Day 1 - Sunday
Day 1 – Sunday, June 28th
We made it! – What day is it?
We landed into Santo Domingo, and what a relief it brought. Some air turbulence taking off and landing was quite a roller coaster ride! The 10 of us made it through customs, got our “Republica Dominicana” stamp in our passports and made our way to baggage pick up. Oh did I mention that we landed at 3:30 a.m. local time? We then had 10 droggy people navigating a foreign airport with signage in a language that most of us aren’t fluent in. Thankfully at 4:00 a.m. there aren’t a whole lot of people around to add to any stress. We find the men from COTN who were transporting us, and they helped us pack up trailer with all out belongings that was being pulled by the 15-passenger van that we assembled into. According to our itinerary we were supposed to go right to the Casa in Barahona after being picked up from the airport. However, what we didn’t know is that it is “unsafe” to travel at night the 3-hour voyage to Barahona. So, at 5:00 in the morning we were checked into a hotel nearby. The 10 of us split into five different rooms and literally took a 2-3 hour nap before we had to be up for breakfast and back on the van at 10:00 a.m. bound for Barahona.
Lethargy
An hour and a half into our bus ride to Barahona we stopped for lunch and a bathroom break at a local supermarket (similar to a Target or Wal-Mart). Inside the market was a food court with quite an array of food items. We ate our lunch, took a break and then it was back on the van for our last hour and half ride to Barahona. In a zombie like state Alejandro, our van driver, took our vegetated, lethargic bodies to the Casa. On the way, we passed by our beloved batay Algodon. Many of us thought out loud how after nearly 24 hours of travel time, it’s so odd that going into Algodon wasn’t even on our agenda today. Ugh! We want to see our kiddo’s!
A homecoming
We made it home to the casa! For those of us who have taken the trip previously it really felt like a homecoming. From the second we saw the turquoise blue house we all burst into loud clapping in delight we were home. We piled out of the van and were reintroduced with the house staff and our new translators. We also met the short-term missions team that is staying here for the next 3 weeks. They are a cute group of college students from Seattle. doing various different projects while in country. We solved sleeping arrangements and had some free time in the afternoon to elevate our engorged feet, swim, and/or take a quick nap. Dinnertime was soon to follow.
Worship – Barahona Style
After dinner we once again boarded our van; this time with our college friends. We went to a local church here in Barahona that holds a Sunday evening service. Since we missed Algodon’s morning service, our group wanted to make sure we made it to church in some way today. This service was so radically different from what we were expecting. When you come to a country like this, you mostly expect the bare minimum. That’s at least our experience from spending time in Algodon. However, what we found was a very large building with theatre seating, a huge stage, profession lighting and TV screens! Oh my! The people worshipping were fascinating to watch. They had a group of younger girls and boys in matching costumes perform an interpretive dance of sorts during the worship music. One of the college girls (Naomi) staying in the casa with us sang a couple songs during our service. A couple other girls (Sierra and Sarah) did a unique dance as worship as well. The people of the Dominican Republic worship with such enthusiasm and passion. It’s absolutely incredible to watch. Unfortunately, due to our severe state of fatigue, our bodies were enduring; all ten of us began to fade quickly. After two hours into the service our translators took us back to the casa, but the rest of Barahona is still worshiping their hearts out!
Immediate Prayer Needs:
Rest. Every single one of us is absolutely drained from traveling. We've had little to no sleep since we embarked on Saturday afternoon.
Monday Morning our Children’s Conference takes place and in the afternoon our Pastor’s Conference will be given. Pray that the staff and leadership are welcoming to the information given and that what we have to offer will bring them value and they would be able to sustain ideas, systems and program ideas.
