Monday Night Mayhem

It’s nothing but excitement here in the DR as we are all in the final preparations for our school starting next Monday and carrying out all of the activities in Rio San Juan. With the transition out of groups Jordan and I have still had quite the showing of children and teens in our ministries. Monday nights have been our Princesas and Pescadores time. These are kids ranging from ages 10-17. Our kids love to have fun. Our desire for this time was to create a kind of environment, but also with something more. Our official kickoff ‘meeting’ with them went really well. We all had banana splits with every random topic you could think of. We also played some games and really enjoyed the fellowship and company of another. The next week we presented them with a paper stating the expectations we were holding them accountable to and how the attendance system was going to work. The expectations basically states that we are holding them to the standards the Jesus left for us, commanding us to love the Lord first and foremost, then to love others as ourselves. This paper also stated specific ways they could live out both of those commandments. The reason why I felt the need to go into such detail on these items is because I want our kids to see these 2 commandments as reachable goals. We want them to be able to really practice loving the Lord first and loving others second. These specific expectations and guidelines for our program also show them that we are trying to hold them to a higher standard. Jordan and I want them to feel ownership over this program and really participate in the things we do together. I would say they took all of this information very well. They were very excited to see all the fun things we had planned for the rest of the year.

Monday we started our P&P time by hanging out, then playing a dangerously competitive game of Steal the Bacon. We had the whole group split up, with 10 kids on each side, and race to the middle to try and steal the bandanna and get it back to their side. It was fun watching them get so into it, however the losing team took their loss pretty tough. After the game we had announcements then Jordan took the boys for their lesson and I had the girls. As we are trying to keep our Club Chiquito lessons and P&P lessons in sync, we both spoke out the story of Adam and Eve. With the girls we each got a Bible and read Genesis 3. Each girl would go around and take 2 verses. Then we talked about Eve’s temptation to eat the apple that God had forbidden her to eat. I had the girls get a marker and a piece of paper and write down 3 temptations they had. They did really well following instructions. I was really blessed to have my fellow teammates/ great friends (Jill and Rachel) there with me to help me keep them focused and calm down. The girls went around and shared their temptations and each one listened to the other. Then I told them we were going to spend 30 in silence to talk to God about our temptations. Keeping these children quite is a much greater feat than you would believe, but they did exactly what I had asked. There was completely silence as they all spoke to God in that moment. I felt so proud to be sitting there with them and just asked the Lord to please hear their prayers. I know He did.

Thanks to all for reading and taking such an interest in what is doing here in our Monday night ministry and ALL the areas flourishing here with Manna in the DR. We are incredibly blessed to be a small piece of God’s plan for these people. Continue to pray for us and that our individual walks stay strong and unwavering.

Blessings,

Audrey

August Highlights!

1. Manna Christian School Sleepover in Bobita

Before all the interns left we were able to have all our kids come out to camp to spend the night with us. You can imagine 20 teenagers out here with us, having practically free reign of the camp, was not one of our calmer nights. When they all arrived we ate homemade pizza and drank flavored sodas. You’d be very surprised how much these kids can eat. Even my girls, as seemingly skinny as some of them are, put away at least four pieces of pizza. They loved it though. Then we spent the rest of the night running around camp, playing games, roasting marshmallows over the bonfire, watching all the Dominicans dance to their hearts desire, then playing a movie up on the pad. The kids loved it and were so full of energy from the moment they arrived until the next morning when they left. It’s exciting to see how much they love being here, especially since this place will become a big part of their life over the next year as school is starting. We loved having him here and it was a really fun night.

2. Our Princesas and Pescadores’ kickoff party

A large part of mine and Jordan’s ministry out here is our Princesas and Pescadores. We wanted to start the semester off right by throwing a big welcome party for all of our kids. We decided to have ice cream sundaes with all the toppings. These included fruit loops, crusted up Oreos, bananas, peanuts, cherries, whipped cream, and many other delicacies. We had the whole place decorated with streamers and balloons as well. As the kids started to arrive, many of them danced and hung-out. We all ate our banana splits then Jordan and I introduced to them our game. We had thought this game up probably a day before and knew the kids would get a kick out of it. Basically we had 10 bowls set up at the end of the room with a different food item in them. There were two teams so each team had five bowls. One bowl contained pickles and jalapenos, another was nasty baby food, another whip cream and Oreos, another had a melted Twix bar, and the last was a mixture of pb & j. We covered each the bowls so none of the kids saw them before hand. Then they would pick a partner and one person had to walk on their hands while another held their ankles and finish one of the bowls. It was a race between the two teams and the team to finish their bowls first got to pie Jordan and me in the face. It was really hysterical. I felt somewhat guilty for filling a bowl with jalapenos but the kids seemed to love the game, some more than others of course. We had a great time and it was just the way to get our semester kicked off.

3. A week with my mom

I was really blessed to be able to spend an entire week with my mother here! She came just after the summer groups and the interns left, so we were able to have a lot of great, quality time together. We went to Santiago with the team, visiting Chiles, Jumbo mall, Pricesmart, saw the final Harry Potter movie, and visited many other luxuries of the big city. She really enjoyed seeing that aspect of the country. The next day we went to my good friend Milagros’ house. Her name means miracle in English and she is truly a sweet woman. Her daughter, Graisy, is one of the girls I mentor and spend a majority of my time with. We arrived at her house in the morning, helped her cook and spent time with the girls. Jailinne taught mom how to make a thread bracelet by tie lots of knots with different pretty colors of string. Graisy painted mom’s toe nails and we all shared a wonderful meal. Milagros’ is truly one of the most faithful women I’ve ever met. She speaks constantly of the love she has for the Lord and continually strives to please him. I love speaking with her about these things. Her passion for her faith and her family really radiates in all that she says and does. This day was a blessing to both my mother and me. The following days she was able to spend Club Chiquito with us, the VBS like activity we have with the younger children of Rio San Juan, visits to the beach, a Bobita church experience, and the greatest experience we had together Saturday when…

4. I GOT ENGAGED!!!

August 13 was mine and Jordan’s one year anniversary and he asked me to marry him! We woke up very early to go see the sunrise on the beach and it was nothing short of perfect. I had no idea he was going to propose, even though my parents had known for months. He played me a really special song and asked me to spend my life with him. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life, knowing I’m going to marry my best friend and guy of my dreams. We spent the entire day on the beach, got a massage, and started the ever exciting wedding plans. That night all of the team and mom came out to have dinner with us on the beach. It was truly a day I will never forget. God has blessed me profusely with a life more perfect and special than I could have ever imagined. Continue to pray for us as we plan out our December wedding and the rest of our lives together. We are very excited!

Thank you all for your support and encouragement. We are busy each day preparing for the first day of school at Manna Christian School, September 5th! Keep us in your prayers for this day and for each of the team members in our individual ministries. God is good at taking care of us all.

Sending my love from the DR,

Audrey