My Dominican Diary: Update One

Hi from the Dominican Republic! I hope you all are doing very well!

As I'm writing this, it is the fifth day I have been here. Even though this is only a fraction of my trip, the Lord has taught me so much already and I am excited to share with you the highlights. But I am also going to share with you my fears, hard days, and everything in between. Being genuine is extremely important to me and internal in how I share my faith, so I want you to know every word typed here holds truth and intentionality. So with all that being said... here's my Dominican Diary.

7/5: The Day I Arrived

I was extremely anxious on the day I left. While flying doesn't scare me, the thought of flying to another country did. I have never been out of the country before, so doing it without my family definitely brought about some fears.

I won't bore you with all the details, but long story short, my flight almost left without me. I had arrived at the airport with plenty of time and had all the documents I needed, but a mistake at the check-in desk left me with more nerves than I had before. At this point, it was 5:50 on a Monday morning and my day had not gone at all as I had planned. But through lots of prayers, deeps breaths, and the repetition of Psalm 9:19, I was able to calm down and have a good rest of my travel.

Seeing Olivia when I got out of the airport was the biggest JOY. For those of you who don't know, Olivia and I were suitemates last year at school, and she quickly became one of my dearest friends. Olivia has such a deep love for all she encounters, and she works diligently to serve those around her. I have absolutely loved being with her on this experience, and I am so grateful for a friend who challenges me in faith but can also make me laugh harder than anyone else.

It was also so nice to meet Alondra, whose family I am staying with. She has such a big, beautiful personality and is so full of joy. She is only a few years older than Olivia and me, and it has been so amazing to get to know her and serve alongside her.

7/6: A Day in the Mountains

On Tuesday, Alondra's family took us to a home they have in the mountains so we could all get to know each other better and plan for the upcoming weeks.

After walking partway to the house (which was HARD), we arrived, and it was so beautiful to breathe in the mountain air and reflect on the beauty and intentionality of God's creation. What a sweet reminder to know I'm held by the One who crafted each ridge and rock on this mountain with His very hand.

Then, I learned how to play dominoes, which is one of the most popular games in the Dominican. Kirk, who's the founder of Operation MATT, told me that it takes a lifetime to get good at the game, but your favorite gringo (me) won all four of the games we played.

I struggled with Spanish a lot on this day. As silly as it sounds, I felt embarrassed to speak. Alondra speaks English fluently, so the language barrier has not necessarily been hard, just very different. I really like to talk to people, so it has been hard only having surface-level conversations in Spanish. But becoming fluent in a language is certainly a process, and it's not something I want to give up on.

It was so nice to engage in fellowship with everyone while in the mountains. While it looked different than if we had all spoken the same language, it was still beautiful to know we were all united in service and missions.

7/7: My First Day at the Church

On Wednesday, we arrived at the church around 8:15 and started our Spanish lesson with a woman named Naomi. She is so kind and has so much patience with Olivia and me. She taught us a lot of biblical and faith-based vocabulary, which was so nice because I had limited knowledge of those. Olivia and I spent at least ten minutes trying to correctly pronounce "misericordia," which is the word for mercy (hence me mentioning Naomi's patience with us haha).

After our lesson, the kids came into the room, and we began the English lesson for the day. We had about twelve kids, and we went over the English words for different animals and played corresponding games. Then, we gave them a Bible lesson over Gideon. This brought me so much comfort because the story of Gideon (Judges 6) was such a big part of me receiving my calling to serve here in the Dominican. When I would hear God's calling, I would say yes, but the next day I would pray for another sign and another and another. I would always say that I felt like Gideon as he keeps asking God to perform miracles so he could be certain about his calling to overtake the Midians. Hearing this Bible story on the very first day of my work here was so reassuring; it was like a full-circle moment of God saying, "yes, you're supposed to be here. Despite the fear, you're supposed to be here. Despite the challenges, you're supposed to be here."

After the lessons with the kids, we had some free time before lunch. Alondra challenged us to speak only Spanish while at the church, and WOW I felt like I learned so much in just one day. My brain was definitely tired, but it was also refreshing to challenge myself and try to communicate with the people around us.

Later in the afternoon, we spent time walking up and down the street finding people to talk to and evangelize to. Here, almost everyone will say they are Christians even if they don't go to church or truly believe in Jesus. I think it's a very interesting comparison to the cultural Christianity we often see in the Bible Belt of the South.

We ask people what they believe about God. Typically people reply with "He's my everything" or "He's my Savior." In some cases, this is very true, but many others only have a surface-level understanding of God and what it truly means to be a Christian. Then, we ask another question: If you were to die today, would you go to heaven or hell? Most people answer with heaven because they believe they are good people. We explain that the Gospel clearly states we are NOT good people, and we can never become good people. We are sinful people with sinful ways. Jesus Christ is the only good person to ever walk upon the earth, and walking with Him allows us to stand before the Lord. He is our intercessor, taking upon the judgment God has for sin so we may spend eternity glorifying the Father. Then, we ask if they have any questions and invite them to church. Since this was my first day, I didn't do much of the talking other than introducing myself, but it was nice to see firsthand what we will be doing to evangelize.

After evangelizing, we went back to the church and spent more time with the kids. It was so fun to play volleyball with them. They all have such fun personalities and are so kind. I have loved getting to know the big hearts in their little bodies.

