“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
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Making Choices
We sit in a crowded restaurant in Panajachel, Guatemala. The menu choice was simple for a change: Tipico or Continental. We choose "Tipico y café, por favor." We sit and enjoy our breakfast of coffee, scrambled eggs, fried plantains, wonderful slices of warm bread with New Zealand butter, a watermelon wedge, and frijoles fritas ... Okay, maybe not the frijoles fritas. We haven't yet acquired a taste for the black bean purée that is often served cold.
Our "simple choice" this morning makes us think about choices we are making in this phase of our lives. We can simply choose to live in victory or in defeat. Defeat is easy to choose. We are very often weary - learning a new language is hard. Adapting to a new culture is difficult. Dealing with physiological changes brought on by a foreign diet that contains things our bodies are not used to just adds to the challenges. We have both had our days of sitting and feeling sorry for ourselves, longing for a home we no longer have.
But we chose this path because the Lord has called us to serve Him in a different place and in a different way. Our transition to the DR will most definitely include difficulties and challenges as we deal with "different" and we must choose to walk in a way that brings honor to Him.
We were challenged this morning by these words from Oswald Chambers, from May 15th: "First Peter 4:12 says, 'Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you ...' Rise to the occasion - do what the trial demands of you... May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality - a readiness to face anything He brings our way... We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others." To borrow some words from a good friend, "Easy to say, hard to do."
But we will attempt to pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and get busy with the task that is before us - Honoring the Lord as we learn Spanish, as we are constantly accosted by Mayan woman peddling their wares, as we attempt to check out of the local tienda, and as we bump into people who ask us questions we can't understand. Lord, help us to be broken before you.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9
Our "simple choice" this morning makes us think about choices we are making in this phase of our lives. We can simply choose to live in victory or in defeat. Defeat is easy to choose. We are very often weary - learning a new language is hard. Adapting to a new culture is difficult. Dealing with physiological changes brought on by a foreign diet that contains things our bodies are not used to just adds to the challenges. We have both had our days of sitting and feeling sorry for ourselves, longing for a home we no longer have.
But we chose this path because the Lord has called us to serve Him in a different place and in a different way. Our transition to the DR will most definitely include difficulties and challenges as we deal with "different" and we must choose to walk in a way that brings honor to Him.
We were challenged this morning by these words from Oswald Chambers, from May 15th: "First Peter 4:12 says, 'Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you ...' Rise to the occasion - do what the trial demands of you... May God not find complaints in us anymore, but spiritual vitality - a readiness to face anything He brings our way... We are here to submit to His will so that He may work through us what He wants. Once we realize this, He will make us broken bread and poured-out wine with which to feed and nourish others." To borrow some words from a good friend, "Easy to say, hard to do."
But we will attempt to pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off and get busy with the task that is before us - Honoring the Lord as we learn Spanish, as we are constantly accosted by Mayan woman peddling their wares, as we attempt to check out of the local tienda, and as we bump into people who ask us questions we can't understand. Lord, help us to be broken before you.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Muchas palabras nadando en mi cabeza!!
Translation ... Many words are swimming in my head
I walk down the cobblestone streets trying not to cry. I have just made my second trip from the school to the lab where I have to go to get test results for Dick. He has not been feeling well for a few days and is not getting better so we are checking to see if he has an amoeba or bacteria or some other such foreign substance swimming around in his body. I picked up the test results, having no idea what to do with them. No explanation was offered and even if there had been, I probably wouldn't have understood it. I then walked back toward the school to "La Bodegona," a large variety store where I know there is a pharmacy. I show the slip they gave me at the lab to the pharmacist and she fires a response at me. I can't even pick one word out of her response that I understand. After trying to explain to her that I only speak a little Spanish she slows down and obviously tries to simplify her response. It is finally clear to me that I do not have what I need to get medicine and that I will have to return to the lab with Dick so he can see the doctor and get a prescription. So, I walk back down the cobblestone street toward "home" empty-handed. I know Dick feels lousy and I so wanted to be able to bring something back to him to help him. And I also wanted to be able to succeed at something ... anything. But I am finding that lately, the learning curve is huge!
