Sunday in the Dominican Republic

Sunday – Day 1 in Jarabacoa

The first morning waking up in Jarabacoa was full of new sounds – roosters crowing, sky high bamboo shoots clinking together like wooden wind chimes, the warm breeze rustling the branches of the palm trees……the crashing sound of Phyllis running across the bedroom trying to smash a cockroach the size of a mouse, followed quickly by the screams and laughter of several of the other women.  It was quickly apparent that we are not in the U.S. anymore!

Our team had instructions to be ready for a quick orientation before church at 9:45am but due to unfamiliar beds, a new environment and most of all, excitement, most of us were up and getting ready by 6:30am. With the promise of seeing several of our sponsored kids from The Ark orphanage we were chomping at the bit to get the day going.

We attended church at La Vid  (The Vine) which is the home church for the kids at the Ark. Church is held in a big pavilion with a roof but no walls and it is not uncommon to see lizards darting around the beams of the ceiling. Several of the members of our team were able to sit with their sponsored kids during the service.  One of the most beautiful sounds in the world is the voices of those sweet kiddos singing praise in Spanish to our awesome God! The Dominican people worship with an enthusiasm that is contagious and soon we found ourselves singing along to worship choruses in Spanish. We may not have understood all of the words but God sure did. The reminder that God is a universal God – not an American God was refreshing and eye opening.  

Lunch was prepared at the team house by our amazing cook Carmen and her daughter Nani. We shared a meal of roasted chicken, beans and rice, fried yucca and carrot-raisin salad with several of the Dominican missionaries. After lunch we changed clothes and got ready to head to a waterfall for a hike with some of the Ark kids.

We packed into a van with our team, two Kids Alive missionaries from Haiti and two Haitian kids. The Haitian kids are in the D.R. for eye surgery at a nearby mission hospital but were able to join us for an afternoon of fun. The Ark kids rode to the waterfall in the back of a truck driven by one of the house parents and jumped out enthusiastically, ready to hike and swim. We made our way across several swinging bridges and a set of treacherous metal stairs before we made it to a small sandy beach at the base of the waterfall. The kids loved splashing in the water, throwing mud, sliding down rocks, getting buried in sand, and dunking the Americanos. Laughter and squeals were heard echoing off of the cliffs that surround the waterfall and everyone was reluctant to leave when the sky threatened rain.

After a fun filled afternoon we headed back to the house and waited for Jan, the director of Palo Blanco Care Center, to come to the team house and go out to dinner with us. We ate dinner at Delicias Columbianos – a Columbian restaurant that served up empanadas and homemade hot sauce out of a trailer under a thatched roof awning. The food was delicious and the meal ended with a walk in the rain to Bon, our favorite ice cream place.

Our team is looking forward to going to Palo Blanco tomorrow and helping with the first week of summer school. We will also be helping with painting and electrical on the building that we helped construct last February. More of our team will get to meet their sponsored kids, which has everyone excited!!! Thank you all for your continue thought and prayers!