Friday, July 30, 2010

Goodbye Glenn

Well, this past Tuesday we had to say goodbye to one of our interns. Glenn, who is from Jackson, TN, had to go home early because he has pneumonia. It was so hard to say goodbye, especially when it was so unexpected. It just made the fact that we are all leaving soon become that much more real. It's going to be so hard to leave this place I have come to love so much. Please keep all of the interns in your prayers as we prepare to say goodbye.

I will try to post pictures soon from this past group from Cloverdale. Our final group is here this week! Please keep them in your prayers as we finish out the summer. Love and miss you all!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Random Photos From a Random Week - Highland View, Maricamp, Carbondale, and Clear Creek

Me and Rosanni...my little Dominican bif. :)

A view of the fort where we eat lunch in Puerto Plata from the top of the lighthouse.

Me and Charleni, a sweet girl I met at the dump over spring break and she still remembered me!

Every kid loves a good foam visor.

Me and Bebon...I love this kid so, so, so much!

My awesome team for the week.

Our amazing group from churches all over the United States!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Making Sure I'm Not Numb

Wow! The Lord has truly been at work in my heart this past week. You would think that after almost two months down here you would start to become numb to some of the things we encounter everyday. The Lord has made sure that I am not numb to the things going on down here this week, and I am so thankful for that. Here are just a few of the ways he has been at work.

The group this week is an eclectic group from four different churches. They include Highland View, Carbondale, Maricamp, and Clear Creek. It has been so much fun to get to know everyone and to watch them bond as a group as well. I got to go with the group this week on Puerto Plata day. My group went through the women's ward and visited with the patients there. I met a lady named Dorotea. I figured out that she had been having some heart problems and was in a lot of pain. When I asked her if she had any family there, she told me she didn't have any family at all. My heart immediately broke for this sweet woman, and I asked if I could pray for her in English. We held hands and prayed together. Then Rosi prayed for the entire room in Spanish. When we opened our eyes, Dorotea had tears rolling down her face. I immediately started sobbing. I hugged Dorotea so tight and told her I loved her and would be praying for her. It was so tough thinking that this lady did not have any family and was all alone. I am so blessed to have family and people that care about me and are constantly praying for me.

Also, one of the little girls in Bobita, Andeli, might be coming to live at the Children's Home. She is absolutely precious, and while I am excited that she might be coming to live there, the situation makes me sad. Her dad's girlfriend left him, and he has no way to work and take care of his children. I pray that what is best for Andeli will happen, and once again, I am thankful for a family that loves me and can take care of me.

One final little story...we have started working with a lady at the hospital in Puerto Plata named Anna Brugal. She is trying to make some improvements to the children's ward. She told Norm a story the other day of a woman whose baby had been brought into the hospital. It was very obvious the woman did not want the baby, and after a few days it seemed that the woman had poisoned her baby. I just can't imagine hurting one of these innocent children.

I write all of this to say the people here so desperately need our prayers. The sadness and pain never stops, and while it is sometimes difficult, I am so thankful that God has reminded me why I'm here and has made sure I have not become numb to what is going on. Love and miss you all!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The End of An Era

While the Clear Creek group went to Puerto Plata, Carter, Chad, Glenn, and I had the day off. The following pictures document what took place that day.

The beard in full bloom.

The beard was originally so unruly that we had to enlist Chad to trim it back a bit.

That chin hasn't seen the light of day in months.

Sick.

Only half of a beard!!!

Side 1.

Side 2.

The mustache look.

We really liked the mustache look.

Maybe a little too much.

The Hitler look.

A little unsure about his face being naked and exposed.

The finished product! How handsome!

Clear Creek Captured on Camera

The amazing Clear Creek group on the mountain overlooking Rio San Juan.

My amazing group that Carter and I led together!

My group won the Cultural Safari this week! Woohoo!

At the beach, the Lord showed us just how powerful He is when it started to storm.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Vacation!

Well, the last few days have been incredible. The Clear Creek group left on Thursday after doing an amazing job serving here in the DR. I will try to post some pictures of their week very soon! However, after the Clear Creek group left, our group of interns and missionaries left for our three day vacation in Santo Domingo. We arrived late Thursday night in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. We got to stay in an all inclusive resort that had air conditioning and hot water showers! Woohoo!!! However, after more than a month of being without air conditioning, I woke up with a stuffy nose on Friday morning. Haha.

Friday was a really fun day! We got to sleep in and then after having lunch at the resort, we left to go into Santo Domingo to spend the day. Santo Domingo is one of the bigger cities I've ever been to and it was very American. It's funny because I haven't really missed a lot of things from home, but being able to spend the day and do normal things without having to worry about everything going smoothly was a lot of fun. We shopped at the mall, ate at Cinnabon, ate dinner at Quiznos, and got to see "Eclipse"!!!! Let me just say that Edward Cullen's hotness translates to any language. Haha! It was a wonderful day full of fun with some of my favorite people in the world.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the resort and then went back into Santo Domingo to go to PriceSmart to buy food for the next three groups coming in. Unlike my last PriceSmart experience, this one went much more smoothly and we spent only 3 hours in PriceSmart. We finally headed back to camp and arrived back last night around 9:30. As crazy as this sounds, it felt good to be back home and sleeping in my hot bed with my mosquito net.

Today has been a nice, relaxing day. We had church this morning and then watched "Glee" and the World Cup this afternoon. We even got to make some yummy brownies. Our next group is coming in on Tuesday. We have three more groups back to back and then the summer will be over. Please keep these groups in your prayers and please keep our team in your prayers as well as we prepare for these groups. Love you all and miss you all so much!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Noteworty Northside Pictures

Nikki and Audrey...some of the greatest girls I know!

Some amazing girls from the Outreach Center in Rio San Juan.

This is where I live :)

Could these sweet girls be any cuter?

This is Andeli and I want to bring her home in my suitcase.

Here we all are: all of the interns, Kevin, Chad, and Norm. What a team! :)

The fantastic Northside group.

The Dominican interns and the Haiti interns...one big happy family!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

One Big Happy Family

Hello everyone! The past few days have been incredible! This past Wednesday was a day for the history books. Tuesday night the group from Haiti arrived here. It was so good to meet some of them and to spend time with Keely, Jeff, Brian, and Tammie. Then, on Wednesday, Brad and Monica Gautney joined us. Norm, Brian, and Brad are over the Manna program. Having all of them together along with our entire team, the entire Haiti team, and Cory and Laura Beth, it was like having our family all together. We had a cookout at the Outreach Center and it was the perfect way to spend that precious time together. I will try to post pictures soon of the week with Northside. The group from Clear Creek is here now. Please keep them in your prayers!