I am tired of feeling like an idiot and looking foolish. I stand out like a sore thumb with my gringo accent, my unstructured sentences, my American clothes and my "Earth Shoes" - they are a bit on the ugly side but so comfortable and helpful on the uneven streets (how the Guatemalan woman walk these streets in heels I will never know). Every weekday, I sit with my tutor for 4 hours and we practice what feels like the same thing over and over again. And I feel like I am making the same mistakes over and over again. My tongue trips over letter and word combinations and I just don't seem to be able to put the right endings on words. I use an "a" when it should be "o" and "as" when it should be "ar" and so forth. Most days I am able to laugh at myself. Everyone keeps telling me it will get better and I cling to that hope.
Along the lines of hope - the strangest thing is happening to me. As I think and as I speak in English, I am hearing bits and snatches of Spanish words and phrases in my head. It's a little strange. Kind of like when you start to drive out of the range of a radio station and you are hearing two songs at one time. I feel a bit crazy but I guess this is part of the process. Those of you who have learned a second language hopefully understand what I am saying (or else I really AM going crazy). It's like my translator button is stuck in the "on" position and I can't turn it off. Even as I type this, I am fighting the urge to type certain words in Español! The silver lining in this is that I think this may be proof that I am actually learning! I can honestly say that I know more today then I knew last Monday.
Just to let you know, the day did turn out okay, after lunch Dick and I walked back to the lab and he was able to see the doctor, get his prescriptions and is now resting comfortably. He should be good to go by tomorrow.
Thanks for listening to me ramble and be thankful that I didn't include the "Spanish static!" Off to study "mas Español."
I walk down the cobblestone streets trying not to cry. I have just made my second trip from the school to the lab where I have to go to get test results for Dick. He has not been feeling well for a few days and is not getting better so we are checking to see if he has an amoeba or bacteria or some other such foreign substance swimming around in his body. I picked up the test results, having no idea what to do with them. No explanation was offered and even if there had been, I probably wouldn't have understood it. I then walked back toward the school to "La Bodegona," a large variety store where I know there is a pharmacy. I show the slip they gave me at the lab to the pharmacist and she fires a response at me. I can't even pick one word out of her response that I understand. After trying to explain to her that I only speak a little Spanish she slows down and obviously tries to simplify her response. It is finally clear to me that I do not have what I need to get medicine and that I will have to return to the lab with Dick so he can see the doctor and get a prescription. So, I walk back down the cobblestone street toward "home" empty-handed. I know Dick feels lousy and I so wanted to be able to bring something back to him to help him. And I also wanted to be able to succeed at something ... anything. But I am finding that lately, the learning curve is huge!
I am tired of feeling like an idiot and looking foolish. I stand out like a sore thumb with my gringo accent, my unstructured sentences, my American clothes and my "Earth Shoes" - they are a bit on the ugly side but so comfortable and helpful on the uneven streets (how the Guatemalan woman walk these streets in heels I will never know). Every weekday, I sit with my tutor for 4 hours and we practice what feels like the same thing over and over again. And I feel like I am making the same mistakes over and over again. My tongue trips over letter and word combinations and I just don't seem to be able to put the right endings on words. I use an "a" when it should be "o" and "as" when it should be "ar" and so forth. Most days I am able to laugh at myself. Everyone keeps telling me it will get better and I cling to that hope.
Along the lines of hope - the strangest thing is happening to me. As I think and as I speak in English, I am hearing bits and snatches of Spanish words and phrases in my head. It's a little strange. Kind of like when you start to drive out of the range of a radio station and you are hearing two songs at one time. I feel a bit crazy but I guess this is part of the process. Those of you who have learned a second language hopefully understand what I am saying (or else I really AM going crazy). It's like my translator button is stuck in the "on" position and I can't turn it off. Even as I type this, I am fighting the urge to type certain words in Español! The silver lining in this is that I think this may be proof that I am actually learning! I can honestly say that I know more today then I knew last Monday.
Just to let you know, the day did turn out okay, after lunch Dick and I walked back to the lab and he was able to see the doctor, get his prescriptions and is now resting comfortably. He should be good to go by tomorrow.
Thanks for listening to me ramble and be thankful that I didn't include the "Spanish static!" Off to study "mas Español."
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