Friday, March 11, 2011

DAY 7 ~ Jaracoboa ~ Rancho Baiguate


A few words from Coach!

The day started early with a wake up call at 5:00 AM!!!  We all got into a van and traveled three hours in the mountains to El Baiguate to go white water rafting!!  As we traveled, my thoughts went to waiting with wonder on how the day would go, trusting we would all be safe and hoping for the thrill of our lives!!!  That whole process reminded me of my journey this week with the Lord----waiting on Him, trusting He would impact my heart, and hoping for God to use me however He wanted.   Waiting, trusting, and hoping---three strands all woven together to make a strong chain.  Trusting truly is the strongest strands in my opinion because trusting requires the most from us.  Waiting and hoping seems to strengthen the three strands that connect us to God.  While riding the rapids the scenery was beautiful.  Again the parallel to my walk with God seemed to fit.  In life my journey is sometimes crazy—rough, big drop-offs, and desire to get out of the raft.  But. God makes good out of hard, rough water---if we wait, trust, and hope!!!!!  This was an amazing way to finish the trip!!! 

On a side note, I so enjoyed being with all the students!!!  Great job all you parents out there---they are amazing men and women who love the Lord a lot!!!  Their hearts of service brought tears to my eyes many times---it was a joy to be apart of them.  We are getting on a plane tomorrow and going back to comfort, safety, and convenience.  It sometimes does not seem right living my life compared to those who are living their lives in the villages of Santo Domingo.  May my heart be changed where I can be mindful of thanksgiving and praise for all I have everyday.  This week has impacted me and the people have captured some of my heart!!!  Pray for the work of SCORE they are changing the DR for Christ.










These are a few words from Ashley


     Today we were all woken up at 5:00am in the morning to get on the buses to head to Jarabacoa. In Jarabacoa we were going to be taking a wild and exciting ride down the rapids up in the mountains. The scenery all around us was just absolutely beautiful. Our entire team was so pumped and ready to tackle this river. Half way through the ride we stopped to take a lunch break. One other thing that we all go to do was to take a plunge in the river off of a 30ft cliff. As I climbed the cliff I thought to myself am I really doing things right now. I got to the top and thought to myself I just need to jump and not think about it. I took that plunge in the water and I have never felt anything so cold in my life. It felt like I was back at home in INDIANA. By the end of the ride I was like I want to do this again.

     As the week has come to a close, God has really shown his love and has truly impacted my life through this trip. God has really impacted my life through the entire ministry that we have done this week. My prayer was that I would leave here knowing that God used me in every way that he wanted to. God truly used me in every way to minister and love those kids of the villages. He also showed me some gifts that I have that I never knew were possible or even in me. One last thing that God really revealed was to have trust in him through every aspect of what I do and to just know that he loves me. I am truly blessed to have the privilege to go on this trip and experience a whole new culture. I hope that I will take all that I have learned here and apply to my life back at home. Thanks to everyone for all your support. I love you all!!!!

                                                                              Ashley Miller

(1 of 3 rafts, but these are the winners!)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

DAY 6 – REPUBLICA DOMINICANA 2011


Good evening yall, this is Jordan & Steph and we are extremely exhausted, fatigued, drained, beat, bushed, tired, pooped, and sleepy. These past few days we have been human jungle gyms in the blazing heat all day, so today, our last day of our ministry work, has sucked up our last drops of energy. Although we would like to clarify that this is not our last day of ministry work because God has called us to be missionaries everyday in all that we do (Matthew 28:19-20).

Now a few specific words from Stephanie:

