Dominican Trip - Carnivals, Coffee, and a...Cattle Drive?

He was back.  My friend, the mosquito was back.  Despite the fact that I showered in bug spray before I went to bed.  I again put one ear to my pillow, wrapped the sheet around my hand, covered my other ear and played the "I can't hear you!" game, until I fell back asleep.  I wasn't the only one with mosquito friends at night, the young prince was eaten up the night before.  He even joked that he wished someone could make a bug spray that he could drink, so that it would come out his pores to keep the mosquitos away.  I prayed that his bug spray was keeping them from biting him this time, and it worked, because his second night was not so bad for him.

This time for breakfast, Grammy just ordered several main things, and had them bring it out so we could eat buffet style.  There were scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, pancakes and fruit to choose from.  Everything that I tried was very good.

This time, our bus was on time, and as soon as we finished eating, we loaded up and headed back to the school.  We had planned a small carnival/festival of sorts for today, and all of the children, both young and old were told to come in the morning.  We got to the school and immediately got to work. Some of us filled the bags that the kids had made the day before with a little candy, a glider and a propeller toy.  Others were busy setting up the games.  We had a bean bag toss, a game where they could throw a ball and knock over stacked cans, a ladder ball game, a baseball toss with a radar gun so they could see how fast they threw, temporary tattoos, a ping pong ball toss, and a photo booth.

 Bean bag toss

 Baseball toss

Photo Booth

 A, modeling the mustache tattoo

 All of the boys wanted baseball tattoos, because 

"in the Dominican, Baseball is life."

Once again, notice that nice, smooth, concrete slab.

Soon the kids were there and ready to play.  I was asked to help A with the temporary tattoos.  All we had to work with was a bowl of water and a bag full of temporary tattoos.  So we were trying to wet the tattoo in the bowl of water, and sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't.  At first everyone was playing games, and not interested in what we were doing.  But after the first two or three kids came, word spread quickly, and we were in business.  They were climbing over the top of each other trying to get to us and pick out the one that they wanted.  Did I mention that Dominicans do not know of personal space?  They were all over us.  It was fun, and a little bit crazy.  Then a group of older girls came over and picked out the ones they wanted.  The mariposa (butterfly in Spanish) was very popular with the girls.  We with our limited Spanish asked them where they wanted us to put their tattoos.  Did they want it on their hand, their face, their arm?  Most of them were happy with that.  But not the young lady that came to me.  No.  She made it extremely clear that she meant she wanted it on her stomach/hip area.  There was no changing her mind.  Believe me.  I tried.  All the while, my sweet friend Mrs. S (who hit the ground laughing when the girl first showed me she wanted it on her hip) has recovered and is taking pictures of this comical situation.  Something that my Prince says from time to time came to my mind.  "And this I do for the Gospel's sake."  So, I did it.  Then I looked at her friend who was sitting next to me, and asked wearily if she wanted one.  She motioned no, that she did not want one.  Tattoos were not for her.  I understand.  They are not for me either.  But the kids loved them, and we spent most of our time telling them we were sorry, but they could only have one.

The temporary tattoo station...

where memories were made...lol!

When we were pretty sure we were done with our job, we closed up shop.  Grammy introduced to me to a man who had known my prince when he was a young boy in the Dominican.  It was neat to meet him.  I was able to show him a picture of our whole family, so he could see how my prince was now.
Way too soon, our time was up, and we had to start getting ready to leave.  The kids were all taking pictures with their friends, and saying their goodbyes.  We all gathered for a time of prayer, and then our kids, their kids, were crying and hugging and saying goodbye.  It was sad not knowing if we will see them again.  It is also amazing to me the bond that you can form in just a few short days with language barrier and all.  I know it is God.  I know that the bond we have in Him, brings us together in special ways.  I have seen it.  I have experienced it.

Pastor M - Praying for our team before we left.

 My teacher friend 

 The young prince and some of his new buddies

 Sweet new friends

The Oldest Princess and one of my favorite little Dominican girls

We all loaded on the bus waving out the windows as we pulled away.  We didn't get far.  Just around the corner, and the bus stopped.  We all wondered what was going on.  The bus doors opened, and the little girl who had won the hearts of the team last year, the same little girl whose parents both accepted the Lord the night before at our service, climbed on the bus.  Her dad stuck his head in as well.  This precious little girl found Grammy and handed her a bag of Dominican coffee.  And then she found E, who was her special friend, and gave her a bag of coffee and a hug.  Then with a wave she was off.  Sweet parting gifts of love, in the form of Dominican coffee.

