At the end of summer program, we award prizes (packs of cookies!) to the top four or five students from each class. These are kids who have done the best both behaviorally and academically throughout the summer. This summer, a miracle happened! As the 2nd graders were being called, my coworker Ruben read three names, and then paused. He made sure he had everyone's attention, and then dramatically yelled, "And for the first time ever, making history... JULIO!!!!!!" Everyone screamed and cheered and clapped!
Julio* has been in 2nd grade for three years now. He is a fighter. He has a reputation for always being in trouble, and he probably spends more time in the office than any other kid at the Care Center. I personally have been physically attacked by him multiple times, including having rocks thrown at me and being scratched with staples! The staff of the Care Center has been praying for him daily for years. The director has talked with him, with his siblings, with his mother. And finally, this summer, God got through to Julio. He finally made progress in learning to read. He only got in trouble a few times in the 5 weeks. He smiled because he was actually happy, not because he had just beaten someone up. I am SO grateful that his teachers chose to acknowledge his change! When they called Julio's name, he walked up on the stage and got his award full of pride. Everyone made a big fuss over him, telling him how proud they were of him and how wonderful it was that he won for behaving well and learning a lot. When the kids were dismissed, his face was still glowing with pride and happiness in his accomplishments! I am praying hard that he continues to let God work on him this year and that he is motivated by his success this summer.
That's what my work here is all about. That's what Kids Alive is all about. Creating environments where kids meet God. Teaching them about and demonstrating God's love, grace, and compassion. And then sitting back and watching transformation take place. Transformation that can only come from God. What a testimony to the staff and kids of the Care Center to see that God loves and changes even kids who it's sometimes tempting to give up on. I am overwhelmed by God's persistent love, that he never gives up on Julio, and that he never gives up on me. I remember that while it may not be as visibly drastic as the change in Julio's life, my life has been transformed as well. And I am mystified that an all-powerful God who controls the universe is intimately involved in the lives of each one of us. Wow. I pray that Julio will continue to be a reminder of these things on the days when it doesn't seem like transformation is taking place in Caraballo.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph 3:20-21)
*The child's name has been changed.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
random thoughts on despedidas
(warning: this blog is a little of a hodgepodge...)
Summer is a high turnover time in the missionary community, and this summer was no exception. In the last two months I have said goodbye to three summer interns, four missionaries in Montellano, two Kids Alive missionaries, and my dear roommate Lauren. Wow. I have also said (more temporary ) goodbyes to my sister Molly, who was here for the summer and to several people who will be back in a few months. In less than two months I will say goodbye to another two Makarios missionaries.
Goodbyes (despedidas) mean parties. We threw four goodbye parties for Lauren - with our church, with our ladies' Bible study, with our Dominican friends, and with the Mak staff/Montellano gringos. Lauren and I also took a goodbye vacation to Santo Domingo for a long weekend and had a final roommate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Amidst all that, however, the strongest feeling we had was of gratefulness and amazement - God has done incredible things for us here in providing community. Instead of sadness, we were struck by the ways God has blessed us here. Even as I returned home to an empty apartment after Lauren left, I walked in the door and was overwhelmed by the truth that God is good. That's one of the foundational spiritual principles we studied at missionary training, and I have clung to it this summer. And now, a few hours after taking Molly to the airport to return to the US, I am still clinging. Even if I don't feel it in the moment, I will declare God's goodness to me, and I will praise him for whatever it is that he is doing to my life this summer!
I don't have much insight yet into how God will use all these goodbyes. Right now they mostly feel hard. My home, which is more a group of people than an apartment, is now scattered across the US and the DR. I will have a new roommate soon, but home, my place of stability and security, is changing. I have to trust that God, as my unchanging Rock, will continue to be where I find my true home. I also have to trust that my will is often not God's will, and that his will is always better.
A scripture that I have read and reread the last few weeks is Psalm 116:7 - "Be at rest once more, oh my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Rest. Peace. God's goodness. Pray with me that I will return to my rest, and that I will find that rest only in the Lord.
A song that I have listened to over and over: Thy Mercy, My God by Sandra McCracken. Listen to it and read the lyrics here.
I'll leave you with some pictures from the goodbyes, too, because a lot of fun memories have been made! (And because blog without pictures is boring, right?) Clockwise from the top left: Lauren with the Dominican Makarios staff; our last beach day together; roommate goodbye dinner (which we had despite a national transportation strike!); goodbye party with church friends; Molly and I enjoying our sister goodbye night at a resort; Lauren and I enjoying an audio tour of a colonial fort in Santo Domingo; snorkeling together with the underwater camera!
Summer is a high turnover time in the missionary community, and this summer was no exception. In the last two months I have said goodbye to three summer interns, four missionaries in Montellano, two Kids Alive missionaries, and my dear roommate Lauren. Wow. I have also said (more temporary ) goodbyes to my sister Molly, who was here for the summer and to several people who will be back in a few months. In less than two months I will say goodbye to another two Makarios missionaries.
Goodbyes (despedidas) mean parties. We threw four goodbye parties for Lauren - with our church, with our ladies' Bible study, with our Dominican friends, and with the Mak staff/Montellano gringos. Lauren and I also took a goodbye vacation to Santo Domingo for a long weekend and had a final roommate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Amidst all that, however, the strongest feeling we had was of gratefulness and amazement - God has done incredible things for us here in providing community. Instead of sadness, we were struck by the ways God has blessed us here. Even as I returned home to an empty apartment after Lauren left, I walked in the door and was overwhelmed by the truth that God is good. That's one of the foundational spiritual principles we studied at missionary training, and I have clung to it this summer. And now, a few hours after taking Molly to the airport to return to the US, I am still clinging. Even if I don't feel it in the moment, I will declare God's goodness to me, and I will praise him for whatever it is that he is doing to my life this summer!
I don't have much insight yet into how God will use all these goodbyes. Right now they mostly feel hard. My home, which is more a group of people than an apartment, is now scattered across the US and the DR. I will have a new roommate soon, but home, my place of stability and security, is changing. I have to trust that God, as my unchanging Rock, will continue to be where I find my true home. I also have to trust that my will is often not God's will, and that his will is always better.
A scripture that I have read and reread the last few weeks is Psalm 116:7 - "Be at rest once more, oh my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Rest. Peace. God's goodness. Pray with me that I will return to my rest, and that I will find that rest only in the Lord.
A song that I have listened to over and over: Thy Mercy, My God by Sandra McCracken. Listen to it and read the lyrics here.
I'll leave you with some pictures from the goodbyes, too, because a lot of fun memories have been made! (And because blog without pictures is boring, right?) Clockwise from the top left: Lauren with the Dominican Makarios staff; our last beach day together; roommate goodbye dinner (which we had despite a national transportation strike!); goodbye party with church friends; Molly and I enjoying our sister goodbye night at a resort; Lauren and I enjoying an audio tour of a colonial fort in Santo Domingo; snorkeling together with the underwater camera!
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