures, and anything else you are legally allowed to send through the postal service. My birthday is April 21.
Amy Clinton
c/o CIEE
Diagonal Paraguay 265
Piso 17, Oficina 1701
Santiago, Chile
Also, make sure you see the post below about my phone number in Chile. Now I'm off to reckon with that extra 6 pounds.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Phone # in Chile
Hi Everyone,
I just set up an online number through Skype so that you can call me while I am in Chile! I pay a base fee to purchase the number itself and then you can call it from your cell or landline here in the US for the same fee you would pay to call any local call. The number is 815-981-4574. Notice that it's an 815 number?! That means that you pay the same amount you would to call any other 815 number, even though I won't be in the 815 area code. So, it will charge you the same amount you pay now to call my everyday cell phone here in the US. I have call forwarding, so it first calls my Skype and if I'm not online it will forward it to my Chilean cell phone. Sweet huh? So you know what that means...I'm expecting lots of calls! You have no reason not to stay in touch :)
Be talking with you soon!
Amy
I just set up an online number through Skype so that you can call me while I am in Chile! I pay a base fee to purchase the number itself and then you can call it from your cell or landline here in the US for the same fee you would pay to call any local call. The number is 815-981-4574. Notice that it's an 815 number?! That means that you pay the same amount you would to call any other 815 number, even though I won't be in the 815 area code. So, it will charge you the same amount you pay now to call my everyday cell phone here in the US. I have call forwarding, so it first calls my Skype and if I'm not online it will forward it to my Chilean cell phone. Sweet huh? So you know what that means...I'm expecting lots of calls! You have no reason not to stay in touch :)
Be talking with you soon!
Amy
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Home Sweet Home?
Well the last time I wrote I said you might not hear from me in two weeks, and now its August 25th. Yeaaaah. The first two weeks of teams were completely awesome, but at this point its hard to give you a play-by-play of what happened. After two weeks of teams we had a week off, and went to a place called Jarabacoa for a little vacation. The staff stayed in a big house and we cooked our own meals and played cards and just hung out for three days. We went to a ranch the second day where we got to go canyoning. Canyoning involves putting on wetsuits and repelling down waterfalls. Between waterfalls we swam down the river, jumped off a few cliffs, and ziplined to the next waterfalls. We had a great time but it was almost more relaxing to get back to Santo Domingo on Wednesday of that week.
Long story short, I ended up coming home two weeks early. Austin had been having some difficulties at camp, and I wanted to spend time with my parents before he got home (we were scheduled to come home on the same day, August 8). It broke my heart to miss the last two teams and leave the DR early, but after a lot of prayer I felt that this was the right choice. I had been praying and praying about this choice, and in the midst of deciding whether to come home early or stay the full time, a good friend (Laura) gave me some advice. She said, "Amy, sometimes God doesn't say 'Go this way,' He lets you choose on your own. But he does promise that He will walk with you no matter which path you choose." This was so encouraging to me. In the midst of what seemed like silence from God, I believe He used Laura to tell me that there isn't always a right and wrong answer, but that He promises to be faithful and see me through whatever decision I make.
If you were part of my prayer team or sent financial support, you already got my letter summarizing my time in the Dominican. I am pasting it here because it seems like a good way to summarize what happened. God did so much, and I am so thankful to Him that I got this opportunity. I hope that I honored him while I was there, and I think that I did. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to update this blog very much (especially towards the end). Maybe the next time I go someplace (CHILE: Feb. '10. be there. or here. whatever, I'll be blogging.) I will make sure I have consistent internet access while I'm there. Until then, here's my letter. I'll give you a cookie if you make it to the end :)
Dear Friends and Family,
I am writing to tell you about the time I spent in the Dominican Republic this summer and what God did while I was there. I am now back in Sycamore at my parent’s house, and I have gotten to catch up with many friends who have also traveled to do mission work this summer. It has been amazing to hear the stories of how God is working all over the world, and the Dominican Republic is no exception. Your prayers and financial support made it possible for me to grow closer to God as I got involved in His work in the Dominican Republic, and I would like to thank you for that. God started showing me His power and plan before I even arrived in the D.R. by giving me a community of believers to love and support me and by providing me with exactly the amount I needed to raise to get there—despite these hard economic times.