 This young lady in the picture with C is the one 

who stopped the bus to give Grammy and E the coffee.

Saying goodbye...

You know, Satan will try to make you believe that blazing into a different country for a few days or even for a week is useless. That you can't make a difference in such a short time.  But I know that is a complete lie.  Mrs. M kept telling our kids that no matter what talent you have - wearing white gloves and doing a black light program, or running sound and setting up the black lights, or playing volleyball or basketball, or singing, or taking pictures, or setting up chairs - it takes all of us to make it work, and that the kids they ministered to would remember them, and their group, and that they cared enough to come and took the time to do something (anything) with them.  Mrs. M grew up on the mission field.  She remembers the groups that came and spent time with them, and knows the impact they made on her.  So, to us it is a small sacrifice.  A week of our time.  Leaving our comfort zones.  Being away from our families. Eating different foods.  Using bottled water to brush our teeth.  Not flushing the toilet paper.  Not speaking the language fluently.  To them, it is a huge act of love that they will remember for a lifetime.  And maybe, just maybe, they will grow up and go on to do the same thing.  Maybe they will share their time and talents and love with someone else.  Maybe they will be inspired to minister to others no matter what their talent may be.  And mission trips are not just for the people we go to minister to.  They are absolutely life changing to those of us who go. It was a tough week for me.  I felt out of place and awkward a lot of the time.  I wanted to talk to people, and I could only smile, and wave.  It was an overwhelming, humbling experience.  God spoke to me through both people and circumstances.  And as tough as it was at times, I would go again tomorrow, if God opened the door for me to do so.  If you have never been on a mission trip, and God gives you the opportunity to do so, I pray that you will answer the call.

The atmosphere on the bus was pretty somber.  We all knew we had more to do somewhere else, but we really didn't want to leave our friends in the mountains.  Everyone was tired and emotional, so there was not a lot of talking going on.  But then it happened...The bus slowed down and began honking.  We look out to see that the road ahead of us was FULL of cattle!  We found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive down the mountain!  It was totally unexpected and crazy!  Richard, our driver, just pulled right up behind them and honked.  Pretty soon we were no longer behind them, but right in the middle of them.  I think it was safe to say that this was not Richard's first rodeo (no pun intended - but you have to admit it's funny).  Cows were everywhere!  And the kids thought it was great.  Before we knew it, we were through them and continued on down the mountain.  I have no idea how in the world we got through without hitting any of them, but we did.  God knew it was just what we needed to lighten the mood.  It worked.  The kids were back to laughing and talking and carrying on.

 The cattle drive

We stopped midway with strict instructions from Precious Piranha (Grammy), to ONLY go to the restroom.  We were not to make any purchases.  No time for all of that.  So we all hurry in and hurry back out.  No one wanted to be left.  And we all load the bus and the bus drivers are no where to be seen.  A few minutes later they come out eating ice cream.  Grammy gave them a rough time for buying something after she had told us not to.  It was funny.  We really enjoyed our time with them. They were fun, and made the trip more interesting.  And most importantly, they got us there and back safely.  And trust me.  That in itself was absolutely no small feat.

The plan for lunch was that one of our bus drivers named Wilson knew of a great place that made Empanadas, and we were going to get to try them.  Okay.  Not a problem.  But we were running late. So, we were going to call and order ahead so that they would be ready when we got there.  But, they could not find the number.  So, we debated just eating our snacks, and waiting until dinner.  But wait! The drivers found a way!  They called a friend, and had him go and make the orders for us.  When we got there, I was glad that we had ordered ahead.

Our Empanada restaurant

 I was already not feeling good from the twisty ride down the mountain, and the sight of the place was not exactly what I would call...inviting.  Then there was the dead pigeon in the middle of the road, and the jokes that it invited from a bus full of high school students.  It was the perfect storm.  But I was determined to be a sport and at least try an Empanada.  While we were waiting for our order, the girls made some new friends.

 Flirting with their new friends

When flirting got them nowhere, they just imitated their new friends instead.

