Blessings

God has blessed me in many ways since the last time I wrote. I have been having a lot of fun with the kids at school. I am really enjoying teaching. It is very rewarding. All the kids are so cute and they are so excited to learn English. So many of them come from difficult situations and need love and attention. All day long, where ever I go, I hear them yelling "Ms. Carrie! Ms. Carrie!" I usually walk to the colmado (corner store) at lunch and there are always kids around because a lot of them live in the neighborhood. They are so excited to see me walking by. This past Wednesday, two of the boys in my third grade class picked flowers and gave them to me and one of the little girls wrote me a note and drew me a picture and decorated an envelope and wrote 'I love you' on the front. Very cute. I feel very loved by the kids here.

Another way that God has blessed me is in my relationships with the people at church. Saturday was our woman's retreat. Several of the women from the church met in the morning and had breakfast and then we all got in the van and went to Tammi's apartment to have a day of fellowship, singing, and growing in Christ. Even though it was going to be all in Spanish I wanted to be a part of this day in some way. I helped set up, had breakfast with them and stayed for the singing. Before we started singing, everyone took a turn talking about the different obstacles that we had to overcome to get there. When it was my turn, I realized that my biggest obstacle in situations like this is the language barrier. And when I started talking I was unexpectedly hit with emotion. I don't think even I realized until I started talking about it how hard it is for me to be separated by the language. I knew that I was frustrated by it and I knew that I wished I could communicate more. But it wasn't until I was sitting with this group of women from my church that I realized how desperately I wished I could be a real part of the group. I wished that I could be a part of the discussions and the sharing. I wished I could be forming deeper relationships with them. It hit me all at once and then came the tears. It was a little embarrassing, but I think that it was the best thing that could have happened because now we all know how much I wish I could communicate with them. Until that point, they may not have been sure. From that point on, they have made a point of attempting to include me or helping me understand. At church and at school, many of the women that were at the retreat come up to me and try to teach me more Spanish. Allowing myself to be vulnerable in that way has helped me be more comfortable in many different situations because of the bond that I now have with the women of the church.

I have also been blessed with new friendships. I have had the opportunity to get to know and spend time with some of the teachers from Santiago Christian School. I had the opportunity to go and hang out with them at their apartment a few times and to meet them at the school to play soccer. I will be moving into a different apartment next week, and it is within walking distance of their apartment building. Also, I will be needing to find a new place to live in August and there is an extra bedroom in one of the apartments and I am hoping that these girls will actually become my roommates for the next school year.

I am also thankful for being blessed with good health. I haven't gotten sick in over two weeks and I think that I am finally getting adjusted to the weather and the food here. I have even been trying new things. I had my first yuca ball this week and last night we had batata for dinner.

My computer is about to die and the electricity is off again, so I will end my post here. Thank you to everyone who reads this for your interest in my mission. I will try to update again soon.

ps I guess posting a comment is not as easy as I said it would be in my last post, but I believe in you. :)

pictures

Jenri and Gahren are brother and sister. Eliseo and Alejandro are brothers. Jenri and Alejandro are in the 4 year old preschool class, Eliseo is in kindergarten, and Gahren is in first grade.

worship

Hi everyone. I know it has been quite a while since the last time I updated. I will try to update more regularly in the future.

As I thought over the last couple weeks, I realized that the times that stood out the most, and the times of the week that I look forward to the most are our church services. I'm not sure that I can explain how awesome it is to worship with the people here. In almost every service, I am moved to tears. Every worship service is a time of love and community. Everyone greets everyone else when they arrive and again at the end of the service with a hug and a kiss and 'bendiciones' (blessings). It is a time when I feel like I can really get around the language barrier and bond with the other members of the church. During the time of praise, I appreciate being able to sing and worship with everyone. Many of the songs I have already learned and seeing the words, I understand what they mean. Other songs, I know in English and I am able to sing along.

It is amazing to see the members of the church and their faith. I am so touched by their eagerness to learn and their willingness to give their time and devotion to the church and God's Kingdom. I am so thankful to Guille and Shelley and their ministry and to see how God has used them to bring these people to Him.

I have also had the opportunity to meet different people who come to visit. A couple weeks ago, two men from Texas came to the Thursday night service because they were staying next door for a couple days after having gone to Haiti. They will be back in a few weeks to go back to Haiti to help again with a team. Last Sunday two Haitian men who came to the worship service. They knew a little English, so I was able to talk to them a little bit as well.

And then there's the kids. There are four children from the ages 4 to 7 that go to our school and also attend our church. I love these children. I am able to communicate and get to know them in a way that I can't get to know the adults yet with my limited Spanish. I usually end up with one of them on my lap during the worship service and sometimes I go up with them for Sunday school. I always look forward to seeing them.

I hope I was able to explain it so that you can understand a little bit more about my life here. That is all for now, but I will try to update more regularly.

Bendiciones,
Carrie

ps for my technically-challenged readers: if you would like to comment and can't figure out how, just click on '0 comments', it will bring you to a new page, scroll down, and there should be a box where you can make a comment