“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.” 1 Timothy 1:12
This past Wednesday (June 15th) we touched down on Dominican soil ... home. For the past few months we have been on the road, living out of suitcases. What a wonderful feeling to know that we can finally unpack our bags and settle in somewhere!
Thursday dawned bright and early and we were off and running. During the summer months we have back-to-back teams that come for a two-week outreach. The Thursday before new teams arrive, we journey into Santiago and shop for the upcoming outreach. Our predecessors, Lowell and Cheryl, have this process down to a science and it is an amazing thing to behold! Our first stop was Pricemart (like Sam's Club) and in a little over an hour we had amassed 3 flat-bed carts and 2 shopping carts full of groceries. As we surveyed all those groceries we couldn't help but wonder how they would all fit into the van! Prior to the trip to the city, the back seats of the 12 passenger van are removed. What made this trip a little more challenging is that one seat was left in since we were along! The back of the van is lined with coolers which each get 4 frozen chickens tossed in. Packed around the chickens are the other meats and perishable foods. The non-perishable foods are packed into boxes and larger items (like gallon bottles of cleaners and gallon cans of ketchup) are stacked around the coolers and boxes, all the paper products go on top. By the time the carts were empty, we probably still had half the van left for our next 2 stops! Cheryl is a master packer - next shopping trip I'm taking pictures - you will be amazed! After a quick stop for lunch we were off to Nacional and La Cerena, two large grocery stores in Santiago, to buy the rest of the supplies on our list. By mid-afternoon we were on the road back to Jarabacoa thoroughly exhausted, especially as we contemplated unpacking and putting away the load of groceries now occupying the entire back of the van. Fortunately, once back at the base, there were people that jumped in and helped to get everything unloaded and stowed in plenty of time for the cooks to get dinner out on time. We will only have 3 more shopping trips with Lowell and Cheryl so please pray that we are quick studies!
On Friday we had the day off and were able to unpack the bins Mary Ellen and the Jupiter Christian School team brought down in March. As familiar things began to appear and get put away we began to feel even more at home. On Saturday, Mary Ellen worked with Maggie in the donation room and Dick had his first experience with Dominican driving, helping Lowell shuttle teams that were leaving the base. Aside from the near miss he had on a narrow bridge with a semi he fared pretty well! Tomorrow will be the real test as he does a series of airport runs with Lowell.
We spent today going to church in the morning with our friend and house-mate, Amy (who runs the Special Ed school), ate a delicious lunch prepared by Cheryl, reviewed what we can expect as this new outreach begins with Lowell and Cheryl and did as much resting as we could for all the activity that is to come!
Please continue to pray for us as we become familiar with our job responsibilities, practice the Spanish we have learned, learn MORE Spanish, and continue to settle in. In spite of most everything being new and different, we are happy, we are among friends, and we are at peace knowing that the God who has called us will equip us for the work He has for us to do!
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17