The Empanadas were not exactly what I expected, but they were not terrible.   I managed to eat about 1/4 of mine.  Most of the kids seemed to really enjoy theirs.

We were supposed to drive through the historic district of town, but because of time, we had to skip that part of the trip.  We did however make a fast and furious trip to the market so that everyone could purchase souvenirs.  One of the ladies in the market remembered the Young Prince from our trip there about 7 years ago!

 Grammy on the steps of the market - trying to get N in trouble.

Some of the girls at the market.

We arrived at our new hotel in Juan Dolio, and said goodbye to our mountain bus drivers.  We got our room assignments and the wifi password for the lobby area, and we were all set.  Our new bus driver brought our keys and quickly put our things in our rooms and headed to the church for dinner.

From the lobby

straight through

to the

beautiful beach.

A picture with the help of N's selfie stick

 Waiting for our key

C's daring balancing act...well almost daring balancing act that is.

At the church we were warmly greeted by Uncle G, and Aunt A joined us shortly thereafter.  Dinner was delicious chicken, baked potatoes and salad.

Our delicious dinner

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel.  Some of the kids went swimming.  Some played volleyball.  Some of us congregated in the lobby to try to connect with home.  I still had not talked to my Prince or the Youngest Princess since we had left.  I was pretty antsy to do so.  It seemed the harder I tried the more it was not meant to be.  We FINALLY connected on face time with The Youngest Princess and I was thrilled!  But she was in a super silly mood (making faces more than talking) and I was exhausted and not in a silly mood at all. She said that they were still at church and my Prince was busy and could not get away to talk just then.  So we told her goodbye, and went to our room to get some sleep.

One of the other rooms did not have sheets for their pull out bed, so T came and stayed with the Oldest Princess, C, and I for the night.  Our pull out had sheets, but no blanket.  I think they froze all night.  I told them to adjust the thermostat.  T said at one time she got up to do it, but couldn't see, so she just went back to bed.

I slept great that night.  No dogs barking, no mosquitos buzzing, no roosters crowing.  At least none that I heard anyway.  I was so tired that I don't think anything short of a natural disaster would have kept me awake.

Tomorrow... a new school, a new set of "old friends", and new adventures...it just happens to be one of my favorites...See you then!

Oh, and a HUGE "THANK YOU" to Mrs. B and E for allowing me to use some of their photos...You two are awesome!

Dominican Mission Trip - Getting There is Half the Battle

It was a miracle really. It truly was.  Just a couple of hours before that, the kitchen table was piled high, and that was just the stuff we were taking down there to use for the ministry, not any of our personal belongings. But like I said, it was a miracle. We managed to make it all fit.

All of this has to go where?

 I finished school on Friday. I had Saturday to get everything done and us ready to go. The washing machine was on duty until the very last minute. Sunday morning the Oldest Princess and I were scheduled to teach Children's Church. Sunday afternoon was filled with church activities, last minute packing, praying we hadn't forgotten anything, quick goodbyes and then we were off. The bus was packed with people, and Mrs. B did a marvelous job driving and pulling the trailer filled with all of our luggage. We managed to stop and eat, make one last Wal-Mart run (where N jumped rope throughout the store, almost hit a lady, and walked out with merchandise BEFORE I had finished paying for it), and get to the hotel, with only one little U-Turn to speak of. I was not there, but I hear that parking at the hotel made up for the smoothness of the rest of the trip.

On the road!

 We all managed to get a little sleep, and be at breakfast ready to go at 6:30 Monday morning, wearing our matching t-shirts. Well, after it took an act of congress to wake up the only two boys on our trip (one being the Young Prince - we packed the hairspray in his suitcase). Our matching shirts said AMOR, with the shape of the Dominican for the O. Most people we saw did not get it. We did a lot of 'splainin' about those shirts. And, some of the Dominican shapes were falling off. N got tired of his and just pulled it off completely, so his shirt said AM R. I felt the need to shake hands with The Young Prince's shirt every time we were together, because the little piece of his that was sticking out looked like a tiny hand.

Monday morning, on the bus to the airport.

