christian radio
sometimes it annoys me. and sometimes it doesn't.
Sanctus Real - Whatever You're Doing
From the album We Need Each Other
It's time for healing, time to move on,
it's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong;
it's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace
And it's hard to surrender to what I can't see, but I'm giving in to something heavenly
Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything, I surrender
Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life
Something heavenly, something heavenly
Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
Label: Chordant (EMI)
the value of community
“What’s it like to be back?” I have heard that question a lot this week. I’ve been able to reunite with many familiar and loved faces that I knew so well during my time here. Camille, Jennie & Miguel and the new baby Diego, as well as those in Chichigua and Pancho Mateo – Evelyn, Kiko, Roslan, Gerda, Cristina, Katy & Fredy, Judy, and many others. My friends. Mi familia.It is, of course, not my permanent home, nor are they my blood family. But there is something that binds us together. Something greater than geography and blood. Something that allows us to sit and talk and hug and laugh as if not a day has passed.
It is the spirit of community that I love about this place. And there are two communities that I love.
The first is the national community, whether that be Haitian or Dominican. It is the community that makes me a part of their family despite the color of my skin, despite my national origin, despite my native tongue, despite the months for which I have been “lost,” as Evelyn says. It is the community that, while they do have the same human struggles of us all, does not look at me in terms of status, does not value me for what I can do for them, but allows me into their homes and into their lives. It is the community that invites me to sit on their porch, to enter into their homes (along with 12 of my new friends), to drink their juice, and ask me to come back soon – and it’s not just a nice thing to say, but they mean it. It is the community that is community held together by one simple bond – humanity.
And then there is the Body of Christ with whom I share this experience. People I have known for several years, others just a few months, and others for just a few days. And though this community is much more homogenous than the first, we are still held together by one thing, one much stronger – no, the strongest bond – of our Lord Jesus Christ – and added to that is our love for this beautiful country and its beautiful people. It is a community in which we learn to live life – together. We eat together. We serve together. We rest together. We support and encourage each other and carry each others burdens when it becomes too heavy for them.
It is this practice of community that I hope we can all take back to Austin. To eat together. To serve together. To bear each others burdens. The independent American way has left so many of us lonely and weak. The community for which Jesus prayed will refresh and strengthen.
the Lord works without our help
sunday morning we went to church at Templo Biblico in Monte Llano. It was one of the best church services I've been to in that country. the church is studying through the book of Matthew, and this sunday just happened to be:
| Mat 10:5 | These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, |
| Mat 10:6 | “but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. |
over the past several years, since MAKARiOS has been involved in the surrounding neighborhood and villages, the people of the church have begun to see the need to reach out to the "lost sheep" of their community. it has been decades since they have collectively done any type of outreach, but the Lord has been stirring in their hearts, showing then that it is His desire, and giving them a desire to join Him in this work. as MAKARiOS and the Austin Stone have been building relationships with this body of believers, they have been seeking guidance from the Lord and from us to learn how to reach their community. and it just so happened that the Sunday we were there was the sunday Amouri (the pastor at Templo Biblico) preached that, to be on mission means you must GO (i didn't count, but he must have said this at least 20 times during his sermon).
so we planned a basketball game - the guys from our team plus some of the pastors from Templo Biblico against the community of Tamarindo (the location of the MAK school). on tuesday afternoon we went with those from the church to invite the community to watch this free basketball game. on wednesday before the game the church rented a truck with loud speakers to drive around and announce the game to the community.
after an hour delay because Monte Llano had no lights, we finally got started. at half time, Ryan gave his testimony, which was translated to Spanish for the crowd. even though our team was creamed about 90something to 50something, we had a great time. there was a great turnout from the community and it was the beginning of this church's efforts to reach out and build relationships with non-believers in their own backyard.
soy dominicana
ok, so i'm not really dominican. but i do have some stories about this most recent trip to the DR.
we left early Friday morning, meeting at the austin airport at 4:00am (well, most of us!). it's a good thing Austin Java opened about 30 minutes before boarding time. from there we went to chicago, where we had about a 5 hour layover, then onto Miami, and finally got to Santiago Friday evening. the boones (anne and garrett) were there to meet us, along with cara and robin (who greeted me by saying, "welcome home" :)
saturday morning we visited Wisly and his family at the MAKARiOS farm and had a typical dominican meal of rice and beans with fried plantains. then it was on to Puerto Plata to get settled in at the MAK house. it's a good thing we only had 13 in our group, as one side of the MAK house was already filled with 19 people - a few full time staff, interns, and even a family who is serving for the summer.
stories to come
i am officially back in austin and back into work and life. i was hoping to be able to post stories about the trip while i was there, but as you can see from the few posts i was able to make, blogger wasn't working well with the internet there. so i will post stories throughout this week as i have time. in the meantime you can check out the austin stone blog to read stories from other team members about our time there this past week.
Austin stone blog
austinstone.blogspot.com
mi familia haitiana
today we went to chichigua. i got to see evelyn. i dontdon't know how long we talked, but camille had to come get me to say we were leaving. i also saw cristina, which was nyby far the most surprising reunion since iI did not expect to see her until tuesdayTuesday and she did not even know iI was here. it was a great day of family reunions. not such a good day for blogger. iI apologize on its behalf.
I'm home
we made it to santiagoSantiago last night with no problems at all . my connection is not great so imI'm going to stop here. please feel free to email because iI will be able to read it ( as long as we have lights). thank you for your prayers!
I'm home
we made it to santiagoSantiago last night with no problems at all . my connection is not great so imI'm going to stop here. please feel free to email because iI will be able to read it ( as long as we have lights). thank you for your prayers!
ohmygoodness
I'm leaving for the DR in about 3.5 days. ohmygoodness.
checklist:
passport: check
sunscreen: check
bugspray: check
lots of tanks tops: check
chacos: check
e-ticket/itinerary: check
pack: check
send a million emails to the team: check..and to do...
find and print pages for my lesson: ummm...to do, TONIGHT
peanut butter: to buy...
journals: to buy...
go crazy: check
but its ok, cause this time next week, i'll be in the best country in the caribe.
