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
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