La Calle Buena Documentary

Here is a documentary of the community that I am currently working at. The school that I work at shows up a couple times but two of my co-workers share a little bit of their ministry!

Please continue to pray for the community of El Callejon and for the families that are living there.

This video was made by Rachel Hooley!

La Calle Buena Documentary

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Thanks for your continual support!

Semana Santa (Holy Week) Pool Outing…

                Two weeks ago I was visiting at one of our student’s home. She had drinks prepared for us and several snacks ready for us to enjoy together. As the team that was with me was engaging in conversation with the two moms that were there I was talking to one of my 3-year-old students, Euri. He kept telling me about how he was going to go to the beach with his family. I looked at his Mom knowing that this probably wasn’t true and she just looked at me and said “yeah, he keeps saying that but we won’t be going to the beach in a long time”.  After I heard this I asked Euri if he would like to just go to the pool and obviously he was quick to answer and say “Si, Si, Si”.

                Last week it was our spring break/Easter break and I took Euri’s family and Stacy’s family to the pool for the afternoon. Euri and Stacy are both in our 3-year-old class and they are also cousins. I picked both of these families up in 15 passenger van and their reaction when I picked them up was everything I could have hoped for. As we drove to the pool the kids couldn’t stop talking about getting to the pool. Both Mecho (Euri’s mom) and Yaguiera (Stacy’s mom) were excited that I finally arrived because they were tired of the kids asking what time I would arrive to pick them up. We arrived at the pool and that’s where the fun began.  I had to put neon green bracelets on them for them to be allowed to swim and I the excitement on their face when they had them on was heartwarming.

                Finally the time had come to jump in the pool and their faces were awesome to look at the whole time. Seeing the kids and mom’s so excited to be at the pool was so awesome.  The moms were taking all the pictures they possibly could and kept saying “Today we living like rich people do”.  I then proceed to ask what kind of pizza they would all like and the mom’s told me “Oh no they ate already don’t buy any” but instead I proceeded to buy two large pizzas. After the kids swam they came and ate pizza and by the end of the time there were only two pieces left of two large pizzas. I don’t think I have seen 3, 2, and 5 year olds eat so much. Needless to say we had a blast. As I am driving the van I look through the rear view mirror and notice that all 4 kids are soon to be fast asleep. The van was completely silent, which most of the time means they used up all their energy up and had fun.  

                Here are a few pictures of our time at the pool!

   Euri, Eliani, and Stacy ready to swim

Yaguiera and Stacy

Kids trying to get some sun! 

Eliani and Euri

Euri's little brother Jady needed his nap right after lunch.

All of us at the pool! (Lexie, top left, came to visit for the week, she will be returning in July and will be my roommate)

These clowns decided to show up and entertain us at the pool. 

Anthony and Jacob. Jacob is one of our directors son. 

Amanda, Noah, and Danny. 

Amanda and Noah are also my directors kids!

Crazy jumps! 

Crazy jumps in the kiddie pool! 

                I am thankful that God has asked me to be part of His ministry in El Callejon. I know He doesn’t need me in this community but I am thankful to able to watch the changes and progress He is making in the lives of these families.  Thanks for your prayers and support.  To God be the glory!

Belonging...

After I resigned at Jarabacoa Christian School (JCS) I was told that I would have to move out of JCS housing before I left for Christmas break. Thankfully one of my good friends Karen and Dan Speciale had offered me their extra bedroom at their house. My initial reaction was excitement but then following after that I felt a little nervous. Now that I have almost 3 months of living with them I feel blessed and over joyed to be where I am right now.

I was worried about the transition to a new job and at the same time transitioning to a new home. I knew I was at the right place though because I had so much peace about the whole situation. I got picked up from the airport back in January from Dan and Karen and that's when my journey started. As I sat in the car heading up the mountain I knew that my new normal was soon to start. I got home I was received by Danny and Anthony, Dan and Karen's kids, and immediately I felt a sense of BELONGING. These past few months I have been so thankful for having the opportunity to live with a family.

Coming home from work and having a 5 year old run up to give me a hug as if he hasn't seen you for weeks is beyond what I could ask for. Having a couple who isn't afraid to ask me the tough questions and having a couple who allows me to share my frustrations with them. The sense ofBELONGING is constantly evident and is such a blessing. Needless to say I know this wasn't just coincidence I know for a fact that God knew exactly what I needed and when I needed it.

Something's that I have enjoyed/hated/loved/laughed at, etc is the numerous was that I have been woken up on a Saturday morning. Saturday's are usually my sleeping in days but when you live in a house with a 5 and 9 year old and a 10 month old you are bound to be woken by numerous things. Anthony who is 5 is mostly known for always waking me up in some creative way. I have my top 3 Saturday wake up calls. They're as follow:

1. Cap Gun

2. Whispering in my window "Miss Gomie come play with me"

3. Singing "You're Elmo's Sweetheart, Elmo loves kisses" (this happens to be what Giuliana's Elmo toy is constantly saying)

So, kids have their own way of making you feel like you belong. There hasn't been a Saturday in which I have woken up angry at anything but instead I am constantly reminded that this is the place where God wants me. I am blessed because my sense of BELONGING doesn't just stop at home but it continues on at work as well. It's fun coming to an office and being excited to see my co-workers. Excited to see what else is to come of the rest of my time here at Students International.