 At the airport, we faced the dreaded security. I always check and double check because I don't want to have anything that would cause them to single me out for any extra search. I have a son, and I know boys, so I made sure to ask the young prince if he had anything, like a pocket knife in his guitar case, because I didn't want him to have one, forget that it was in there and get in trouble for it. He was a little put out with me for asking. While we were standing in line, A and I were talking about how we hate having to take off our shoes and walk where everyone else has walked. And wouldn't you know, the lucky little thing got pre-approved and told she didn't have to take off her shoes! I was a little, no, a lot, jealous. So we go through our lines, with 13 of us, we were pretty spread out. I came out on the other side looking for my children. The Oldest Princess was with me, but when I looked back, The Young Prince was moving to another station where they would go through his bag. I immediately thought that it was probably the bag of cornmeal that his grandmother asked us to bring to her that was in his carry-on. But that turned out to not be a problem. Then they checked his wallet. And Unka, if you are reading this...I would say you probably should not purchase any more of those credit card knives...because out of the two that I know of, both of them have gotten the owners into trouble. The Young Prince had not thought about taking it out of his wallet, and they found it, so he had to throw it away. Then thankfully, they let him go through. We made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare.

 Our flight was great. There was another group on the plane with us, and the stewardess asked about both trips and announced we were on the plane. At the end, she offered to take a group picture for us, and a couple of people from the other group photo bombed in. It made me smile when I looked at it later. We made sure that C had her paper she had to have for customs, because she left hers last time, and then she took off and left her jacket laying in her seat. So next time we will make sure she has her paper AND her jacket.

We landed safely!

 Unlike last year, all of the luggage made it there with us. Only a couple of suitcases were limping instead of rolling smoothly. Mrs. S drug a hole in hers trying to get it to the bus. We collected our luggage and found Grammy waiting for us with the pizza already ordered. We were very thankful for that. We ate, and headed out to our bus. We were excited to know that the bus had Wi-fi, so we could let our loved ones at home know that we had made it safely, and so that we could share the many pictures we had already taken.

Pizza in the Dominican

Our ride for the next few days.

 A bus load full of American girls (and two boys) does draw quite a bit of attention in the Dominican Republic. At one point in traffic, we were being ogled by a man in a truck next to us. Grammy got out of her seat and waved her arms and told him NO!!!! We told the girls just to turn away from and ignore any men acting like that. A few minutes later the Oldest Princess was looking out her window, when a man showed his interest. We laughed at her about the fact that she was not able to hide her emotions, because she said she knew her face registered shock/disgust before she turned. So the rest of the week, she worked on showing no emotion should it happen again.

 About halfway through the 3 hour bus ride up the mountain, we made a quick pit stop for snacks and a bathroom break. The bathroom experience was interesting: no seats, no locks on the doors, etc. I was waiting for the Oldest Princess to come out, when I heard someone throw up. Yuck!! Thankfully, it was not the Oldest Princess, but someone else. The rest of the trip up was beautiful. Very scenic. I could not get over how close to the road the little "houses" were and how there were young children playing very close to such a busy road. There were many little stands on the side of the road selling fruits and blankets and such.  Often they were run by young children.

This was just one of many roadside fruit stands.

Sorry for the picture quality.  It was through the 

window as we blazed past.

 People were everywhere. The streets, no matter the time day or night, were bustling with people. It is a beautiful country, and I am always saddened by the amount of garbage and trash piled everywhere and littering the streets. The people take pride in their personal appearance, and in their homes (even if it is a shack - it is very neat), but the streets and countryside are littered with all manner of trash. We had fun taking pictures of the mountains and valleys around us, but none of us as much as N. He scared me more than once hanging his head and his selfie stick out of the bus window taking pictures and videos. We also had at least 1, 042 (we finally stopped counting) near misses on the bus. People, motorcycles, cars, trucks, animals you name it...we almost hit it, and all of the aforementioned were honked at liberally. But thanks to some great driving and maneuvering by our bus driver, we finally made it to our destination in Constanza.

Buying Dominican candy.

Eating Dominican candy.

 The place where we stayed was very beautiful. Our villas were on the second level, and we had to walk up the hill to get there. So, we start heading that way. Mrs. B who was carrying her laptop and her camera as well as other things in her backpack, was behind me. I made it up the first incline and turned to see the second incline. Which looked like this...

