Week Four!

This past week was spent working with a team that came down here from North Carolina specifically for a volleyball camp in The Brisas. As usual, I was given the chance to be the media intern again this past week. I was able to get some significantly clear, action photos of the team interacting with the girls. I was able to connect with the team, especially my fellow intern friends. This photo is a group photo of all the girls who participated in the volleyball camp with the team members. The leader, named Kenny, pictured in the front row with the sky blue, Adidas shirt, has brought down at least two groups to the Dominican Republic, but God has blessed him enough to go on 25 different trips to places around the world to participate in children's ministry through sports camps, such as volleyball or baseball including Jamaica.

These girls did not know how to play volleyball at the beginning of the week, but through perseverance, patience and determination, these girls were able to capture the concept of volleyball in a couple of days and be able to participate in a game of their own, with the help of the team in coaching. The team scrimmaged a couple practice games with the girls, showed them some drills, including teaching them how to play leap frog and them put teams together to teach them the different volleyball positions, which two of the three were of setting and passing.

I was able to get some great photos of fellow interns and continue in my practice in photography. Pictured below, I was able to capture a bonding moment between Abby, talked about in my previous post, with an outgoing, big brother-like, staff member, named Enyor (or in English, "Angel.") This was taken on the first day while we were at VBS in The Brisas, which is about a 10-15 minute drive from Santiago. They had a running joke that they were brother and sister since they look so similar. But I was able to catch this moment and treasure how well it looks, not including the feeling of knowing that neither Abby nor Enyor will ever forget their time spent together.

This photo was a complete candid moment that I am so happy to have caught. Enyor was throwing the volleyball at the net, playing around in joking that he was going to hit me with the ball, but instead, I snapped a couple pictures of him. This photo could not have been any better. What was supposed to be funny became a moment of awe at how well a camera can capture a moment.

I was able to put the camera down a couple times this week and got the chance to help out with a couple drill, passing the volleyball to the girls and them having to hit it in a circle maybe five feet in diameter about 6-8 feet away from them. Pictured is both a staged photo of me, but also a candid photo of one of the local, professional superstars, now one of the G.O. coaches, passing a volleyball to me seconds before I passed the ball back to Enyor, who is not pictured.

                                    
In one of the evening sessions of volleyball camp, Enyor grabbed the camera to take a couple selfies. I decided to photo-bomb the picture, but it shows how close we were able to connect in a matter of a couple of days. His personality is pictured perfectly in this photo as well: always smiling, encouraging others and making your day. He has been such an awesome friend this week and I only hope we can stay just as good friends when I get back to the States.

This last photo is of all the G.O. interns of 2015. The second wave of interns got here last Thursday and the intern leader, for lack of a better title, took us to 27 Waterfalls, since we were not able to go the first time we tried to go as a group. We were all able to connect, laugh, have fun and make memories even though we barely knew each other. I found out that two of the new interns actually go to college at the same college I go to, so I only hope we will be able to get together and connect on campus just as much as we will these last two weeks I am here.

Well, everyone, this is the end of week 4 and the beginning of week 5 for me. I only have two more weeks here in the DR, so I hope to make an impact down here and be able to continue to be an example of Christ for not only the groups coming down, but for the locals and staff members so they will get a sense of regeneration and be able to keep going in their race to share the gospel. Until the next appointed time!

God Bless
Leilani

Week Three

My internship in the Dominican Republic is half way through! Isn't this a crazy thought? However, as everyone can imagine, I am not able to blog but once a week because of limited times I am around Wifi. This week's group was stationed in Hato del Yaque which is around 30-45 minutes from Santiago, the home station city of GO Ministries in the DR. I was blessed to work with a group of high school students who were ready to jump into action on what was planned for the week. These kids did not complain nor stop playing with the kids when most people would have. I give kudos to these teenagers for spending a week of their limited summer to volunteer manual labor in helping share the gospel. These kids participated in two field days and two VBS'. It was such an awesome view to see these kids practice and take the time to share God and His word.

Because I have been given the job of being the media intern these past couple weeks, I am not in as many photos as I would have liked. This photo a friend of mine took for me is of me and two kids at a local church in a suburb of Santiago called El Cambronal. The kids pictured are a set of siblings that were beside me for a while; I even held the girl for a little bit while I was taking photos. Hanging out with these chill kids gave me something to think about: Why do we always make life so complicated? In America, we make our lives busy with "having" to do this or that, but just being given or choosing to take a second, sit down and just enjoy the view is just something that I think more people should do. It was a moment that I enjoyed and need to do more often.

 

This photo is of a girl who has been there since the beginning. Abigail "Abby" King is one of the kids of a family of interns that came. She is one of the sweetest kids I have ever met. She is always happy and is such a ball of laughter, making every time I hang out with her more and more awesome. The day we went to have a field day and VBS at the church I previously talked about, she asked if she could take a few photos. This is one of the moments I was able to capture. She is such a sweet girl; I am going to be so sad when her and her family leave at the end of this week back to Illinois.