Here are a few pictures of the Speciale Family and my life here this month.

Estefan and I playing at school.

Speciale Family

Danny (Top Left) Me, Anthony (Top Right) and Giuliana

Hanging out

Turning Frustrations into Joy...

This was written a few days ago but still wanted to share this.

Yesterday was one of those frustrating days for me. Nothing seemed to be going as planned or even as I wanted them to be. Somehow and for some reason when I would get frustrated though it would somehow turn around into joy. Let me give you one example of how this happened.

I left my house as soon as I heard the rain stop and prayed that the rain would stop for just 15min. That’s all I needed to get to work and after that everything would be just fine. Having a motorcycle as transportation here is a luxury but sometimes I think it’s not really the case. As I drive away from home I start to feel it sprinkle but still in my mind I believe I can make it to work dry. Three minutes later it starts to pour and the moment I arrive to work not a single spot on me is dry except for my head because I had my helmet on. (Just for you Mom and Dad)JMy inner child comes out and I stomp upstairs frustrated and angry. I try and pull myself together so my face wouldn’t say it all when I went down for breakfast. All I wanted was to be dry and here I was standing in the middle of the office soaking wet with no dry clothes to change in and home is about 10min away and I only have a motorcycle. Needless to say I felt miserable and cold.

One of our cleaning ladies was wearing a pair of sweatpants over her jeans because she was so cold. She saw me and without even asking she took off her sweat pants and told me that I could use them while she took my jeans downstairs to dry my jeans. This is when I started to feel joy. Joy because I knew that this lady without knowing me for very long was already willing to serve me. Joy because I realized that the place that I am currently working at is not just a place that only serves the community but staff helps each other out. Joy because our entire staff is there for one purpose and one mission which is to show Christ to those around us and to serve our communities.

Things may not have been going the way I wanted them to yesterday but I know that I am here for a purpose and I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now. More frustrating things happened throughout my day but somehow every frustration yesterday turned into joy. I am happy to be in a work environment where I don’t feel like I am constantly pouring out to others but also feel like others are pouring into me and I am challenged to keep finding out more and more about the God we serve.

Most of you know this about me but I hate change so coming into a new job, new home, new friends, new environment, new community, new co-workers, new life has been really hard for me. The only difference this time is that God is teaching me how to find joy, happiness, and peace through change. I am beginning to learn this and experience this but one thing that is different of what has come is the fact that I continually find a reason to smile and a reason to be happy.

This is my new life. This is my new community and this is my new ministry until God calls me somewhere else. Here are a few pictures of what my story is all about for now.

The painting right outside our window which I fell in love with the first day I arrived at El Callejon.

My new community El Callejon. Paintings were done by SI Art site a while back. These paintings are all along the walls of this community. They all have a Bible verse on them.

The back of the pre-school.

The front of the school.

Some of the students at the school.

My first team this year. (Matt, Michelle, and Bre) My group of students decided that at the end of our work day we would find a new spot in the community where we would take a "boy band" picture. This is just one of the 10 that we have taken. Sadly my first team has quickly come and now will be leaving soon.

Thank for all your prayers and encouragement.

Love you all!

Christmas happenings...

As most of you know my family and I went to Costa Rica this Christmas. It was so much fun to reconnect with not only my cousins and Tia Gina and Tio Osman but also with my parents and siblings. We visited different places and got to see a lot of San Jose and numerous places of the outskirts of San Jose. On days that we didn't go site seeing we spent a lot of time hanging out at the house and laughing as a family. We literally were laughing the whole break. As soon as I arrived on the 24th (which is the most important day for us latinos) my uncle went out and bought fireworks so we could set them off right at midnight. I was excited to get back into the Latino tradition but since there was a 2 hour time difference and I usually go to bed at 9pm as soon as it hit 9 I was starting to feel like a zombie because back in the DR it was 11pm. Needless to say Christmas time was a blast. Once we were all together it felt like me and my cousins had never been apart and we all had things that we wanted to share.

2 weeks in Costa Rica quickly came and went and it meant that we needed to head back home. After living in a house with 11 people and a very needy dog, the idea of heading back to the DR was not necessarily the most exciting thing.

I am thankful to have had the time I had with my family and I am happy that we all have so many pictures and memories to look back at and simply smile and laugh!

Thanks Mom and Dad for such an awesome Christmas gift, of flying me down to Costa Rica!

Here are some pictures of my time there!

I forgot to mention that my cousin Paola brought her boyfriend from the

states to Costa Rica. My Dad and Uncle decided to have him fill out an

application. Just so you kinda get an idea of what kind of application it was,

at the end of the application it read "Please wait 5 to 6 years to process.

Please do not try to contact us, we will contact you" We had lots of laughs

over this.

The whole family together on new year's day.

Hope everyone had an awesome Christmas break and I hope you have all had a great start to your new year!

New Beginnings...

