Sunday, March 29th, 2009- COMING HOME!

Today is the day we head home, we are all sad to leave (even more sad seeing the pictures of what kind of weather is welcoming us back to Chicago).
PARENTS- An update from the DR airport... we are delayed a few hours in the DR and hope to still make our flight in Miami. The kids will have their cell phones to use once we make it to Miami. We'll keep in contact with you about when to expect us back in Chicago.

Here we are ready to load into the van...Here we are in the DR airport viewing and updating the blog! :)
Jamie and the girls entertained each other by undoing her dreadlock. :)
Cory is extra relaxed here in the airport. :)

We'll be home soon!!! Miss you all!! Now go get outside and start shoveling...

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

It is so hard to believe that this is our last full day here in the DR. We are getting so comfortable here (especially in this weather!) and have bonded as a team. It is going to be really hard to leave. We started our morning with some shopping. We hadn't had any time to do that this week, so the students were anxious to pick up some gifts for family and friends.

JT, Payson and Davey decided machetes were a "must have" from the DR...

Our shoppers taking a rest...

Some of the students opted to take a historic tour of the city. Here is one of the beautiful cathedrals we were in. Everywhere you turn you see another gorgeous site. We loved learning more about this amazing city.

After a morning of shopping and walking, we gathered on the rooftop for lunch together. I think I could eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner here everyday and never get tired of it's beauty...

After lunch we piled in the vans and drove about an hour up the coast to a beach. The members of Nueva Vida church met us there and we loved getting one more afternoon to hang out with them. We admire that the Dominicans can have fun with anything. They found an old PVC pipe on the beach and made up games for hours. Here they are playing "long jump" and seeing who could jump the furtherst. They were amazing!! In this picture you can see Davey trying it out...

Lauren, Cory and Emily take in the view while watching over the "kids"...

Our students were having fun getting their feet buried in the sand each time the water washed up on the shore. This beach had unbelievable waves. Carlos said it was like being in a "wave pool" that never turns off. So cool!

At the end of the afternoon the members of Nueva Vida gathered us on the beach in a big circle. They each shared their favorite memories and had our students take turns telling everyone their good-byes. It was so cool to hear all the nice things everyone had to say.

The Dominicans made a heart out of gifts they made and wrote the word "FRIENDS" in rocks above it. What a beautiful sight it was...

What a gorgeous site...

After sunset we headed back. One of the groups went out to dinner together while the other group went back to the hotel to order pizza and relax. We are all pretty wiped out after such a long week and so much time out in the sun. We're soaking up all we can before heading back to Chicago (and all the snow!) tomorrow.
Hasta Manana! :)

Friday, March 27th, 2009

What a fun day! We started with devotions on the rooftop again and a group prayer for the Nueva Vida church and the Dominican Republic.

Then we drove over to the church (about a 20 minute drive) and started getting ready for the street fair tonight, hosted by Nueva Vida. Below are the photos of us getting the street and church ready...

Giving the gym one last cleaning...

Another group worked out in the street cleaning up garbage and weeds...

Jordan, Katie, Jamie and Lauren worked with Nueva Vida youth to put together carnival games for the children during the street fair...

Carlos worked with a youth from the Nueva Vida church to make a photo slide show to be shown on a big screen during the street fair...

Basketball hoops were set up on the street- the Domincians had a blast playing...

This was such a fun game to watch! The children had to race to find marshmallows buried in flour. The crowd loved it!

Kerry and JT sat watching with some local children...

Yazmin helped with the relay races, this one they had to carry an egg on the spoon with their eyes closed.

We had quite a crowd of children watching the games!

After dinner we were ready for the concert outside. Here Carlos is posing with some of the children who came to watch. They LOVE having the photos taken and then being able to see the picture of themselves on my camera screen. :)

The worship team led the crowd in "Si Senor"...

The crowd singing along...

We especially loved watching the street dancers, they were amazing!

The drama team was able to perform their skit one last time...

Wish I could write more, but I'm late for breakfast and we leave TODAY!! Hard to believe it went so quickly. I'll post a blog for Saturday soon...

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

We had a great day- beautiful weather as usual, we've gotten pretty spoiled with sunny and low 80's each and everyday! After our usual breakfast and devotions, we headed to Nueva Vida. We have been asking about what the homes are like for many of the friends we've made at the Nueva Vida church. So today they decided to give us a tour of 4 different homes of their congregation members. We split up into groups and did a walking tour around the area and we were able to see where our friends live. They enjoyed showing us their homes and their city. I didn't take too many photos on this trip because the Dominicans didn't think it would be safe for me to have my camera out in open view as we walked down the street. Although I was able to use it inside the homes. Here are just a couple shots...