 I stopped to wait for Mrs. B, and I wish you all could have been with me to see the look on her face when she turned the corner and looked up that second incline. But we made it. And we even had to climb it several more times from then until we left on Wednesday. We got to the top, checked out our home away from home, and unloaded our suitcases.

 Our room.

 Our kitchen area.

Then we took the bus to Pastor M's home for dinner. Dinner was chicken and beans and rice with salad, plantains, cucumbers and fresh pineapple. It was all very good.  Someone who shall remain nameless did not like her plantains. She happened to be sitting by C. All of a sudden, C says, "Get that off of my plate! I mean it! It is not mine! Get it off, now!" The nameless person had tried to slip her plantain onto C's plate. but she did NOT get away with it.

Our first Dominican dinner.

 After dinner we sat and visited for a while. The Young Prince and N showed us talents that we did not know they had by playing the cups for our entertainment. The moths were drawn to our light, and they provided entertainment as well, as the Young Prince and N tried to catch them. E got "dusted" by one on her shirt and in her hair. And there were several screams sprinkled in all with all of the moth trapping. Before we left, we had a sweet time of prayer with Pastor M and his family. 

 Our evening entertainment.  D and N playing the cups.

 Trying to catch the moth.

Pep talk from Mrs. M and prayer time with Pastor M.

Then it was back to the villas. C had not gotten her bracelet that served as our breakfast ticket, so she practiced how to ask for it all the way back. When we got there, she went to the desk, and gave it a try. After watching her struggle a little, I pointed to my bracelet and then to her empty wrist, and they gave her a bracelet. We made the trek up the hill to retire after a VERY long day. Grammy, C, the Oldest Princess, and I all shared a villa. I was the first one into the bed in our room, and I warned the Oldest Princess that it was like sleeping on soft wood. And it was. But, after such a long day, I think I could have slept on concrete. And soft wood was almost luxurious...

 To Be Continued (because we haven't even begun the ministry part yet)...

Dominican Mission Trip - School, A Service, and Salvation

You know it.  You have heard it.  You dread it just like I do.  It's that little humming, buzzing sound in your ear that wakes you from a deep wonderful sleep and lets you know you are not alone.  I woke up and heard it.  It was a mosquito.  And it was doing it's best to keep me company.  But I was tired and needed my sleep, so I put one ear to my pillow, wrapped my hand in the sheet and covered the other ear to block out the sound, and did my best to go back to sleep.  I guess it worked, because the next sound I heard was a rooster crowing.  And then his buddy not to be outdone crowed.  And then he crowed again, and then his buddy, and then he...you get the picture.  Constant crowing from two competitive roosters, and day two in the Dominican Republic had begun.

And what a beautiful day it was!

We all got up and got moving.  I was anticipating breakfast, because I had seen pictures from last year, and had heard that it was wonderful.  So we went down to breakfast, and Grammy helped us order.  I went the safe route with scrambled eggs, cheese, toast and fresh fruit.  Some people were more adventurous than me.  The Oldest Princess ordered a different kind of toast and did not like it at all.  But I am proud of her for trying.  While we were eating, the same person who shall remain nameless (from dinner the night before) was sitting next to C.  They were both sitting across from me.  All of a sudden, C sits straight up and freezes that way.  I looked at her to see what was wrong. Not moving her face, she gestures with her hand to her face.  There stuck to her cheek was a watermelon seed.  She finally said, "What?!?"  I don't really remember what exactly happened next, because we were laughing SO hard, but after we all calmed down, we figured it out...C had watermelon herself.  She was trying to get a seed out of the piece she wanted to eat when she felt something hit her face.  She thought it was the seed she was working on, but then she realized her seed was still there.  The person sitting next to her was also eating watermelon.  She had cut into her watermelon with her fork and sent a seed flying.  That seed landed on C's cheek.  I am not sure that C ever sat by the Oldest Princess, I mean the person who shall remain nameless, during another meal for the rest of the trip.  And really, who can blame her?

Our breakfast spot

We finished our breakfast and gathered to wait for our bus.  While we waited, we put air into some of the balls that we had brought to use, and then we got a game of four-square going, then a little volleyball, and then we wandered around a little.  There was a small pond with a bridge over it, and we took some pictures of the kids playing on the bridge.  There were turtles in the pond, and the kids named the turtles things like Sunny (because he was sunning on a rock), Little Louie (the smallest one), and Medium Marty (because he was, well, medium).  All this time, we are waiting on our bus. It finally came, and we were pretty late with a lot yet to do.