Today we got the opportunity to go back to the girl’s orphanage that we visited early this week.  Since it is the middle of the week the boys were there for school also. All the kids ran up to us with smiles on their faces calling us by name. It was a really fun time and I was really happy to see them all again. When we got there our team broke up into four different stations, and we played different games with all the kids. I was in a group with Abbey and Jordan; we played a game similar to Simon Says. Abbey did an awesome job at getting the kids really excited!! The kids loved every minute of it. After we got done playing the games we gathered all the kids around and we gave testimonies. After Nathanael gave his testimony our translator talked to all the kids about Jesus and then we all prayed.  After all the fun was over we had to say goodbye. It was the hardest part of the whole week. There were two little kids that were hanging on to me so tight and every time I would say adios they would say “no.” It was so hard to leave when all they wanted me to do was stay.  I know that we were here to minister to those kids, but they really touched my heart and have shown me a different meaning to love. However, the orphanage is a really nice place and all the kids seem to be really happy. It has been a great experience and watching those kids has taught me to appreciate the little things in life more than I ever have before. It is amazing to me that all of these kids could be so happy when they have so little.  They use what they have and none of them complain.  After we left the orphanage we came back to SCORE for lunch and then headed back out to another village. The village that we went to today was really hard for me personally. I didn’t have much energy and the kids demanded so much attention. The conditions were the worse that we have seen all week.  A lot of the kids walked around without shoes and a lot of them had very little clothes on, but it didn’t bother them at all and they continued to play.  I felt bad for not being able to give them every ounce of attention that they deserved. At the village we also took the time to gather all the kids around in a big circle. Aubrey was awesome and brought songs to sing in Spanish. The kids really enjoyed that! After we were done singing Jordan gave his testimony, but I will let him talk about that. The kids in the village didn’t seem as focused and as attentive as the kids in the orphanage, but I pray that each one of them got something out of the message that was given. It is always hard to leave the village because the kids follow us all the way back to the bus. They cling to you and don’t want you to leave. It sometimes feels like that the only attention that they get is when people like us come to visit, and that is just sad. I never saw a parent come out and check on their kids, and there were even infants out there playing today. Even though a lot of the kids were covered in dirt and had dirty clothes they were truly beautiful kids, and I think that has been my favorite thing about this trip. Being in a different country has opened my eyes up to so much, and I love seeing more of God’s beautiful creation other than just Indiana.  The people here are beautiful people and all of them seem so happy. It is inspirational to just sit back and watch them.

And finally a few words from Jordan:

Well it is 10:30pm here right now and I am extremely worn out, so please forgive any possible repetitiveness or confusion. Starting out my day at the orphanage was the greatest. We walked into the courtyard and the girls were sitting across the way at the picnic tables eating. As I approached the picnic area I was searching for “my girls,” Nicol and Diana because they were the two who touched my heart last Saturday. It didn’t take long and they spotted me at the time I saw them. The smile on Nicol’s face was the absolute highlight of my day, no doubt about it. I cannot express my emotions at that very moment because at the same time I almost felt like crying I just smiled and was overflowed with joy and happiness. So to make a long story short we played and shared our stories and the love of Jesus. Leaving that orphanage and those two girls, Nicol and Diana, was the most difficult moment of this entire week. I believe that many of our team members felt the same way. This was definitely one of those moments where at the same time I am trying to be a blessing to the Dominican people, things turn around and they end up being the blessing on my life. Nicol and Diana have changed my life forever…

After lunch we headed out to a nearby village that we haven’t been to yet. Steph hit a few of the points, but I just want to reiterate some important points. This was probably the worst condition we have seen. Every 4 square yards could fill up a 30-gallon trash bag to the rim with trash. Many of these children did not have shoes and a few didn’t have any clothes except underwear or some makeshift underwear. If someone had pants or shorts they were torn and littered with holes. It is times like these that keep me humble and without complaint about the things I have in my life. So to make another long story short, we played games, gave a testimony, and sang with the kids before leaving.

I apologize for rushing my part but the internet is shut off at 11 and I am about to pass out right here at the computer because I am sooooo tired. Today was a wonderful day and tomorrow we leave at 5:30 to go white-water-rafting, yay! Anyways, love your neighbor as Jesus Christo has loved you and have a blessed and wonderful day!

~Jordan &
       Stephanie~

This is Diana (left) and Nicol (right)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 5 - Wednesday

