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THANK YOU!!!

The 10 day journey has come to an end. Visiting our new friends in the Dominican Republic was an incredible experience. There are so many moments that we will never forget, such as serving with the students from Maria’s church, throwing water balloons at one another, painting, worshiping in Spanish, going boating, roasting marshmallows during the summer on a bonfire (that was really hot!), playing volleyball, and many other unmentionable moments that are just too many to list…

Between some drama, jokes, work and fun times we were able to get to know each other a lot better, learned that it does not matter what you have and what the price tag says you can still enjoy your life and lend a helping hand to the ones that need it; kids who have not seen the privileges that we enjoy seemed to not even need them to be happy – they easily find happiness in the simple things in life such as friendship and love. They are able to look at life through the eyes of Jesus who is the Lord of their lives and are so eager to share it with the rest of the world through showing love and compassion. No matter the age or the background, no matter the struggles of the past life children and adults alike seem to get what following Christ is all about…

Thanks to all who have been following this blog and to all our sponsors who made this trip possible. 
A huge GRACIAS to all the parents for your support and to the Team in the Dominican Republic, especially to Alberty and Ingrid for your kindness, love and hospitality while we were with you!!!

Spread the JOY!!!

No more pain, no more struggle...only fun times!

So, finally I am able to see what the kids are up to  here in the DR!!! It was definitely a journey for everyone...so much has happened in the past 6 days, feels like a lifetime. I was happy to see how Alberty, Ingrid, Clive and Mr. Bethell handled everything. One thing for sure, 6 girls with such different personalities all at once can be an interesting combination. However, I was also so glad to see how everyone matured just by encountering unfamiliar situations and having to deal with uncharted territory socially among one another as well as with others from a different culture altogether. 

Today had a chance to walk around the neighborhood. We all agree that there are so many little children here! It was hard to identify people over 50. We were giving out candy to the kids as we passed the houses along a dirt-road street. We were able to visit a school and saw how the kids behaved there - not much different from what we have back home. We caught one class performing something in French inside a French class. They had cute outfits and were dancing and singing something in French...Perhaps that was something different - they seemed more excited to learn and had cell phones and cameras in class!!!

Anyway, later on we watched and played some basketball...It turns out Fidel, who is the youth pastor of the church that we partnered with, had the game organized whereby the group from church (the believers) played against the group of young boys who are non-believers. He uses that as an opportunity to fellowship with them and after the game he shares Christ and the Word with everyone, encouraging them to accept Christ into their lives, praying with them and simply being friends with them. I was really moved by that...

Then, we had lunch...which ended with us finding a SERIOUSLY huge spider- the black widow, and certain someone decided to pick it up and chase people around with it...needless to say, Ms. G ran into some people's laundry that was hanging on the line....YEAH>>>not winning at all!

The best part about today was the fact that we did not have to work and actually had a chance to go to the mall!!! 

Tomorrow will be the first day that we can sleep until 10:00am! We also have planned to go to the beach and one other awesome thing to do...but you gotta stay tuned to find out what it is :)

 

Day 5

Franchesca Chelsea 25 April 19:30 It's awesome how you can get so emotional attached to people you only knew for three days, like Clara, Camil, Dianna, Diego, Nelson, Carlos, Jose and Maria, some of the most amazing people I think I'll ever get to meet. I'm extremely glad that I came on this trip and I don't want to think about how hard it's going to be saying goodbye. I put SWEAT, Blood (broke a part of my nail), and tears (some of the stories are very heart warming) into this experience... and I would do all of it over and over again.

Playing basketball at Pastor Maria's school

Day 4

Nicole-Simone Harrison

blog day 4

We all had a blast today. We visited the botanical gardens and the colonial city. It was amazing to see how well they preserved their history to how much it meant to them. We do miss you all greatly, we all agree that 10 days is not enough. The friendships we have made were life changing. We're certain that it was life changing to all of us. It was so hard to say goodbye to the way they cooperated as a team and not a company, family and not as one the other had to depend on, their food, and the way they were so excited to accept us into their ministry not only to view it, but to experience it as well. 

We send are love :)

Day 3 -> Super Cansados

Too Tired ...

In their own words...

"Hola ! 

We are having a wonderful time in Dominican Republic. As for today, we went to the church and did fun activities with the children in the community nearby. At the church, the children went inside the pool. I had so much fun with them, i even got wet myself. The children are so sweet and friendly."

                                                                        ~ Wellecia Mullings.

"Hola, amigos! 

We’re having a blast here at the Dominican Republic. It’s both fun and meaningful. It’s fun because of the children within the activities that we did and meaningful, seeing the children enjoying themselves when they have hardly anything, and, miraculously, still smiling with hidden joy in their eyes. Crystal and I are producing happiness and reaching out helping hands one movement at a time."

                                                                     ~ Tyshnique Hield and Crystal Clarke. 

"Aloh! Come tu tas? 

Estoy muy bien pero estoy cansada tambien.  

I’m still alive :)  

[C L E A R L Y !]"

                                                                      ~ Dena Ingraham.

