Late Thurs. recap from Jason

I feel so silly right now. I'm typing this on a little patio all by myself leashed to the wireless internet and am borderline weeping at what I've seen in and through this trip so far. Hopefully the students' recaps below this post have shed a glimpse on some of the cool things that happened today. It truly has been awesome. Part of me wants to go step by step and talk about what happened but I think the best way to describe it is what I just saw...

While hanging out with some of the students who were blogging with me on the patio... I decided to go check on the rooms. I turned the corner and the students had decided to have an impromptu worship session... just playing music and singing to God. They just wanted to thank God for an awesome day!

If I could describe today with one phrase it would be "sense of urgency." They're realizing that this trip is so short and have been really jumping right into whichever ministry we work at. Watching them at the leprosy center was such a treat. I had to mask my fear to be honest. I didn't feel equipped in any way walking up to meet our new friends. But I watched our students just dive in... hugging, praying, listening, sharing and really just loving. They gave me the courage to do the same and we all left with new friends and a bit of a changed heart. It really reminded me how spiritual physical illness can be. Many of the patients were dropped off at this clinic by family who were ignorant and fearful of the disease. It doesn't take long for them to share the hurt caused by that. At the same time, we all agreed we were surprised by the amount of joy in that place. It really puts our fears into perspective as Maddy V blogged about. And Braden, Julia P and Cammy all mentioned Juan... the amazing man who was blind and used to be a pastor. After hearing them quote the Bible he said, "I wish I could see you guys" which was quickly responded with one of the biggest group hugs you've ever seen. Dangit... I'm crying again.

Afterwards, we joined an ongoing children's ministry at El Circulo which was pure chaos... but awesome. Our time yesterday in Cotui really has helped our students feel comfortable working with kids here. They are like Dominican nino magnets. We decided to have the service in an alley (things change here a lot by the way) instead of the building they normally meet in. Next thing I know... 4 of our dudes are bringing in these giant speakers and we start blaring this Christian Spanish kids worship music. Our teams went into the street and invited the kids to come up and hang out with us. The next thing we know what seemed like the entire neighborhood was hanging out and partying with us. Face paint, soccer, baseball, dancing, singing, Noah & the Ark storytelling, piggybacking and drawing galore. It was awesome.

We finished the day all hanging out in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo. Did you know Christopher Columbus landed in the DR when he crossed the ocean blue in 1492? So, we got to see the 1st church in the New World as well as Columbus' son's castle & fort. Legit. It was there I realized how close we were getting as a team. They love each other for sure. There really aren't many "cliques" anymore on this trip and they've been intentional about that.

OK... prayer request time. Here are some things to pray for regarding tomorrow's schedule.
We're doing a new type of ministry for us in the morning. El Circulo, the church we're partnering with, is trying something new and starting a church in the Free Trade Zone. It's a place full of people who work tons of hrs and they're trying to meet them on their turf. So, we're running team-building games during the day... many of which we went through at Saddleback as we tried to unify a team of 41 different people. We're using this to teach them the importance of faith, unity and ethics. Then, we're hosting a concert w/ a band from El Circulo as well as our students. It's been fun watching Maddy J jump in this week and learn these Spanish songs as Nicole G... an amazing singer who happens to be fluent in Spanish is losing her voice a bit. Our band's going to rock and I'm so proud of them for learning these songs in Spanish. Please pray for boldness as our team is still learning how to interact with adults.

After we'll get a little bit more in their wheelhouse and visit a local orphanage to host a BBQ. They have I think around 180 kids aged from a few months-20. It should be a blast. Pray for opportunities once again for God to use them as well as energy to pull it all off. It's going to be a long day with not a lot of sleep.

Also, pray for continued flexibility as well. There hasn't been a day that has perfectly gone as planned so we're learning how to adjust and you'd be proud of the way they have.

Finally, pray for Josh Griffin & Kurt Johnston fly into tomorrow morning to help with the conference on Saturday where we're expecting anywhere from 300-500 youth pastors from the island to come learn from us. I'm humbled to even think of that opportunity.

OK, I'm going to bed after sheepishly realizing I just wrote a novel. I can't help but to brag.

We're hoping to get on some of the computers tomorrow at Ace Wireless... where we're setting up shop in the Free Trade Zone tomorrow to download some of these videos & pictures. Sarah & Nicole J's took literally like 3 hrs from here. We have a lot more.

Thanks again for praying, thinking and commenting. We're reading them to the students here and they love it.

Dios te bendiga (God Bless you!)
Jason
The proudest youth pastor ever!