Another word from Matti and Aubrey (yes you get to hear from us twice). and yes, we’re that awesome.
Today the Dream Team reunited for a dynamic day in Aleman village.  Aubrey treated patients, took blood pressures, listened to a fetal heart beat, and administered medication in the medical clinic, while the remaining Dream Team played games. With kids. Like a boss.  Okay, so maybe the team did a little more than that.  But still, like a boss.  Below are the direct observations of Matti and Aubrey.
Matti’s observations for the day:
                Today, we joined forces with a medical team that is here this week.  We all went to a village where they set up a sweet medical clinic which Aubrey I’m sure will tell you all about.  We came along to play with the children and minister to them as well as to people in the village.  We (the team - Aubrey) began the day by playing with the kids.  There were lots of kids so everyone on the team kind of broke of and did different things with different kids.  I was able to take part in a baseball game and then a soccer game.  It is amazing to me how people from completely different backgrounds can be brought together through sports.  The fact that we could only understand each other a little bit and yet still play games together was great.  At one point during soccer one guy even said something like “I no speak English, you no speak espanol.  Its okay.”  After games and lunch we handed tracts in Spanish out to people in the village.  The people we’re really receptive to them and read them over and over again.  A couple of team members were able to visit the church with a group of guys and then prayed for them.  It was neat to see how we were able to minister through games and then walking through the village while there was this medical team there ministering through healthcare.  This is the way it should be, Christians coming together for the purpose of expanding the kingdom. 
Aubrey’s observations for the day:   
                Today marks the end of my experience with the medical mission’s team, and wow has it been a fun ride.  I feel like I’m on a completely different mission’s trip from the others, but all of us are using our gifts for great things.  Today actually, our groups met up for the first time, as the medical team set up in another school in a little community called Aleman, and the dream team came along to play with the kids of the village.  I teamed up with a nurse that I worked with the day before, and we tackled patient after patient.  It was such a fun experience, because whole families came in for medical attention, so we were looking at mom, and then babies, and elementary age kids.  When we laughed or tickled the kids, the mom’s would have the hugest smiles on their faces, and even the small things, like vitamins that we handed out, made their days.  A young pregnant woman who was eight months along came in for a regular check-up, and I was able to find the baby’s heart beat with an ultrasound, and let the mom hear it.  The nurse, Brooke, and I laughed about it afterwards, because we thought our smiles were huger than the mom’s smiles.   Wow what an experience!  Many children had impacted ear wax issues, and so we had to do several ear canal irrigations.  This process involved sticking a syringe up their ear canal and pumping it with pressurized water.  This was painful for the children, and it was hard to see them trying to be brave, but it was also the first time that we were able to truly hold and comfort the kids.  Knowing that the pain was temporary, but the benefits were huge was very rewarding for me.  We weren’t just handing out pills and praying that they remembered to take them, we were actually changing that child’s life.  One little boy who had to go through it, held his sobbing sister’s hand as we cleaned out her ears and had the biggest grin on his face, when before it took three of us to hold him down while he was kicking and screaming.  He was probably able to hear clearly for the first time in a long time.
I know that medical mission’s are in my future, and I have been so blessed by this opportunity.  It was also such a blessing to see the Dream Team in action out the window.  Their energy in the hot heat was so inspiring, and I was so proud of all of them.  Tomorrow I begin working with them again, and I can’t wait.  They are such a dynamic group of individuals, they make any team member proud to point at them and say “they’re with me”.

Day 4 - Tuesday

A word from Matti and Aubrey:
Due to continual technical difficulties, the blog is still a wee bit behind, but we’ll get there… eventually.  Today and tomorrow are very special blogs, because they are coming from two very awesome people.  The viewpoints of these two people, are also very different, because their days consisted of immensely diverse activities.  Matti, along with the Dream Team, had a great experience in a sugarcane village, while Aubrey went to prison. Literally.  Ok, maybe not LITERALLY, but she was definitely there.  So below are their accounts of their differing days.
An account of Matti’s journey to the sugarcane village.