On Wednesdays, we stay at the church until about 9 p.m. because there is a Bible study put on by Pedro Juan, the pastor (also Alondra's dad!). He preached on the life and mission work of Hudson Taylor, a missionary from Europe who spent the majority of his life serving people in China. Hearing the story of Hudson Taylor was reassuring because even through his hardships, the Lord offered so much provision over his life and ministry. It made me think about my own time here and realize that mission work isn't meant to be perfect or without challenges. Mission work is supposed to be genuine, rooted in truth and honesty to exemplify how God works in every situation.

7/7: The Hole

Today, we got to the church in the morning and did our Spanish lessons with Naomi and then the English lessons with the kids. We had fun playing Simon Says with them about the parts of the body. Then, our Bible lesson was over the prophecies and ministry of Elijah.

For evangelism, we went into a neighborhood called "The Hole." You go down a set of stairs off of an alleyway and end up in a narrow walkway with houses crammed together on either side. I've honestly never seen anything like it in the US, so it was a little hard to take it all in. Alondra told us that only a few years ago those houses used to be made of cardboard and bits of wood. But a fire destroyed the entire neighborhood, so the city worked to rebuild the houses, this time with bricks. It was hard to believe that these houses were upgrades from what they used to be, but that was the reality of the poverty in this area. Yet there were so many smiling faces, so many kind "hola's" echoing from doorways, so many sweet kids giggling with their friends–– so much joy in a place that you would never expect.

Honestly, evangelism was really hard for me today. I can understand Spanish a lot better than I am able to speak it, so I often was getting aggravated at myself. With one woman, in particular, I wanted to tell her that Jesus had already saved her and chosen her– she didn't need to do anything more than just accept His saving. But I didn't know how to say all those things in Spanish, and at the moment, it would have been hard to ask Alondra to stop talking and translate for me.

I know I need to be gentle with myself because learning a language is a long process, but I was really upset that I couldn't communicate what was on my heart. Talking about Jesus is the biggest joy in my life, and I'm struggling to do that in Spanish. But I still have plenty of time here to continue to learn and grow in both my evangelism and Spanish skills. I am trying to memorize some sort of a script to help prepare me more for the next time we evangelize. I would greatly appreciate your prayers so that the Holy Spirit may guide me and speak through me. Pray that I am reminded that His words, never mine, are what truly change hearts and lives. I am merely a vessel for His truth.

7/8: Beach Day with Monkey Man and Bird Boy

On Friday, Kirk and one of the pastors took Olivia and me to the beach! The beach is one of my favorite places, and it was so refreshing to be there. Even though I have only worked here for a few days, I was exhausted and didn't realize how much I was craving rest.

Olivia and I talked to Kirk for a long time about his life in missions and ministry. He has so much wisdom and experience and truly offers such tangible advice to us. I told him how on all the mission trips I've been on before, we've done some sort of home repair, and it's much harder on a trip like this because you cannot see the fruits of your labor. Instead of saying, "oh, I painted this today and fixed that today," I was wondering if my words and time with people were truly affecting the kingdom being established here on earth. Kirk told me that one day he got a Facebook message from a name he only vaguely recalled. It was a man with who he had shared the Gospel over fifteen years before. The man told Kirk that on that day, his life changed forever. When Kirk prayed with him, he accepted Jesus into his heart and never looked back. Yet for all those years, Kirk had no idea if that man even remembered a single word he said.

I think it's hard for me to remember the process of evangelism isn't instantaneous. I also think it's hard to remember that this process is never about me or how much I can do. All of it is for the glory of the Lord. Instead of counting how many people I've helped or how many mission trips I've been on, I am meant simply to obey the great commission and go out to His people. He will do the work through me: for His glory and His kingdom.

On a much sillier note, I held a monkey today! Usually, you have to pay to take pictures with the monkey, but the man felt bad for me because... well... I was kinda freaking out. But NOT because of the monkey.

For those of you who don't know, I am absolutely TERRIFIED of birds. Like full-on fear when one gets near me (even the small ones!). So the monkey man was walking around with his friend who was carrying a HUGE macaw. The beak was ready to peck me. The feathers were going to give me the bird influenza (yes, I fear I will be one of the 850 infected annually). His talons were going to grip me, and this bird was ready to fly off into the sky with me under him. I could see it all in his beady little bird eyes.

So I am yelling "tengo miedo, tengo miedo," which means I am scared. But I could not remember the Spanish word for bird, so the monkey man is trying to tell me it's ok and the monkey is very nice. And I'm trying to tell him that the monkey is not the subject of terror here, but after some miscommunications, he ends up handing me the monkey. Meanwhile, the bird boy is just looking at me like I'm insane. The monkey man takes back the monkey and tells me I can take pictures with the monkey for 200 pesos, but I tell him I don't have any money with me. Then he hands me the monkey again, and I'm thinking, "WOW, my Spanish must be really bad if I can't say I don't have money." So I say it again, except this time with different wording, and the monkey man says, "I know, it's ok." So my thinking here is this sweet monkey man thought I was so scared of his little diapered monkey that he let me hold it for free. And here are the pictures (featuring the terrifying bird that allowed this whole situation to happen).

7/9: Day of Rest

On Saturday, we rested. I spent the day writing, reflecting, and doing laundry. I am looking forward to this next week and the work we will be doing with the church and people around the community. I am so excited to continue in obedience this mission God is leading me upon.

You prayers are so greatly appreciated. While I have seen God so prevalently here, it's also been hard and life here is very different from home. I am so appreciative of all you for reading my update and following along with my journey. It means so much to me. I hope my words and experiences all point back to the Father.

I plan on posting another update about halfway through this week. I am excited to share more with you all!

¡Dios es grande!

All my love,

Emory