From tonight's meeting:
"This morning was one of the best things I've ever done."
"I wish I had gone on this trip every single year...I've learned so much about myself and about God."
"It's humbling to see how joyful the patients at the leprosarium are with practically nothing. We have so much, and we're not happy with that."
"I don't have the words, but I saw your hearts this morning at the leper hospital, your tears, your sensitivity and your love were evident as you sat with the patients."
"Saying good-bye to the children...to everyone was so sad."
From Lennox: "I remember being one of those kids outside the bus, wondering if I would ever see those Americans again, so happy they came to share their lives with me."
From Mission Emanuel's short-term mission director: "It was so refreshing to see your hearts at Cielo, at the leper hospital, at Quita Sueno, at the hotel...you represented your school, the mission, and Jesus Christ so well."
From one of the Dominican translators who spent the week with us: "You made me feel like family; I felt closer to God today, and the peak was listening to your singing together tonight."
And finally, a poem written by some of the students, which began as a fun competition between two tables at the Chinese restaurant on New Year's Day. The result is a poem that describes our experience here and the heart of each student:
The sun rises in the late morn
2013 has started
Ready to serve, faith has been born
But our old life has been parted
The sun has reached it's highest point
We have come to love like the rain
It is for him that we anoint
Brick by brick and through all the pain
The clouds come in, the sun is gone
The children smile the rain has come
The love has brought a brand new dawn
The sun has set our day is done
The next sun rise we serve once more
We long to see what is in store
love like the rain
Thursday, January 3, 2013
in their words
Today's blog is not in our words, but in the words of the people we were with today:
At devotions this morning, Ashley Ancona read from Exodus 3:9-12, where Moses asked God, "Who Am I?" Ashley encouraged us: "Each of you chose to go on this trip. Maybe you're asking God, 'Who am I, that You would use me?' But if you hadn't chosen to go on this trip, there would be one less block laid, a child who wasn't played with, a leper who may not be touched." Ashley also read Mark 1:40-42, "Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched the leper..." "Today," Ashley said, "we will be able to walk like Jesus walked and be with the people He was with. If you weren't on this trip, someone would not experience your touch."
At the leper hospital, the doctor who has ministered to the patients there for 32 years talked with us before we saw the patients. "Your visit is very important to these patients. When you leave, they continue to think about the Americans. Your visit makes them feel like human beings. Not many people visit them because of the stigma of the disease. They rejoice when you come....This day, January 3, 2013, is registered in heaven as the day you visited Christ Himself."
After we moved furniture into the home we completed this week and dedicated the home for Anna (a single mom) and her children, Anna said, "I will use this house to bless others and bring glory to God."
As we prepared to leave Cielo for the last time this week, there were not many words...just tears and hugs and long good-byes.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
wish you were here
What we wish you could see, hear and experience with us:
• The singing in room 422 each night, led by Lennox, each voice raised in worship. "Oh, how He loves us..." "I give myself away so You can use me..."
• The laughter and talking on the bus as we travel from place to place, and the laughter in room 422, especially after our meetings, when we play "Four on a Couch," "Fishbowl" or "Signs." (This is the same group who sat silent in our basement during our pre-trip meetings.)
• A house transformed from top to bottom, primed and painted, with a brand-new concrete floor, ready for furniture to be moved in tomorrow, all by teams working tirelessly and happily together.
• The smiling Dominican little girls, with nails freshly painted by some of our girls.
• The guys running down the street, each with a laughing child on their shoulders.
• The walls of Cielo's new church growing taller with rows of blocks laid by students and parents armed with spades, hammers, buckets and shovels.
• The happy reunion at Pura's house. One year ago, we laid the foundation and started building the walls of her house. Other teams worked on it after us, and Pura and her family moved in last spring. She welcomed us into her new home, and showed us around so we could see the completed walls that we had a part in building. Pura prayed Philippians 4:13 over us. She told us that God turned her crying into dancing, and she prayed that the strength God gives us would help us to build homes for more people.
• The visits in other homes throughout Cielo and neighboring Nazaret, as students and families visited their sponsor children, the homes of the Haitians we work with during the day, or just friends we've made in the village. We're always welcomed with smiles, invitations to come and sit, cups of strong Dominican coffee, and even fresh pineapple or coconut water.
• The streets of Quita Sueno, a village that looks like Cielo 15 years ago, before Mission Emanuel began its ministry. We brought 150 bottles of water to give out to the people of Quita Sueno, as well as puppets and crafts for a Vacation Bible School in the street, attended by children, parents, grandparents, teenagers, and one large pig grazing on the hill.
• The voices of the students in room 422 right now, which is adjacent to our room, hanging out until it is time to go to church in Cielo tonight. It did not take long for us to become one big family.
• The singing in room 422 each night, led by Lennox, each voice raised in worship. "Oh, how He loves us..." "I give myself away so You can use me..."
• The laughter and talking on the bus as we travel from place to place, and the laughter in room 422, especially after our meetings, when we play "Four on a Couch," "Fishbowl" or "Signs." (This is the same group who sat silent in our basement during our pre-trip meetings.)
• A house transformed from top to bottom, primed and painted, with a brand-new concrete floor, ready for furniture to be moved in tomorrow, all by teams working tirelessly and happily together.
• The smiling Dominican little girls, with nails freshly painted by some of our girls.
• The guys running down the street, each with a laughing child on their shoulders.
• The walls of Cielo's new church growing taller with rows of blocks laid by students and parents armed with spades, hammers, buckets and shovels.
• The happy reunion at Pura's house. One year ago, we laid the foundation and started building the walls of her house. Other teams worked on it after us, and Pura and her family moved in last spring. She welcomed us into her new home, and showed us around so we could see the completed walls that we had a part in building. Pura prayed Philippians 4:13 over us. She told us that God turned her crying into dancing, and she prayed that the strength God gives us would help us to build homes for more people.
• The visits in other homes throughout Cielo and neighboring Nazaret, as students and families visited their sponsor children, the homes of the Haitians we work with during the day, or just friends we've made in the village. We're always welcomed with smiles, invitations to come and sit, cups of strong Dominican coffee, and even fresh pineapple or coconut water.
• The streets of Quita Sueno, a village that looks like Cielo 15 years ago, before Mission Emanuel began its ministry. We brought 150 bottles of water to give out to the people of Quita Sueno, as well as puppets and crafts for a Vacation Bible School in the street, attended by children, parents, grandparents, teenagers, and one large pig grazing on the hill.
• The voices of the students in room 422 right now, which is adjacent to our room, hanging out until it is time to go to church in Cielo tonight. It did not take long for us to become one big family.
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