Progress…finally!

This week we finally started on the roof.  It took awhile to get the money wired to us, but not that we have it, we’re on a roll!  Shawn and the other missionary, Pastor Darren Truel, made the first truss.  We were going to get some Dominicans to build the roof, but they didn’t understand how we wanted it built to withstand the hurricanes.  Tomorrow, a group of guys are coming down with Pastor Darren to finish the rest of the trusses.  The metal should arrive and be put up by Monday or Tuesday.  The windows and doors have been ordered and will be put in soon after.  Then we can FINALLY START SCHOOL!  Sadly, things are costing a lot more than anticipated and we need to raise about $2,000 to pay off the bills for the school.  Please pray that we can find the money to do this! 

Wilkyns and I went around and visited some of the students that will be attending school.  We were telling their families that we are still going to be opening…hopefully by the second week in October.  I told one boy that he would be in my class and he responded shyly, “What a pretty teacher I have.”  It was SO cute!  I can’t wait to see all of the kids together.  Sadly, some of the students that were registered moved away.  Their parents moved their whole family up into the mountains to find work.  It’s a really rough situation because the children are forced to work and may never receive an education.

 

I was also shocked by the living conditions that the kids deal with.  It was so hard to see how poor some of the families were.  This school is providing hope for them…hope that their children will break out of the cycle of poverty.  It really hit me how important this school is.  It’s not just another group of Americans coming in…it’s an opportunity to learn about the One that loves, cares, and provides for them and also to learn English, which will put them above their peers in other schools.  Seeing their houses made me SO thankful for what I have, even my life here in the DR, where we complain about the heat, limited electric, different food, etc.  It was a good reminder why I’m here.  Cherish the people in your life and the lifestyle that God has blessed you with…we don’t deserve any of it.  The pictures below don’t even begin to portray the living conditions…I was trying not to invade too much. 

As you probably can tell, everything here takes awhile to get things done…but when things do start happening, we have to be ready, because they happen fast!  The building is just one example…and our garden is the other.  It took us forever to find stuff to kill the insects and then seeds to plant.  Tomorrow I’m hoping to plant the seeds.  The only reason we can even have a garden here is because someone paid to ship dirt in from another town a long time ago.  Without that, we wouldn’t have any dirt because the ground is basically rock.  God was seeing to our needs before we even knew them!

I’ve made a few solo trips on my bike!  Kind of intimidating at first, but I need transportation if I’m going to be here for 10 months!  Some of the roads are crazy…rougher than our 4-wheeling trails at home.  People sitting along the roads are always making comments and making noises when I drive by.  It’s quite a sight when I have a kid on the back and we’re loaded down with groceries coming up the mountain!  It’s never boring to say the least!

We’ve had a lot of laughs along the way so far.  The Rineholt girls have found me a “man”.  Shalom told the group of guys that hangs out by our house that my name is Beatrice.  I asked her why she gave me such a terrible name…it was the first one that popped into her head lol!  Now they all joke around that my boyfriend is outside waiting for me.  As you can see, we joke around a lot in this house.  A few of the Dominican boys that hang out at the house like to give Jen and I a hard time, which of course we dish it right back!  We told them they better watch out because we’re going to get them really good! 

Even though I’ve been to the DR three other times, I’m still experiencing new things every day.  Today I went to the chicken store…I was going to post pictures, but I’ll be nice and leave that to your imagination.  They butcher and “wash” the chickens right in front of you.  Then you get all but the head…the feet are a delicacy. :(  Another sight to see is all of the people carrying ridiculous loads on their motorcycles.  One bike had 6 people on it.  Others are carrying giant propane tanks by themselves.  It never ceases to amaze me what they try…and most of the time are successful at it. 

Needless to say, every day is interesting.  I’m off to bed and awaiting to see what God has in store for us tomorrow and what new crazy things the Dominicans can come up with next! 

A Little Excitement!

It feels like we’ve been in the DR for awhile now, but we hit the 2 week mark yesterday!  So many things have happened, yet progress still seems slow on the major projects.  We’ve measured up for the doors and windows for the school.  Next week Shawn, another missionary, and some Dominicans are hopefully putting the roof on.  After that we can hopefully start the school in some form!  I can’t wait to finally meet the kids and figure out how this is all going to work out.

I got my bike last week!  It’s a lot different than what I’m used to though.  My bike at home is 600cc’s and this one is only 100cc’s…I’m missing the power a little!  I’ve already had 2 kids on the back at one time.  All the Dominicans stare and point not only because we’re American, but also because girls normally don’t drive bikes here…they’ll soon learn that I’m not a typical girl!  The day that we went to buy my bike started out not so well.  Wilkyns was supposed to come get me and take me shopping.  Well, he showed up here on someone else’s bike because his was stolen in town that morning :(.  Made me more nervous than I already was.  Fortunately, we found a great deal on a used motorcycle and Shawn, Jen, and I bought Wilkyns a bike the same day I bought mine!  I’m gonna admit that it was hard to say goodbye to that money, but God has been showing me over and over that He provides and that I can’t rely on money and the things that I have.  The cool part about this story is that after his bike was stolen, Wilkyns went home and was just thinking, “Praise God.”  And that was before we gave him money to buy another bike…if only we could all have faith like that.

