Week Five!

My internship is almost over! It is such a bitter-sweet feeling to be leaving the DR and coming back to the Estados Unidos (United States). This past week, I was able to connect with a church from Louisville, KY. Such a coincidence right??? Sanctuary Church's pastor has been such an influence on me with advice he had given me and making me laugh every day.  He found out how to say "The spirit of God is upon you," in Spanish and told that to almost everyone he came in contact with throughout the week. Pastor Robert has made this week of never-ending construction (well, three days worth) fun.

There were so many people in this group that have made this week enjoyable. The team found that it was funny to scare me with large insects, such as cockroaches and centipedes and see the rise in emotion they could get out of me. The pastor, Pastor Robert threw a LIVE cockroach at me, apologizing to me later on. Pictured, he pretended to throw an insect at me where seconds before there was a baby centipede where he was standing.

Jeremy, one of the other guys on this trip, made me laugh a lot this week. He was not exactly the prankster, but he was more of a sarcastic guy, so I was able to get along and have fun with him. Pictured below is a photo of us with what I can only describe as the kind of ashes that is on wood after it was burned for a little bit smeared on our faces. You can only imagine how two sarcastic people got along. I miss him and his wife Pamela already.

The intern/younger staff group this week was so awesome. I was able to work with a couple adventurous, outgoing young adults and have a great time. Harold is a local teenager who is a student at the seminary that is a part of G.O.'s outreach. He is such a sweet kid who can make you laugh, but can be sincere and knows when you are not okay. His smile is just as contagious; I will miss him ever so much. He and I matched in shoes, so I made him pose for this picture (we were shoe twinsies!).

 

This is the group picture I was able to get with almost all of the intern/young staff team. Harold is pictured on the left; Katie is the next person pictured; lastly, the guy on the right is Kendrix, one of the translators/ bus drivers/ local leaders who works for G.O. in what they need him for. He and I were able to talk about religion and some different topics that may come off as controversial to some people; he was able to give me advice on a few situations or ideas that I had questions about.

I had a media intern shadow this week named Savannah; I was blessed to have her around and get to know her. She is a sassy, sweet chica who also goes to my college. She is pictured helping with a VBS in a place called Padres de las Casas. She will be staying for six weeks as well and will not be back until the middle of August. We will have to connect more when she gets back for sure!

 

The team was able to get a tour of La Mosca which is one of the poorer communities close to the outer border of Santiago. Pictured, I am with some of the kids that are part of a nutrition program where they get one hot meal a day and a vitamin supplement to get the vitamins and other nutritional benefits that they are not otherwise given. Not many teams come to this area, so when they see a group of "gringos," they want all the love and attention they can get.

This weekend, I was able to go to the Gran Ventana Beach Resort. For this being my first time staying at a resort, it was AWESOME!!! I had a room to myself; I was able to take a hot shower with an unlimited supply of water; I had unlimited supply of Banana Mama's, Pina Colada's and Strawberry Daiquiris (all non-alcoholic). The small things we take for granted, the things I have been without for these past couple of weeks were at the resort. I stayed up until 2:30 am talking with my team, taking a midnight walk on the beach, writing in my journal for a little bit as well. Pictured is one of the views I had at the resort. (There is a swim-up bar in the pool under the hut in the picture; I thought it was so cool too.)

The most important, awesome part of this trip was when one of the guys on the trip, who was a pronounced atheist, told his story of how he was searching/gathering information about God over the span of a year to see if it was something he wanted to commit to. He decided it was something that he wanted to commit to and asked Pastor Robert and Kendrix to baptize him in the ocean while we were at the resort. It was so cool to hear his story and see how he had come along from what kind of person he was before he decided to follow God. It was also interesting to hear that a year ago, on the same trip, in the same place/area, Austin's dad and ten year old brother got baptized. So, please keep Austin in your prayers as he is a new believer and will be going through a lot now that Satan will be working against him. Pictured below is of his ocean baptism.



This has been the second best week I have had down here and I can only hope week six will be just as good! Update will be up soon enough. Have a wonderful week and don't work too hard. Happy late Fourth of July as well. I posted on Facebook my celebrations in the DR.

ALSO, I heard my flight will be late next Tuesday night if anyone would like to see me when I get to the airport. I would love to see all of your lovely faces if I can. Any more details on that can be received from my parents who will be planning all of that.

Until next week, God Bless.