Thursday, July 2, 2009

An amazing second day out of our comfort zone

I just want to start off by saying this trip has been an experience that I, as well as the other forty people, will always remember. Yesterday, we took a two hour bus ride to a town called Cotui. As we finally arrived, I was grouped with a few others from our group and a leader from the church El Circulo. With my little knowledge of the Spanish language, I was hesitant to walk down the streets and enter homes of these Dominican families. I prayed for help and to be able to interact and connect with them with the huge language barrier. God answered my prayer and sent this little girl named Stephanie who opened up and as I reached out my hand, we held hands and really connected throughout the rest of the day. This experience with all of the little children from Cotui, helped guide us for our day today at the church of El Circulo. We were dropped off and sent to walk the streets and alleys where many families lived. Their homes were a little nicer than yesterday and the parents played more of a role in the childrens' lives, but we were fearless and open to talking and bringing in these children. I'll wrap it up by saying that I'm so proud to be a part of this journey with these wonderful people, that will forever be changed by this trip. We have so many stories for you and can't wait to tell you when we get back. Please keep us in your prayers, and we'll see you soon.

Brittany Barbeau

3 comments:

  1. Bob and Cheryl BarbeauJuly 3, 2009 at 8:36 AM

    Brittany, we are sooooo proud of what you are doing in the DR and can't wait to hear all of your amazing stories. We are very proud of the hard work you are doing but can feel how happy you are to be there with Jason and 40 of your other friends. BTW, tell Jason we are very blessed to have him as our Youth Pastor as well as all of the other adults who are on the trip with you. Love Mom and Dad

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  2. Cant wait to see you both and tell you how much I am loving this experience! The leprosy center was such an eye opener of my faith. I was with 5 others when we met this 77 year old man who was named Juan. He became a Christian when he was 27 years old and was a pastor for about two years. He now, 40 years later, has leprosy and is losing his sight. He told us he wanted our prayers for his sight to get better beacause he wanted to be able walk the streets and share Gods word with others. He told Julia Petit, Braden, Giovanna, Nicole and I that he was praying for us and that with our youth and good health that we would be able to be models of Jesus Christ and spread the word. We prayed with him and he prayed that he could read an english bible. His favorite verse was Psalm 40. So we all opened our bibles and began to each read a section from it. Wow is all I can say. He bursted into tears and we all started crying. He told us we all have one common thing that most of the people with him at the center dont have, that was the common heart and love for Jesus Christ. He told us he will always remember us and that God will bless us when we all reunite in Heaven. This was a huge impact on my whole trip. Cant wait to tell you more. Love you both very much and miss you!

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  3. We are so proud of you and all the others that were there with you...you will take this experience with you throughout your life and God will truly bless you. It was fun following you in your trip. We love you very much, Grandma and Bruce

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