                If you know me at all then it is no surprise that I am posting a picture with this blog post.  The picture is of the sunrise this morning.  It was a great way to start off what would end up being an amazing day.  I am not a morning person (AT ALL!) but it was so worth getting up early for.  The quietness of the morning, the stillness of the ocean, and the gracefulness of the fishermen was something I won’t soon forget.  I am constantly amazed at the beauty of God’s creation.  It is a reflection of His glory.  After the sunrise and breakfast the team headed for a grocery store, Jumbo, were we racked up a bill of $6,000+.  Oh, that’s in pesos.  The food we bought would be distributed later that day.  From Jumbo we took a long and bumpy journey to a sugarcane village.  At the village we were able to gather a bunch of kids at the church.  We played games with the kids, and then sang a few songs with them.  After this, Miles shared his testimony with the help of Kiko, our driver and SCORE employee.  Kiko then gave his testimony.  The children and the adults who had also come to the church responded positively to these testimonies.  After testimonies we gave out the bags of food that we bought at Jumbo to various adults who had come to the church.  Each team member got the opportunity to give a bag to a person and then pray for them.  The people were so grateful for the food and the prayers.  Their smiles alone showed their appreciation.  It is incredible what the simple act of giving a small bag of food can do for the recipient as well as the giver.  It really proved to me that it is indeed better to give then to receive.  After the distribution of the food, we played with the children again.  They were so energetic and excited that we were there with them.  Perhaps too energetic because one girl either sprained or broke her arm playing.  She needed to go to the hospital so we boarded the bus and headed back down the long and bumpy road to the city.  The girl was put in a sling made out of cardboard and string before we left.  Seeing this and the distance to the hospital really makes me appreciate the medical care we have in the states.  It is actually a good thing that this girl hurt her arm when we were there instead of at another time; otherwise who knows how soon she would have gotten to the hospital.  We returned to score and got to watch the sunset over the ocean.  Seeing a sunrise and sunset in the same day makes any day a good day for me; but then when you throw in the ministry that we were able to do in the village it becomes an absolutely fantastic day.
The tale of Aubrey’s trek into Prison:
Compared to the rest of the team, I (Aubrey) am on a very different mission’s trip, which has truly been a gift from God. While here in the Dominican, I met up with a group that was here for Medical missions, and they let me tag along for their week of clinical work!  Monday we set up camp in a tiny little school room, where we were elbow to elbow with the team working next to us, and opened up the clinic to the public.  I was working triage the whole day, so I took vitals and names and general information from the people coming in, and then passed them along to little stations.  The doctors and nurses that participated in the trip have been absolutely fantastic, and Monday went so smoothly. 
                If we thought we were rubbing shoulders with our medical team members yesterday, we were definitely sitting in each-others laps today. Today, as was inferred by our opening paragraph, I went to prison, but as a part of the Medical team.  We were treating inmates in a local prison about an hour and a half from SCORE, and they had us all stuffed like sardines into a room off the main courtyard.  Today has been, in short, sobering.  The male prison was originally built for 400 people to occupy it, and the day that we visited it was housing 1,312.  Women were not allowed into the prison itself for safety reasons, but the men that were given a tour came out much quieter, and couldn’t quite put into words the conditions.  Men were piled on top of men, and there wasn’t a space on the floor that wasn’t taken.  Cells that were built for 2 had 20 men stuffed inside, and the stench and heat were overpowering.  At first I was slightly worried about treating these men, and had visions of ten tattoo covered warlords with bulging muscles cramming into the cracker-jack sized room with me and the other caregivers.  After the first several trickled in, all HIV positive, my fears were quelled.  These men were absolutely broken.  At one time they might have been feared, but their weakened bodies-most of them dealing with fungus or parasites of some kind- weren’t threatening at all.  Men from all different nationalities were crammed in there, one group spoke to two Scottish men who had their court date Wednesday to see if they could get out of their ten year sentence early for good behavior after already serving five of them.  These same men were ones that the year before had accepted Christ from the same medical team, with many of the same nurses present. This prison opportunity was amazing because the men were so reticent to hear something encouraging.   As one of the translators said “these are men who have no hope.”  What a powerful opportunity we had to share the gospel and the love of Christ! 
On an exciting note for me, I gave my first injections here.  So if any of you need a shot in your tush to ward off infection, I now know how to do that.

Day 3 - Monday

We be is writing, ya’ll from the cafeteria / living area at the SCORE complex. Due to some computer problems and limited access to the internet, our blogs are a little behind. Don’t worry, we will catch up! (eventually). Today we had the privilege to do manual labor at a Church plant that SCORE is in the process of building. Several team members had the opportunity to try new things such as painting, climbing in steamy hot attics and even using a jackhammer. We spent the majority of the morning using the jackhammer to dig holes for fences poles, clearing rocks and debris to make way for the fence, and tearing down an old shack. In the afternoon we painted bathrooms, the stage, and furniture for inside the Church.
Today was a really good day. I (Jay) loved the energy when we first got to our work project at Juan Dolio Church near the campus. When we first got there, I loved the fact that immediately everybody tried to do something or made themselves available for something. Some of the projects that were being done in the morning included jackhammering stone to make holes for the fence, running pipe in the attic, wood work in the Church, and clearing rock and debris to make way for the fence. Also, several team members tore down an old shack. A cool part of the day was when one of the Dominicans came with a machete and chopped out roots and debris. You could tell that the Dominicans do this kind of work for a living. I found that probably no body in the US could match their work ethic. For example, one guy was jackhammering all day from before we arrived until just before we left. It was humbling to see him pull the generator by himself and then to find out that he only made $8 for the full day of work. 
Another funny part of the day was when one of the guys asked me, “What sport do you play?” I answered, “Football.” After a few seconds I said, “Did you expect me to play anything else?” We shared a laugh together at this joke. A really good thing about today was the laugh
I (Abbey) also enjoyed the day a lot! The best part of the day for me was being able to see how the Church interacts all over the world. We are a bunch of college kids on Spring Break who are painting bathrooms a burnt orange / maroonish color, and somehow that is affecting the Church. What a gift to us! I enjoyed being able to spend time in cramped bathrooms talking with Nathanael and Coach. Today was a day that was filled with encouragement and fellowship among our team and among the other workers at the project. While painting one of the bathrooms, Nathanael and I both painted faces on the wall. I was able to leave mine on the wall as a mural and sign it: “Avi.” Avi is what the Dominicans call me when they try to pronounce Abbey.
Something that really impacted me during the day was the affirmation I felt that misisons in some avenue is something that I am called to in my life. The longer I am here the stronger that affirmation gets. It is incredible to me! Even with only a few hours of sleep and the manual labor, I was increasingly more excited about the work, the fellowship and the idea that what we were doing was a part, though small, of something in the Kingdom.  Also, this evening I was able to play music with one of the interns here. He led worship for us and it was such a blessing! It has been awesome to see how the different groups, interns and staff members here this week all come together and bless one another in unexpected ways.