The Seniors 

The Juniors

In the school where we were, the older kids come in the morning hours.  Then they all go home for lunch, and the younger children come in the afternoon.  So when we got there, the older children were outside playing.  They were so excited to see us...especially the ones on our team that they knew from last year.  Our girls were excited to see that many of them were wearing the t-shirts that they gave them last year.  They were surprised and happy that so many of the children still had their t-shirts.  Some quickly fell into a game of basketball, and some circled up and bumped the volleyball around.

Last year, the kids tried to play basketball, but they couldn't.  The concrete was all broken and missing.  They could not bounce the ball, because the ball would go off in crazy directions.  Our team came home with a heart to do something about that.  They began to raise money for a new slab of concrete for these children to play on.  The concrete in the picture above is nice and smooth.  It is the answer to the prayers and hard work of some of our kids raising money.  They were all very excited to see that their work and prayers had helped to bring about a nice new playing surface for these children that they love.  If you gave to help this project, thank you very much!  It was money well spent.

Almost as soon as we got there, an older man came to the fence and tried to talk to me.  I tried to tell him that I could not speak Spanish, but he just kept on.  One of the little boys came over and tried to help me out by telling the man something in Spanish, but the only word I understood was "Americana".  It was very humbling to me, not to be able to speak enough to help him, or to explain what we were doing.  It left me feeling pretty helpless, and that would not be the last time I felt that way on this trip.  The little boy that came to my rescue turned out to be quite something.  The Young Prince nicknamed him "Bad Bean".  It turned out to be pretty fitting.  But maybe he stands out to me, because God wants me to pray for him.  God laid children on people's hearts last year, and we saw fruits from prayers prayed for those people this year.  So this little boy will be prayed for many times over, because he stands out, and I know it is for a reason.

After Mrs. M met with the teachers and the kids had had some time to play and get reacquainted, we went upstairs, and our kids performed their white glove/black light song for the Dominican children. We then passed out a pair of gloves to each of them, and taught the song to them.  It was pretty neat to see how it all worked out.  We had trouble getting one of the groups of boys to get their mountain right, but otherwise, it went well.  

We then moved to another room, where we had a craft waiting for them.  We traced their hands on a canvas bag, and then let them decorate the bags as they wished.  It was heartwarming that some of the kids wrote the names of some of our kids on their bags.  I loved watching them all work together and form friendships so quickly.  They were all so welcoming and loving. 

Then we gave them the new shirts that we had brought for them this year (that our wonderful youth pastor and his wife screen printed for us).  We then found out that they used the shirts that we gave them last year as their P.E. uniforms.  That is why so many of them still had theirs.  They plan to do that again with the shirts that we gave them this year.

They also practiced their song that Mrs. M had sent for them to work on, and they blew us away with how well prepared they were.  They sang beautifully.

The older kids went home, and we all walked to Pastor M's house for lunch.  At one point on our trip we passed a place selling some sort of food, and there were huge bags of something covered in flies. I looked at C because she was walking near me and I wanted to see if she had seen it too, or if I was just seeing things.  She nodded that she had seen it too.

Walking to Pastor M's home

A beautiful little stream we passed filled with trash.

Lunch

After lunch, the kids grabbed a few balls and went out to the street to play.  Well, some of them played.  Others seemed bent on setting off the alarm on Pastor M's truck.  Isn't that right, C?  Despite the many alarms going off,  several of the neighborhood children slowly came out and joined them. The adults watched and took pictures from the balcony.  Pastor M got tired of C setting off his alarm, so he went out and moved his truck.  I love you, C!

Now you see it (truck in bottom left corner).

Now you don't (truck has been moved).

I think ball is universal in every language.

One little girl really wanted to get out there and play but despite prompts from many of the kids, she would stay on the sidewalk.  Finally A just went over and lightly tossed her a ball.  She smiled, picked up the ball, and she was hooked.  Way to go, A!

