Plans Have Changed

 Hello everyone! I know many are asking if I am safe in light of the recent events going on in Haiti. I am safe! Our team has decided not to travel to Haiti because of the kidnapping of the 15 missionaries. We will be staying in the Dominican Republic for an extra 2 weeks instead – which I am happy with. 

Right now we are in Santo Domingo. One of our team members has fallen ill and we believe she has dengue fever. This is something she will be able to recover from, but your prayers are still much appreciated. We have been working with different Compassion International centers, mostly having fun with children and sharing Bible stories with them. Moses and Joseph are two of my favorite stories from the Old Testament.  Their stories really capture my imagination as I visualize  Moses floating down the river in a basket and Joseph having a coat of many colors.

The kids love being with us, and I think they especially enjoy the games we play with them. I have been greatly impacted by sharing with the children because I realize how much I learned growing up. I also think about how I might be able to help the next generation with ideas like being open to God and what He has to say and obeying Him when He speaks. I really think it’s interesting how Jesus says that those who do not receive the kingdom of Heaven like a child won’t enter it. Kids are so open to learning and listening. At the time the Pharisees wouldn’t listen to Jesus and their hearts were hard. Jesus desired an attitude of that of a child. When with the children, I also like learning about their talents and hobbies and encouraging them to keep excelling in those areas of their lives.

Today we partnered with some workers from the Compassion center and had a medical brigade. Doctors and nurses consulted with children, parents, and teenagers and prescribed antibiotics, over the counter pain relievers, and vitamins. I filled orders in the pharmacy throughout the day. Although I enjoyed the medical brigade, I felt a little frustrated and brain dead when we took a lunch break.  I finally realized I had been reading the same words over and over again for hours as I filled the prescriptions. Haha!  I stopped taking it quite so seriously and we turned on some music - it made things much better during the afternoon!

We are tentatively leaving for Punta Cana on Wednesday and I would appreciate your prayers for safe travels and improved health for our friend and teammate,  Andrea. 

 

Thank you,

Isaac

The Dominican Republic

 We have been in the Dominican Republic for around a week and a half now. I have enjoyed the atmosphere of the Dominican. It’s very relaxed and all the people seem so happy. It’s funny, but I have especially enjoyed riding in the Ubers and taxis in the Dominican. The drivers always want to talk and since I am learning Spanish I always oblige.

 

I have been stepping of my comfort zone speaking Spanish. It’s fun and I figured the more I try to speak, the quicker I will learn. I’ve heard that the Dominican speaks the quickest among the Spanish speaking countries. I have also learned some cool words from the locals such as wawawa which means a gangster, popi which means rich person, and que lo que which is there “what’s up” hahaha. 

A woman who’s name I don’t know who attends church with our Dominican contact Raul has allowed us to stay in an apartment she owns in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican. This is our “mission base”. What’s really cool is that, we can leave our bulkier things in the apartment, close shop and go to other cities for ministry for 3-5 days.

 

So far we have done kids ministry in Santo Domingo and Santiago. Santo Domingo is an interesting city because even though it had the hustle and bustle of a capital city, it still feels small. It feels local and inviting. The weather is warm mostly around 80-85 degrees everyday.

Santo Domingo is along the Southern coast of the island and has amazing history behind the city. The Colonial zone has stunning old Spanish churches, an awesome museum, and some great shops and restaurants. One interesting fact is that the Dominican is actually the first place Columbus ever landed. The Dominican is a really diverse place and one of my favorite parts is how welcoming the people are.

 

One unexpected fact is that they eat a lot of salami in the Dominican. It’s one of their staple foods along with plantains. 

 

We have been involved with mostly kids ministry since we arrived. There is an organization called compassion here in the Dominican that works with kids during the weekdays and has activities for them, teaches about the Bible, and just lets them be kids and have fun. We have been patterning with them to do all kinds of fun things with the children. We play games, dance, sing songs, create art and crafts, tell stories, and share the love of Jesus. I will try I share some videos soon. 

 

We recently returned from the second largest city in the Dominican called Santiago. Santiago is not on the coast and is surrounded my mountains. I really enjoyed this trip as we stayed with a family friend of our contacts. They were so welcoming and made their home ours.

The patriarch of the family is a renowned cancer doctor in Santiago and him and his wife have 4 children ranging from around 30 to 10. The youngest child, O’Neil is what we call a wild child and has so much energy. He loves to talk and play. I enjoyed playing with him and laughing with him.

 

The matriarch of the family named Maribel was most involved with our team and has many connections to do ministry in the city. She was so kind to us and was also a lively soul who liked to laugh a lot. I hope to see her again someday. We stayed in Santiago 4 nights. During that time we got to visit a school and speak with teenagers which I enjoyed a lot. I feel like I can relate to them a lot.

I can remember being the same age as them and how I felt. Teenage years are awesome years of enjoying friends, sports, fighting with your parents, having your first girlfriend and many other exciting things. I prayed for them that they could continue to enjoy these things and not worry too much about the future. I prayed that they would know God is with them every step. This I also where I learned the cool words I previously mentioned. 

We also went to a compassion kids center in Santiago, but when we arrived all the kids were already gone. We ended up sharing who we were and why were there with the workers at the school. I got the opportunity to be the translator during this time which I enjoy. They also told us about themselves and how long they had been worming with the ministry. Staying at Maribel and her husbands house was a great experience of hospitality and the joy of God because they were so happy to host us the entire time. I really think they enjoyed it too. We returned in Santo Domingo for a couple of nights and are now in a less populated state called Monte Plata. We are helping to paint the playground at an orphanage today.

Please pray for healthy bodies and endurance as Monte Plata is hot and we are doing physical labor outdoors. Thank you so much 

Because of his love,

Isaac