"Hola! 

I am having fun… climbing trees….. painting buildings……. And speaking….(trying to speak to the Dominicans) they are very kind and fun to interact with……. Adios….. YAAAAA DOEEE KIA:P"

                                                                         ~ Michael Cooper

Message in the Bottle

"HEY ALL THE STUDENTS ARE HERE IN DOM REP HAVING A LOT OF FUN AND WORKING WITH THE CHILDREN IN THE POOR AREAS.TtHEY ARE HAVING SO MUCH FUN THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE YESTERDAY NOR TODAY. THEY HAVE BEEN PRACTICING THEIR SPANISH A LOT AND MANY HAVE BEGUN TO FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THE LANGUAGE. EVEN BETTER THEIR HEARTS HAVE BEEN TOUCHED AND THEY HAVE BEGUN TO SEE HOW BLESSED THEY ARE AND HOW THEY MUST BE GRATEFUL TO GOD. THINGS ARE WELL , WE ARE ALL WELL. CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE STUDENTS THAT THEIR HEARTS WILL CONTINUE TO BE TOUCHED BY GOD."                       ~Clive Guy.

Clive Guy

Spring 2011 Connections in the Dominican Republic

http://www.delcaminoconnection.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125&Itemid=25&utm_source=DCC+Newsletter&utm_campaign=179869b752-DCC_Spring_2011&utm_medium=email

Serving at the Barrio Los Ramirez with the youth.

Today was a very eventful day 1 for the students.  They woke up, had breakfast and did devotions in the morning. Then they traveled to Puertas de Sion facilities in the neighborhood called Barrio Ramirez, were they met and were working at a school of Pastor Maria Lopez, which is in this poor area. They walked around the area and were able to see how people live gaining an appreciation for the needs that the people there have and the financial struggles that they are dealing with at a result of poverty. They met a lot of kids of different ages, from little per-preschoolers to teenagers who live there and attend Maria's ministry. Our children assisted with paining the school and later on had a delicious lunch that was prepared by the women serving in the ministry. They spent the afternoon interacting with the church team and walking around the neighborhood with them inviting the person in Spanish to attend the service which was held this evening and lead by the youth group. 

After dinner they visited the Iglesia Comunitaria (the Community Church) in the Colonial city for the Mid Week Service. One thing for sure, they were tired by the time they got back to hostel.

End of Day 1 at the DR :)

HOSTAL "BELLA EPOCA"

This is where we will be staying when we get there...

The common area...isn't it cute?

Packing and awaiting...

In about 12hours I will be heading to the brand new Nassau international airport...it will be still dark outside and the vast majority of sane people will be on their second dream...but not us...in fact, I doubt I will be getting any zzzz's tonight. Pleany of coffe should hold me over as I will be packing, marking papers and putting some grades in the grade book. Thankfully I got the neck pillow from my friend Jenifer, which means there is hope of catching up on some sleep on the plane...traveling is always a sweet sorrow: fun to be going but not so fun going through the process of checking in luggage, going through immigration and tagging bags in and out of the airport. However, the thought of getting the warm welcome by Alfredo and Tom is a consolation...they are experts at making guest feel at home :)
So, with that being said, all of you who are following this blog, thank you for your prayers and for having enough courage and curiosity to journey with us and vicariously living through us! Let's get on board!

A little bit of history (back in 2009)

Kingsway Academy Dominican Republic Mission Trip 2011

In the year 2009 a group from the New Providence community church embarked on a mission trip to serve and learn alongside various ministries in Santo Domingo. It was my first mission trip ever, but for years I have been dreaming of an opportunity to go on a trip like this.

The people that comprised the group represented a rainbow of ages, colors, walks of lives, nationalities and interests…the one thing that was in common was the passion to learn more about what it truly means to live out the biblical principles of loving your neighbor. Little did we know that this trip would force us to overcome our differences and, once the barriers came down, we were stripped down to the core of our deeper feelings. We learned from the experience and from observation of our Dominican brothers and sisters who lived out their faith in such freedom. We learned that you do not need to have much to give nor do you have to be anyone else other than yourself.

As a teacher and a youth leader I was inspired to expose the students to such experience and instead of a regular language exchange school trip I decided to make it an immersion/mission trip. My hope is that they will encounter and whiteness the simplicity of Christian faith manifested in the lives of others, that they will overcome the barriers of language, culture and personal inhibition and will immerse themselves in the experience of what is to come…so stay tuned and follow us on our blog :

http://kingswaydrtrip2011.blogspot.com/

Peace’n’Love

Iliana :)

So, in one day we will be going to the airport and will be heading to the Dominican Republic. It will be a group of 7 students, one parent, one youth leader and one teacher (me :))

We will be spending 10 days in the DR, serving in the community in various ministries alongside Tom, Dee, Maria and Roberto. I am excited to see the way this trip will impact the group spiritually. I am looking forward to new friendships and to new service opportunities. I pray and believe that the Lord will continue to show up and bless the people who are involved in making this a joint effort in exchanging cultures and the gospel.