I am so sorry this post is a couple days late (5 days late to be exact.) I hope you will be able to enjoy your weekend; mine does not start until Sunday, but I will enjoy each day as it comes; whatever comes my way, I will (try to) face it with a smile on my face. God bless you all!

P.S. I have been here in the DR 30 days today!!! Two weeks and a couple days left everyone! I will try and post another post Sunday, so keep checking for a new post! 

Week Two

Hello my fellow friends and family!

This week I have been with a small group that is so chill and laid back, I love it. We have worked on a local leader's house, painting walls and helping put up concrete. In this picture, the team I had the privilege to work with this week, my team leader and his wife and the local leader, Felix, and his daughter. We put concrete on all of the walls shown in this video and another few walls to the right of the house that is not pictured.

In the photo below, the team and I was able to go to this famous attraction called 27 Waterfalls, which is so much fun. Because the main goal for the team to come down here was to work on Felix's house, we only jumped/ slid 12 waterfalls. This was an experience in and of itself. I jumped off a 25-30 foot cliff beside one of the waterfalls into the water. It was such a thrill! Of course I screamed while going down, but it was completely worth it and I hope to be able to go again with my dad, who would enjoy this just as much as I did, if not more.

 

 

This pastor below is another local leader, ironically also named Felix. He works in a place called The Hole where there are more than 500 families who live in a bowl, for lack of better words (I talk more about The Hole in my previous post). He gave us his testimony after the team fed lunch to the couple dozen children that come there every day to get a hot meal. We prayed for him and this is the photo below.

 

So this picture was an unexpected stop on the way to a soccer game that the team played in. This tree that everyone climbed on for this photo is the second oldest tree on the island. This thing is so big, we were not able to get it all in the photo. I cannot remember what the name of this tree is called or how long it has been there, but as you can see, just the size of the tree can take your breath away!

 

So... I am going to most likely regret posting this part, but I hope this makes your day. After we had jumped all the waterfalls, we were walking back to the car. One of the guides decided to hide from my other intern friend and I and scare us really badly. We both screamed as you can see... I laugh at it now, but we were so confused because of what was going through my mind. I was thinking: what is that? that cant be a bear because there aren't any bears here... So when the guide jumped out, it clicked and we weren't able to stop laughing. Please enjoy this just as much as it does me.

 

 

Anyway, this is what I have been doing this past week. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God Bless you all!



Photo Update

Hello all! My mother insists that I post some photos that I have taken so far, so that is what I'm doing. The photos below are of the first couple days while I have been down here. The first photo is while my entourage and I were waiting for our next flight at Miami, which was a 9-hour layover.

 

The second photo is of a girl and I in a place called "The Hole," which is essentially a home for over 500 families that live in a bowl, for lack of better words, that catches a lot of local trash and debris, causing it to be swept away by the river that forms in the middle when rain does come, so homes are constantly being either flooded or deconstructed. The first church that was built here was swept away because of the overflowing river. The third is of a boy at this church not too far from Santiago who wanted me to put him on my back, which is something that all the kids down here enjoy.

 

So my first team arrived last Tuesday and their scheduled goals were to work on VBS for different churches around Santiago and to work on the Women's ministry as well. The fourth photo is from one of the VBS' that they had done. They did four VBS sessions and two women's bible study. They will be leaving early, tomorrow morning.

The last photo is of my room mate and I at our apartment, which will most likely be my temporary home for the remaining time I will be down here, since the interns are not sure of where they will be next due to the amount of teams that will be arriving and locations we will be working. It is only a few hundred feet, but I feel like it is something I could live in for a long time. So, this is what I have been doing the past couple days: VBS and women's bible study, loving on children whose parents work all the time, and living in this cute apartment.

 

There will be updates soon on what my upcoming week will consist of, since teams depart and arrive on Tuesdays.
God Bless!

Week One

Hey guys! I know it has been a while since I've posted anything, but it has been busy.
My first couple days here were spent getting to know my fellow interns before our first groups arrived this past Tuesday.
My first group arrived at the airport early evening on Tuesday and I was able to meet them when they got off the plane.
The group, all ladies I might add, are very funny and are into children's ministry and women's ministry specifically.
They have asked my group leader how they can partner with G.O. Ministries in the future and see all the needs that are here in the Dominican Republic, noticing where they could maybe help make a difference.
We will have hosted four VBS services and two women's ministry services while they are here for the week.

Anyway! I love the scenery and the people here. It is such a blessing to me to be able to see these kids and know that I can make a difference, even if it is just spending the evening and hanging out with them for a little while.
I will post an update soon, but Hasta Luego friends! ("See you later" in Spanish)

God Bless