I arrived in Santo Domingo two weeks before our first American team, and spent those two weeks getting to know the other World Servants summer staff and preparing the four different sites where the American teams would be working (La Romana, San Cristobal, La Represa, and Consuelo). God really brought together a great summer staff—all the workers, cooks, translators, team leaders, and interns brought different gifts and histories to the summer, but we all got along wonderfully. This could only be done by God!
The teams that we hosted were there for a week each, and for four weeks we would drop one team off at the airport and pick up the next team that same day. Our staff was challenged to maintain energy week after week when, already exhausted from a full week with one team, we got no time to rest before the next group of Americans came. It was sometimes hard—the teams could easily maintain a high level of energy for a week (as is often the case on mission trips) but the staff had to stay pumped up for multiple mission trips in a row! I had to learn to bring my tired spirit to God and allow him to fill me back up when things overwhelmed me.
I was blessed by getting to stay with a host family my first two weeks in Santo Domingo. I cannot tell you how encouraging it was to have a mom, dad, sister, and brother who treated me as one of their own and spent time helping me with my Spanish. Getting to practice and speak Spanish was so fun! My first few weeks I avoided speaking out of fear of sounding stupid, but when the teams got there I was asked to do some translating and fell right into the language. As many of you know, my Spanish class at Hope this spring was very challenging and frustrating to me. I questioned why I was even studying Spanish—but God knew that my ability to speak Spanish would help me to do my job in the D.R. by connecting and bonding with the people and being able to help the Americans who didn’t speak Spanish connect with the Dominicans.
One of the biggest things I learned was how to be a leader. Since I was the only woman on staff with the teams, I had a lot more responsibility than the other interns. Women’s ministry in the communities was almost completely my responsibility; I’ll talk more about this later. Little things like getting mosquito nets up and keeping toilet paper stocked in the women’s dorms each week were usually up to me, and many of the younger girls looked up to me as a friend and leader. I made so many good relationships! I think until this point in my life I have always been led by older women, but since we had all ages on the mission trips and I was on staff, I got to assume the older, leadership role to our elementary and high school aged participants.
Interns had many roles during the weeks with the teams, but our main responsibilities were to organize the following: construction, home visits, children’s ministry (VBS), and women’s ministry. As you may have guessed, construction wasn’t my strongest ministry, but I was able to lead by example to many of the women by helping where needed and having a good attitude. Every member of the American teams went on at least one home visit in the communities we worked in and I really enjoyed organizing and translating for these. It was so awesome to watch Americans and Dominicans connecting and fellowshipping despite lingual and cultural barriers. Children’s ministry was overwhelming to organize, but completely rewarding. Children have an ability to love unconditionally despite cultural barriers, and the bonds with the children were some of the most fun.
I am most passionate about women’s ministry. World Servants helps run a women’s cooperative in a community outside of Santo Domingo, and I absolutely loved working with the women and then bringing the American teams into it with me once they arrived. Women’s ministry can transform communities. Since women are generally expected to stay in the home in the Dominican Republic, they are rarely able to contribute a lot of income to families. Many of the women, despite illiteracy and a lack of education, love to do crafts and can learn to make professional-grade purses and jewelry. The co-op will then sell these crafts in other countries, providing families with extra money which is often used to pay school tuition for their children and help lift them out of poverty. As exciting as an opportunity to rise out of poverty is the chance to get to fellowship and do Bible studies while they work. Women’s co-ops provide not only economic opportunities but also great opportunities to make friends, discuss their husbands and children, and minister to each other’s emotional and spiritual needs—SO awesome!
A big part of my interest in this internship was fueled by my hope to have a career in international development after graduating from Hope. I’m not sure yet what this will look like, but my time spent with World Servants enabled me to understand what development looks like “on the ground,” and to understand many of the challenges and joys faced by Non-governmental organizations in both ministry and community development. I feel that development is both an interesting academic discipline and an awesome way to fulfill the great commission, and I look forward to seeing how God uses me in the future. All of this would not have been possible without your love, prayers, friendships, and support. I want you all to be encouraged that God is doing big things (everywhere, always!) and that you have been a part of both fulfilling the great commission in the Dominican Republic and greatly blessing me personally
All glory to God!
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