Thankful During Back to Back Trips to the States - months 15 &16

September, October, and the beginning of November brought two trips to the States – an unexpected blessing.   Since I had not left the Dominican Republic for nine months -- since Christmas 2011-- it was a bit strange to be gone for two weeks in September and October to North Carolina, and a week to Boston at the very beginning of November. But it was great to see friends at home in the US, to visit Boston, (New England is the home base for Health Horizons International where I work), and see my parents and family, and to be home in the U.S. for the presidential election day.

I stayed up until midnight in my U.S. hotel room the night before I returned here to the DR at 3am on November 7. I held my breath with the rest of the nation as the votes for the presidential election came in.  As "winners" and "losers" were chosen, I was struck by the fact that as citizens of the U.S. we've pretty much all already "won" to some extent. There are many issues. But the U.S. has cutting edge technology, clean water for drinking, indoor bathrooms in almost every home, laws that protect women in domestic violence situations, a public school system that mostly works (though of course there are some issues,) police that respond quickly to emergencies, medical hospitals in which the doctors are well-trained (though again, there are issues), and the right to vote for the generally-not-corrupt people who we want to lead our nation.  Overall, these things are all things to be thankful for as this holiday season approaches, because many people in many countries do not necessarily have these things. I'm reminded of this every day during my work in the Dominican Republic.  So, for me it was great to be in the US to be a part of that election, and I hope that people on both "sides" of the voting will be able to work together, and be grateful for the wonderful and diverse country in which they live.

Here's Ben Franklin out encouraging U.S. residents to vote, in Boston, on November 4th.

But watching the election unfold was just one small part of my visits home to the U.S.
I was thrilled to have the chance to get together with many important people who continue to support me and my work in the D.R. Thanks guys!

Here are some photos of my trips to the US this fall:

I'm always inspired by how beautiful the ocean is as I fly between the Dominican Republic and the U.S.

I was very glad for the chance to reconnect with friends at Raleigh Mennonite Church who have been a huge support to me even though I'm far away.  Here's a photo of dinner with some of the folks who I consider a part of my "support team" from the church. They've given me great advice and help both when I was seeking God's guidance about coming to the D.R., and they continue to be  a huge support. Thanks guys!  It was great to get together!

  I was thrilled to have the chance to go to lunch with all my wonderful friends from

the young adult group (IDR) at the church, too, and to reconnect with various youth from the church who came to Montellano this past Summer and w ho have a special place in their hearts for the Dominican Republic! I was so glad to catch up on your lives and to hear hopes from several
people about perhaps coming to the D.R. or Haiti to visit or serve in some way.

I found this great book for kids among a box of old books I was sorting through while home in the states, and thought it was a great example of two worlds coming together. I definetly recommend it for kids who want to learn about children from another culture and how they are so similar, even though there are differences. I kind of identified with this picture too.
 As a person with home-towns now in two countries -- the U.S., my original home and the home I plan to return to in the future, and the Dominican Republic, which is my home for now while I’m working at HHI -- this book really resonated with me. I now understand that feeling missionaries get moving between their two countries for visits/sabaticals and then going back to work or service. It’s an exciting and somewhat linguistically confusing adventure having a foot in two different countries, two cultures, two home churches, and two groups of friends, speaking in two different languages, and following customs in two places…  It takes a few days to re-adapt to the other country when you go “home” again – whichever way that trip “home” takes you. : )  But it’s a wonderful blessing  feeling at home in 2 countries; getting on a plane and no matter whichever way you’re headed (whether to the U.S. or the D.R. now, in my case,) always being able to say “I’m going home.”

Summer 2012 brings a Teen Intercambio and Kids Camp to the Pancho Mateo

Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve written on this blog, and so much has happened in the past five months, from June to November, here in the Dominican Republic, then I’m not sure how to summarize it all. This will teach me not to forget to do my blog posts every month in future! :-) But let me share a few of the wonderful highlights.

 The biggest highlight of the summer for me was the week that I took off from work, (though I still love my job at HHI,) and welcomed six teenaged young women and my friend Amy from Raleigh Mennonite church, my home church in Raleigh North Carolina, into my home here in the DR. They came on a missions trip, to learn what I call my one of their prior use leaders, was doing and seeing and learning here in the DR, and to get involved themselves. We did a wonderful friendship with five Dominican teen young women from two local churches in Poncho Mateo one of the communities where I work. We learned about each other’s cultures, interests, families, and dreams and plans for after high school. Most importantly the girls from Raleigh and the girls from Poncho Mateo planned together a kids camp for what ended up being 100 children ages 2 to 11 in the community of Poncho Mateo. With so many children of so many different ages, in a tiny Haitian church in Poncho Mateo, the first day was a challenge, until we got into the swing of things. But it was a wonderful week, in which the teens from both countries, led singing, Bible stories, and did education on dental hygiene than tooth-brushing for all those enthusiastic kids. 

 Washing Hands every day before snack time. Ritz Crackers and Water were a huge hit in this community where clean water for drinking is difficult to come by in many households.  Here little kids love water, and actually ask for refills upon refills.  We gave out lots of water on those hot summer days of playing.

                                                    Singing and Bible Story

 Coloring pictures of toothbrushing, friends hanging out, families hugging, and God's love.

                                                             Bonding

This is my little friend Alexandre, one of the kids from one of the families from Pancho Mateo that I've had the opportunity to build a special friendship with since I've lived here. He's a sweety, as is his older brother and his sisters -- all in Elementary School.

 Part of our planning group of teen girls at the Basketball court in Pancho Mateo, where we played games with the kids each day.

             Co-leader Amy playing "hair salon." : )  The girls always took this game very seriously.

                                                     Handwashing before snack again.

 The boys playing basketball while the girls jumped rope, played tag, did hair, and the younger kids colored and played with a puppy and Erin's camera.

                                                               Coloring!


Coloring pictures was a big hit, and we noticed that our crayons tended to go home one by one in the pockets of small children each day – a little prize to take home and play with with their siblings. We actually had to go buy new Crayons halfway through the week! So, if you ever want to come to the DR and give a gift to children, crayons and coloring pages are huge hit.

The kids taught us games they love: we played tag, hair salon, basketball, and at the end of the day we walked each child home so that the young women from the US and the local Pancho Mateo churches could get to know their families, and so the kids would get home safely. My favorite part of it all was how the teens from the U.S. and teens from the D.R. were able to work together and build friendships, while hugging little kids and playing ball!

Our Theme of the week was Matthew 6:33

"Seek First God's Kingdom"

It was a great week!  Thanks God! Thanks Ladies! Come back soon!