So many things have been going on that don't really know where to start. I was blessed to be able to go home for two weeks to spend Christmas and the New Year with my family. The time flew by and before I knew it, I was back in the DR. A few days after I got back, Katie Copeland, arrived for a visit. You might remember that Katie was here last spring for about five weeks. She stayed with me in my first apartment and she helped me figure out the new country I was living in and learn spanish. She also played a big part in me and Eddy becoming close friends. This was the first time that we had seen her since then. Needless to say, things had changed a lot since the last time she was here. She stayed with me this time as well, but this time the accomodations were a little bit different. Last time I was living in a very nice apartment, comparable to where I would live in the states. This time she got the real dominican experience, complete with cockroaches, ice-cold showers, and mosquito nets. But also filled with lots of talking, singing, dancing, eating, and visiting relatives. She even had all the aunts try to set her up with Eddy's cousin Eddy, which was very fun for me and Eddy but maybe a little embarrassing for her.
A few days after Katie arrived, a work team from Canada arrived as well, led by my pastor and his wife from my home church in South Holland. They were great. I had a such a great time getting to know them and working with them. They were here for nine days and got so much accomplished. It was so exciting and encouraging to see how God brought everything together to accomplish His will through this group. They successfully built three new classrooms on top of the first three classrooms that we have been using since September. The kids will be starting class in the new classrooms tomorrow. By the time they left, they had become such a part of the family here that it was very difficult to say goodbye.
But it doesn't end there. I have a lot of things to look forward to over the next few months as well. Next Thursday, my parents will arrive and my two worlds will finally collide. Two days after that, the rest of their team will get here to visit the school, see what's happening in our mission, and shower us with gifts and blessings. Before that group even heads back to the states, another work team of 25 people from Crown Point will arrive to do a week of construction. We are very busy getting everything ready for these two groups, as well as keeping the school running. When the Crown Point group leaves, we will need to start getting ready for the Illiana group. This is the second year that they will be coming down over their spring break.
So many exciting things are happening. And even though most days we find ourselves very stressed and we all have more things to do than time to do them, we are also feeling very blessed and are so excited to see what God has in store for us next.
This is where our school building was when the group left. The only changes since then have been adding to the staircase and putting up some wood upstairs to make it safer for the students.
We took this picture right after we picked Katie up from the airport.
Me with Alejandro. I love him.
Part of the Canadian group working on one of the first walls that went up.
Eddy with his parents and also one of my favorite pictures.