I’ve been getting restless around the house, so I started a new project today…we’re going to have a garden!  Shalom and I started pulling weeds this morning.  We needed a hoe and rake to prepare the dirt, so I drove my bike into town with Manuel (my first trip without following someone else!!) and we got our tools!  When we got back, the Dominican boys found some yucca (potato-like root) that we’re going to cook up for dinner.  We’re hoping to grow TOMATOS :), peppers, lettuce, sweet potatoes, onion, potatoes…whatever seeds we can find!  I cannot wait to get some fresh vegetables! 

Above:  Our “garden” before starting.                   The boys found us some yucca!

Random things in life:

• I finally saw the girl that I sponsor on Saturday!  She saw Jen and stopped walking and Jen called me out.  When she saw me, she gasped, put her hands over her mouth and headed straight for me!  So cool that I can be a part of that!
• We eat a lot of rice and beans and we have an avocado tree in our back yard!  Manuel climbed super high up into the tree and we picked 8 of them today!
• Pray that we can figure out why our power isn’t working correctly.  It’s been really hard to get things down with the radio station especially. 
• Also pray for our Spanish…it’s getting better, but it’s still hard to understand people when they speak at their normal speed.
• We took a nice little break at Playazul, a small beach that we had to ourselves)…amazing what God has created for us to enjoy!
• Wilkyns and I are going around Thursday to talk to the families that will be attending school.

 

Empanadas Seth and I made!                        Hanging out with the Truel’s, missionaries.

    The avocados that Manuel picked!                          The view from our house!

Yeah, I’m a good babysitter…just a little fun when Shawn and Jen were away!

Getting in the Swing of Things

We are finally getting situated…we hit a few rough patches and are still trying to figure a few things out.  We had very little water, but finally got it fixed yesterday.  Our washing machine was broke, but a guy came today to fix it, so we’re hoping that it actually works now.  The power has not been on very much and our inverter (a set of batteries that charges during the day and then gives up power when the electric goes out) hasn’t been working correctly, so we can’t do much without power.  It was pretty miserable at night when the fans went off.  Also, our oven wasn’t working, so we can’t cook much.  We thought we got it fixed, but it’s still weird.  And did I mention yet that it’s REALLY HOT! 

BUT…

In all things REJOICE!  God is still getting us through and things are still getting done amidst these difficulties.  I got to check out the school, and although there is a lot of work to do, I’m still really excited!  Wilkyns, the one starting the school, has a lot of great ideas.  The curriculum looks like it will work really well and we’re going to test the kids soon to see how much they really know so we know where to start…now we just have to get a roof on the building!  Pray that we can get that done ASAP!

Next on my agenda is to get a cell phone plan and a motorcycle so that I can help out in more areas.  Now to learn how to drive like a Dominican! 

Off to more adventures…stay tuned for what happens next!

We’re Here!!!

(Posted a little late, but as soon as I could download it!)

Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to MFI at 6am…getting there was interesting to say the least.  The Suburban broke down completely, so John and Karen Schaffer pulled us with their semi…showed up in style!  We fly from Exuma, Bahamas to Cape Haitian, Haiti and then finally to Barahona!  Customs took us awhile to get through since they literally opened and searched through every box.  All of my stuff made it through.  Some of Shawn’s Ears to Hear equipment didn’t make it through though.  He’ll have to pay import taxes on that stuff sadly. 

We loaded everything into two trucks and another missionary family, the Truel’s, took us to our house!  It was so good to finally get there!  Tons of people were waiting for us outside the door!  I loved seeing so many friends from previous trips! 

Then the unpacking began.  I pretty much got my room set up.  Pictures will come when I get everything the way I want it!  By this time, I was SO sweaty and disgusting.  The outside temperature was not bad, but inside the house was extremely hot.  My COLD shower was very appreciated!  Bedtime after that (10pm lol).  Each of us had a fan directly on us so we could actually sleep!

Packing Up…

Friday we packed our stuff into the plane.  It was an emotional time to say the least.  We could pack 2,400 pounds (sounds like a lot but…we were WAY over that though).  We had to sort through a lot of our stuff and figure out what had to stay and what we needed right away.  About 600 pounds of school supplies was left behind until we can get another flight to come in and we can raise the funds to get it all in.  It was so hard to say goodbye to so much of our stuff, but we know God still has a plan in all of this. 

On our way down to Missionary Flights International, we stayed our first night with my family in South Carolina.  Thank goodness for flexible people because we didn’t show up until 3:30am :(.  It was so nice to hang out with them one last time!  Our second day of traveling resulted in the Suburban shutting off about 5 times while we were on the highway, but we made it to our destination, so it’s all good! 

We fly out tomorrow at 7am.  I’m ready and excited to actually be in the DR!  First order of business is figuring out what container everything is in.  Then we start on the roof for the school! 

I’m going to try to be pretty honest on here.  Reason 1 is so that you can pray for the things I’m struggling with!  Reason 2 is for those of you who are thinking about doing mission work…rejoice in all things right!