Practicing pure and faultless religion in Jaibon, Dominican Republic


The 3rd week here has flown by so quickly!! I am getting used to life here and it is beginning to feel like home. I am loving spending time with the boys and teaching camps in the community is so fun.

I realize that many of you may not even know exactly what I am doing each week. So here is a synopsis:
On Saturday we do work projects, say good-bye to teams and greet new teams. We also relax after a busy week.

Sunday we have a day of orientation for the new teams and have a church service either here or at a church.

Monday through Wednesday or Thursday we have camps in the community at churches or schools. Sometimes we have 20 kids, sometimes we have more than 300. The camps consist of group singing, and then kids rotate through Bible, English, Art and Recreation.

Friday we go into the country as tourists. To the city or the beach usually.

Sometimes we do work projects here at the orphanage.

During our free time we get to play with the boys at the orphanage. We take them games, instuments, books or just go to hang out and talk.

Ok, so here are this week's highlights:

*The team that was here this week was made up of families. All ages. Including a 2 and 4 yr. old. That cry. A lot. But, I loved having the younger kids here. They were energetic and very interactive with the kids. Also, I tend to get along really well with adults older than me, so I really bonded with them. It was great working with all of them. And they said I can come visit them in Virginia and they would take me all over the place :D

*Since we had a large group, the interns were spread out among the volunteers. I was on a team with a mom, a 10 yr old and a high schooler. None of them knew Spanish. I really had to step up to the plate as the leader of them Bible team and God helped me to do it. As a team we came up with lots of good ideas and they were great helpers. However, I did all of the teaching because of my Spanish. I improved my ability to speak greatly and I loved it.

*For one of the Bible lessons, I had the kids pretend to be sheep. The young boys liked it so much, they wouldn't stop being sheep. They were sheep for the rest of Bible class, and the next day. I couldn't teach because I was laughing too hard. Priceless.

*We went to a mosquito infested museum. I left early. A guy (who I thought was the one who owned the museum)came and gave me mangoes. I thought he was thanking us for coming so I thanked him for letting us. He started talking to me and I didn't understand him very well. I thought it was his strong DR accent. Turns out it was because he was slurring his words. He was drunk, as I soon discovered. He was hitting on me and calling me "mi amor". I took out my camera to take a pic of me and the mangoes and he came into the picture. He then wanted a picture with all the ladies who had cameras. He even picked one lady up and hugged her. Good times, but kinda scary too.

*Beach day with the boys was cancelled again. Once again we put on an awesome day for them.

*We went to the other sight on Friday at Monte Cristi. We got to see the other orphanage, a clock tower built by the same guy that built the Eiffel Tower, eat at an authentic DR restaurant, go on a hike over the ocean and play in intense waves.


You know you are in the DR if...

Your bus driver drives on a skinny one lane bumpy road for a few blocks...backwards.

Teenagers aren't too old to participate in all the activities.

You show up to teach a camp at a church and they didn't know you were coming. They come anyway and open the church for you. 20+ kids still show up.

Lines in the middle of the road mean nothing.


I wish I could write so much more, but I have limited time to keep you all updated. To sum it all up, the boys here all have a future, a hope, passions, skills, a hero inside of them. We are here to release the hero within and give them a future. God sees them as they really are, and he is giving us the ability to do the same thing.

Thanks for praying!!!