Here are JT, Lauren, Jordan, Kerry and their Dominican friends visiting a home.

In this home they had pet turtles. Here is Kerry holding one of them...

Here are the hard-working women of Nueva Vida church who made us lunch everyday...

Their children wait outside as they prepare our lunch for the day.

After lunch it is back to work, here Kerry is painting a bench that sits in the courtyard of the church.

The other big task of the day was to clean off all the chairs and exercise equipment in the work-out facility. The church is having a large street fair and concert tomorrow night and wants to have the room looking nice and clean for our visitors!

Everyone working hard to get the gym looking good!

Our fearless female leaders; Lauren, Devon and Emily...

Everyone takes a quick break for a group shot...

The boys helped set up a basketball hoop for the street fair tomorrow night...

Here is our group heading to a home that belongs to a Nueva Vida church member. They had made a special treat for us to eat... sweet beans. I'll let your kids know what they thought of that one. :)

We spent our evening at (you'll never believe this one)... a bowling alley! They've recently built one in the Dominican and the Nueva Vida youth hadn't ever been. So when they heard we had an evening free to spend with them, they decided it would be fun to try this American activity together. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera along, but it didn't look much different than an American bowling alley!

More tomorrow...

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Whoa, where do I begin? Today was an amazing day jam packed with emotions. We started our morning on the rooftop enjoying breakfast and devotions. Each day different students lead devotions in the morning, this morning was Jordan's turn. We're so proud of the students, they are doing a fantastic job of leading and participating. Below is a picture of Jordan leading us this morning...

After breakfast we headed to a local public elementary school. This was a really special part of our trip for several reasons. Honestly, this is really complicated to explain, so bear with me as I stumble through the summary of our time there. Americans are viewed as "celebrities" here, so we were swarmed by the students with pen and paper in hand, ready for autographs. It was overwhelming at times, so many kids who so badly wanted our love and attention. Simple autographs didn't seem like nearly enough. Since the Nueva Vida church (the church we are partnering with) knows that we are an "attraction", they were invited to come perform and speak at this school with us. We basically served as a bridge for the church to enter this public school and tell these students about God's love for them. We worshiped together, played games, performed a drama and dance routine, and then Nueva Vida members shared the gospel with all of the students that were packed into the room. What we witnessed was beyond words. The crowded room of students sang a beautiful song in full voice, with such passion and conviction. I didn't understand all the words, but the chorus translated to "I'd give my whole life for you". We were moved to tears as the room full of students raised their hands to accept Jesus as their Savior. I hope these pictures can capture a tiny slice of what our eyes and ears could see and hear.

Here are the children waiting for us as we exited the vans. You can see their papers and pens ready for autographs. As we arrived they all cheered and kept yelling "Americans!" They were so joyful and excited to greet us.

One of the students waiting for his turn to get an autograph from the Americans...

We packed ourselves into a room and started with a performance by a famous local rapper. These students watch him on t.v. in the Dominican Republic and they were SOOO excited to see him perform live. Our students had a great time acting as "backround dancers". :)

Jess and Lauren performing their dance routine for the students...

Jamie did an OUTSTANDING job during the drama time- she was amazing (and funny too!). In this picture you can see the students were packed into this room, it was pretty hot, but they didn't seem to mind. What you can't see are all the children haning on the windows from outside, trying to catch a glimpse inside. What a crowd!

The Dominicans moved to tears as the children sang along and we prayed over them...

The students praying with us...

After the assembly was over, the students swarmed the stage for autographs. Katie was especially busy singing notebooks, they all loved her blonde hair!! This young girl was so pleased to have a turn to get her notebook signed by a blonde American!

Here I am signing autographs as well, Carlos held my camera so I could sign some notebooks. (Stacey Kidd- this pic is for you- finally got myself on the other side of the camera!) :)

This is the view as we left the school. This is some of the poorest areas in the Dominican Republic. These photos were taken through the window of the van as we drove. It was a very dangerous area, so the windows were closed up tight in order to keep the camera safe INSIDE the vehicle. We've seen areas like this everywhere, extreme poverty.

Here we are back at the Nueva Vida church. Jen had a great time playing frisbee with some of the children there.

Hanging out and working at the church...

Hannah and Lauren hard at work!

Cory is helping install the flooring on the upper level of the work-out facility in the church. This facility helps raise funds for the church as well as serve as an outreach program in the community.

The view from the church...

After our students saw how worn the church's baskeballs were, they wanted to purchase some new ones for the youth there. They were thrilled to get some new sports equipment and put it to use with our teens.

Showing off the new basketballs...

Lots more pictures to come tomorrow!!