Monday, March 7, 2011

March 6th

Hey yall’ greetings from the Dominican!
Today we woke up at around 7:00 and had a nice breakfast consisting of ham, fruit and toast. We left for church shortly thereafter, traveling with a baseball team from Lincoln, Illinois. Good thing we didn’t eat a lot for breakfast because the way they drive down here would put Nascar to shame!  We arrived at Church to a warm welcome full with smiling Dominicans. The kid’s immediately came up and held our hands. The pastor preached a message about who we really are and who we are trying to please in our lives. When we know who we really are in our relationship with Christ we stop trying to always be pleasing everyone else and start being obedient to him. He also talked a lot about stress and the want that Jesus has for taking that away from us. There will never be any good when we keep built up anxiety and worry in our lives. We came back to the SCORE complex and enjoyed some crazy good potatoes (not exactly sure what they were) along with some meat and salad. As a group of twelve we then split up as half of us went to the beach and the other half rode horses around town. Then we switched, I’m sure we will be super sore tomorrow! After dinner we had a great time with the team, we sang worship songs, journaled about our day and got serenaded by a Dominican intern singing in Spanish. We hung out, laughed, and enjoyed the cool calm breeze coming off the Caribbean.  Overall it was a very relaxing day, and will prepare us for the week of work and ministry ahead. Tomorrow we found out we are going to be doing a work project for a new church that was built in the area, putting up fences and working on the inside.
 - Becca and Miles  
Words from Becca:
I always find it an incredible experience when I visit churches in Central America. There is such a raw authenticity about them. They are not caught up in their traditions or trying to put on a show. During the meet and greet time several kids surrounded me, hugging me and immediately accepted me as a friend, no questions asked. One eventually grabbed my hand and pulled me to where she was sitting. The worship always gets me. Yes, it is in Spanish. Yes, I don’t always know what they are singing. But you know what that does not matter one bit. God was so present in that small church with everyone singing and clapping their hands. Listening to the little girl sitting next to me singing loudly to God reminded me about having faith like a child.
This is my first time experiencing the ocean. I was not disappointed. Yea, I have seen thousands of pictures of it, but seeing it in person gives you a sense of awe. As I sat on the beach looking out at the water and I could only see to a certain point, I couldn’t even fathom how far that ocean stretched. The vastness is not something I can wrap my mind around. I feel like it is the same way with God sometimes. I know the things He has done for me and His promises, but I can only see so far ahead. Therefore, I put limitations on things and tend to “put God in a box.” I don’t realize how big our God really is. What I do know of God is overwhelming and beautiful…yet it is only a piece. I feel like I need to let go of all my pre-conceived notions and let God reveal himself to me in his own way. On this trip my desire is to know God more. To empty me of myself and be filled up with Him.
Thoughts from Miles:
So the last couple of days have been an incredible journey for me. Before leaving for the Dominican I was pretty stressed and began to doubt my place with God and what exactly I am supposed to be doing with my life. I was looking ahead in the future for answers and just felt “off”. My prayer was for God to show me something and change my life on this trip. Well, the first night of the trip here I was in my room thinking about the day’s work in the orphanage. I heard worship music and a group of people were having worship and devotion’s. I walked in and sat in the back row. After worship a pastor from Cedarville, Ohio got up and spoke a message of not loving and trusting God so much with your mind as with your heart and truly falling in love with Jesus I felt the message was directly to me as he hit on key points that I have been battling with this past semester. At the end of the mini sermon, I felt led to stand up and give my testimony; I told them I wanted to make the step and receive Christ. At this point in my life I had never professed my faith like that; there was an overwhelming peace of obedience to that prompting. Before I knew it I was asked if I wanted to be baptized the next day after church. I said yes, and was baptized in the SCORE pool after church. I realize that I don’t need to figure out every detail of my life, but live each day in his presence and he will take care of the rest.  God has a plan for each one of us to grow different.   GOD bless         <3  