It's the beginning of a new year which can also mean the beginning of a new blog. At least that's what I keep telling myself. Some of you have sent me emails asking "Why haven't you updated your blog?" and "What is it that you are doing with your life now?" So for all of you who have been asking here is an update on what has happened.

The fall of this year was basically hell on earth for me. After only 2 months of work I kept wanting to quit. I was not getting along with my boss and I was not getting along with other co-workers and I just felt like it was beginning to become a drag for me to go to work. Since the end of last year I was already wanting to find somewhere else to work. I kept praying in the fall for guidance and understanding through this all. I did want to quit my job just because it was an easy way out but I didn't want to continue at this school if that's not what God wanted me to do either. I met with a couple of directors of different organizations and different schools to see what my options would be or what possibilities would be out there. I sat down with one of my friends, Tim and Whitney, and got some good advice on how to push through December and to maybe start thinking of ways to make it through the entire year. So October came around and I kept trying to just focus on my students and focus on loving them as much as I could without worrying too much about the administration. November came along and was still holding on but then some things happened that made it clear to me that it was time for me to leave Jarabacoa Christian School because I no longer had the same mission or vision as the school did. The end of November I turned in my letter of resignation without really knowing where I would go from there. I had several options but didn't know if any of them would go through.

December I sat down with the director of Students International, a missions organization here in Jarabacoa, and we talked for a while and he talked to me about the possibilities of working with them. I also met with the YoungLife Area director and also talked to her about job possibilities. After that I then proceeded to also talk to the director of another christian school here in town and we also talked about other possibilities there. Long story short God was opening up some doors and shutting others and giving me a lot of peace of my decision of leaving JCS. Christmas time came along fast which meant it came time to tell my students that I was going to be leaving and that was the hardest part about my decision of leaving the school.

Both Students International and YoungLife had offered me jobs by mid December and I decided that I would not make any final decisions until I talked to my parents. I knew I was going to be seeing them over Christmas Break so I felt the need to wait to talk to them and go from there.

So here comes the fun part. Christmas break came along and after such a long time of being away from my parents the day finally came to spend some time with them.

Our family got together in Costa Rica where my mom's youngest sister lives. Her and her husband have 4 daughters who we have always been close to and felt like this would be a good meeting point for the holidays.

On January 5th I emailed the director of Students International (SI) and told him I wanted the job for sure. I got an email back from him shortly after that and he said "awesome, meet me at my office Jan. 10th at 9:30am". Tuesday was my first day of work and I am currently still trying to get adjusted to this new transitions. Tuesday we had staff meeting and when I got introduced to the new staff a lot of them started cheering which made me feel welcomed and encouraged to work here. Then yesterday I had my first bible study with SI and got some time to get to know more of my co-workers. I am really excited about my job and excited to be where I am now. I am working on my Newsletter which will then be posted on here, it will have more information and pictures of what my role will be at SI. I will also try and put up more pictures of my time with my family. This Christmas was probably the most memorable Christmas I have had with my family. It was awesome and will hopefully be able to post more pictures of that trip later today or tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for your prayers and support thus far. I am excited to see what God has in store for this year.

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great time with your families and loved ones!

DR 2011 in Pictures

Since I am not very good at this game called blogging I have decided that I am just going to upload some pictures of what I have been doing during these past few months here. Most of the pictures are not pictures of me during class time but are some of the things that I do when I don't teach!! I do have a video of my kids singing the song Might To Save! I taught them this song a while back but thought I would share this with you guys. If you would like to watch it click here.

These pictures are not in order!

My friends Ryan and Caroline welcomed baby James into the world at the end of January! I got to spend valentines with my surpervisor's kids, Anthony (left), Danny (right) and James and babysat with my friend Natalie!

Motocross Competition

Natalie, Me, Lorraine, and Rachel at Motocross

Soaking wet after it rained at the motocross!

Carnaval 2011 (The Dominicans do this every year during the month of Febuary)

It's crazy don't even know how to describe it really.

Hanging out after school with one of my favorite third graders, Randy.

Me, Jessica Stanley, and Jessica Ensing hiking

I made it to the top!

Motorcycle ride with Natalie on a Saturday afternoon!

Samana beach!

Natalie and I on the whale watching boat!

Humpback Whale!! :)

(We got to see a mother and her baby)

Emily and I

Emily came to visit the last week of Febuary! It was the highlight of the month and definitely had a lot of fun having her here!! :) Thanks for the surprise Em!

This is basically what has been happening here in the DR. God is still stretching me and maturing me which has been hard at times but I know will be worth it in the end! Still loving the Dominican culture and for the most part loving my time here. The end of the year is coming up soon which is scary and exciting at the same time. Saying goodbye to teachers that I have gotten close to this year will not be easy for me but trying to trust God with whats to come next year.

Prayer Request:

1. My students

2. Patience for me as a teacher. I seem to get easily frustrated lately and need to learn how to be patient with my kids.

3. Strength to make through the rest of the year!

4. Peace and understanding of why people come in and out of our life! I have struggled with this question a lot so this would be a big one that you can pray for!

Thanks again for all your support, love, and prayers during my time here! I could never do this without you guys!!