After playing for a little while, it was time to go back to the school for round two, but this time with the little ones.  I was excited, because I love the little ones.  I was not prepared for the fact that they would not all understand that we could not speak Spanish, so they would just rattle on, telling us all kinds of things, and we could not understand them.  But a smile and a hug is pretty much as universal as a ball, and we made it work.  First we practiced the song Mrs. M prepared for them to do for the program that night.  They were too young to do the gloves, so she had prepared items like a sun, moon, stars, fish, people, etc. out of bright poster board, and put them on sticks.  So the children just held up their item when it was their part of the song.  It was adorable! 

Then we split into two groups.  Some of us went with the younger group, others with the older group.  We did a craft and game/music time with each group.

Craft time

Music time

At one point, I looked out the window of the school and watched two little boys go through the trash in an empty lot and then leave with their "treasures".  I don't know what they were picking up, or what they were going to do with it, but it broke my heart to watch them rummage through the trash.

Back inside the walls of the school, we gave the little ones their t-shirts and sent them home to get ready for their program that night.  Mrs. M's Home Economics class had been working on little dresses, and Mrs. M brought the finished ones to give to some of the little girls. They loved them. Nice work, Mrs. M and the Home Ec. class!

One of the teachers let me know that two of the little girls were her daughters.  I, then of course had to introduce her to my children.  We, despite the language barrier became friends.  I loved her daughters.  They were precious.  The one on the end with the blue and white dress was my little buddy.

After the little ones left, we rushed back to our villas and quickly changed and ate sandwiches so we could get back for the evening service.  The evening service was so that the older kids could do their black light routine, and the song they had been working on, and the younger kids could do their little black light song.  All of the parents were invited to see the program, and of course to hear Pastor M preach.  The kids did a great job in their little program, and then the pastor got up to preach.  Of course it was in Spanish.  Grammy, Mrs. S and I were on one side of the church.  Mrs. M, Mrs. B and the rest of the kids were on the other side of the church.  Mrs. M translated for our kids, and Grammy understood of course, but Mrs. S and I were pretty much in the dark as to what was happening.  At one point, I looked around and realized that everyone had their heads bowed, because we were praying, and I didn't even know it!  I do try to pick out words that I recognize, so I can kind of get the main idea of what is being said, but I was clueless to the fact that we were praying.  I whispered for Grammy to poke me next time we prayed, so I could at least bow my head.  We sang "At the Cross" as the invitation song, and I sang in English, even though the words were on the screen.  I was not sure how to pronounce them, and I didn't want to be singing something that I shouldn't be singing in the middle of an invitation song, so English it was.  And because I could not understand everything that was going on, I did not know until later that during that invitation, 10 people came forward to start a relationship with Jesus Christ as their Savior!  And two of those who came forward were the parents of one of the little girl that stole the hearts of many of the team members last year.  We were all thrilled!

 Pastor M preaching

 N setting up the black lights

 The little ones

The older kids

I have to give a shout out to the Oldest Princess who jumped in and took the place of one of the Dominican children in the white glove routine, because someone did not show up that night.  I am proud of her for helping out so that that mountain would have a peak.  Well, at least it was supposed to be a mountain.

After the service, we returned to our villas, where we had a quick "intervention" circle meeting as N called it, to go over our day and discuss our highs and lows, and get the schedule for the next day. Then we hiked back up that hill to our villas.  I was at this point beginning to get irritated because I was having trouble connecting with home, and I badly wanted to talk to my Prince and the Youngest Princess.  But it was not to be that night.

When we got into bed, two (or more) dogs were trying to get the roosters back for crowing and waking them up, so they were having a barking contest in order to keep the roosters awake.  It didn't matter to me.  I was too tired to stay awake and see who won.  I fell asleep in spite of their barking.

After all...we had just begun.  There was much more to be done.  But we'll save that for tomorrow...

Thankful Thursday 5/14/15

*For a sub when the PE teacher could not be there *For an awesome teacher's helper *For a fun experience for the youngest princess *For food and laughter with a group of good friends *For washing machines and dryers *For sunshine, sunshine, sunshine *For a good night's rest that helped take care of a horrible headache *For awesome coworkers *For safety on our outing *For new friends *For a good end to our school year *For healing *For hope *For shared prayer requests, and answered prayers *For surprise chocolate pie *For beautiful mornings and evenings *For much needed encouragement *For the privilege of prayer *For all of these things, and many, many more, I am thankful to the Lord.