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Day 1 ~ The Blessing of Children

Written by Kristina Krogstad and Nathanael Sommers
Travel Day ~ Friday 3-4-2011
     We traveled for a grand total of exactly 24 hours!! We started at 2AM Friday morning and got into the Score compound at 3AM their time (one hour ahead of the good ole Indiana time) (and 2 hours ahead of Wisconsin time. This is a shout out to the Krogstads. woot woot :) )  The reason we got in so late was because Obama was at the Miami airport!! He stopped by and every flight had to be delayed.  He came and shook Nathanael's hand and gave him a post on the cabinet.  So our 8 hour layover turned into a 10.5 hour layover. o goody. But it was a wonderful trip down and we all had a very enjoyable experience. Since we got in so late we were allowed to sleep in 'til lunch. 
     Day one here started with lunch as stated above. Then we went to orientation and learned the rules for Score's compound. After their wonderful presentation, we departed for a girls' orphanage in La Romana. We had so much fun there. As soon as we walked into the orphanage, the girls immediately held our hands and led us to different parts of the yard. We then played a multitude of games with them, mainly volleyball and basketball. 
     So now we (Kristina and I) are going to tell you some personal stories from the day to give you an idea of the team's experiences. The girl that latched on to me (Kristina) right away was named Estephanie. She was with or near me the entire time and carried my water bottle for me (and drank out of it.) We started out playing volleyball with a little soccer ball and then moved to their basketball/volleyball court where a bunch of people were. We sort of just switched off sitting, playing volleyball, and basketball for awhile. I really enjoyed just being able to love on the girls and have a good time with them. There was another girl who shared the same name as me and it was fun meeting her. It always amazes me how they all just want to be loved and get to know you. They are not shy at all. It was great to be able to just laugh with them and know that they were enjoying our English comments. I'm pretty sure some of them were laughing at and mocking me (not in a mean way) for my actions and comments. I just laughed with them. :) (We were taught before the trip to know how to laugh at yourself and I think I am able to do that pretty well. :o) ) Obviously, I am not very good at speaking Spanish but I tried a few comments here and there and pretty much made a fool of myself but it was all just so much fun. The hardest part of the whole thing was the communication barrier. There were a couple times where I was sitting with Estephanie and a couple others and I just wanted to talk to them but couldn't. I wish I could just be fluent in Spanish without having to go through the process of learning it. :D Don't we all... But, at least love, laughter, and playing sports with kids transcends the language barrier and love and hope is the most important thing to pour into their lives. That makes me think of the verse that talks about preaching the Word through action and if necessary use words (reference and word for word verse unavailable.) Overall I had a lot of fun today and praise God for giving us this awesome opportunity to spend time with these girls.
     Ok now it's my turn! finally... just kidding. This is Nathanael speaking by the way. I had a couple girls latch on to me at the beginning but the biggest joy for me was when this little boy named Ricky ran up to me. (a few younger boys were at the orphanage as well) Ricky was probably around 2 years old, and he was the cutest thing ever. I threw him into the air and that immediately won his love. I carried him around for the rest of the afternoon and played with him. He really liked to climb to my back and then beat the back of my head and scream until I would jump. It was the most wonderful experience. It really made me think about how valuable children are to the Lord and the Kingdom.  They share a unique connection to God that just cannot be seen through anything else.  To look into the eyes of a child and see the wonder, innocence, and purest form of love is just amazing. It is a pure and sure way to see the face of God. I love it. 
     And we came back and saw the beach and journaled.  That was great too. God's beauty is all around us and we need to just open our eyes and enjoy it. (easier on a tropical island but it applies everywhere) Well that is the end of this journal because we already wrote a novella. There is so much more we could say but there is no way we could express everything adequately anyway, so we are done. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support and for following along with us on this journey! 

All for His Glory, 
Kristina and Nathanael