Report from Dominican Republic: Day 4
Day 4 in the Dominican Republic:
I've been working with the VBS the last two days. We gather the kids to sing and tell them a Bible story and pray. Then we do an activity with them. Today was a lot of fun as we did face painting. We started out by drawing on our arms and then the children could point to what they wanted to have. After I finished all the girls who had gathered around me, I let them paint my face. They were all giggling as one of the girls drew. I had a monkey on my cheek!
After that, a sports team came in to talk with the kids and I moved over to the hair ministry. The woman in charge, Marge, thought we washed about 30 heads of hair. This sounds simple, but all the girls have braids which had to be taken out. We were washing their hair over a big basin, then conditioning and brushing out before we rinsed. Other girls were combing their hair and braiding it back up. It's quite time consuming since some girls have many, many braids and their hair is so thick. In the meantime, we brought clippers with us and some of the men from the village took turns shaving the boys' heads.
The medical and dental teams were also working in the pastor's house and in the school. We started at the village around 10:00 am. My team left at 2:00 pm and there were still many people waiting in line for the medical help.
Please be praying for the medical people. There are a few doctors to oversee the group, but much of the work is being done by medical students. I had a chance to talk to some of them last night. They say they are really enjoying the work they are doing, but sometimes feel restricted by the circumstances. Imagine knowing you could help if only you had the right supplies. I know it must be frustrating for the students.
Please pray that God will give them peace and strength to do everything they can, to not grow weary in doing good, but also a heart that will stay with them as they go back to their studies and as they seek God's will in their lives.
The part of the day that will stick with me, however, was the ride to the village. We were in the back of a truck, standing together, holding on as we moved over bumps and going up and up into the hills. Some of the views were beautiful, looking out at the citrus trees. Most of us were taking in the scenery, but the native pastors who were riding with us were talking in Spanish (so I understood very little) and then one pulled out his Bible, flipped to a passage in Galatians and started reading to the other. Here, these men were discussing the Word of God while standing in the back of a moving vehicle, one holding onto the other as he held onto his Bible so he wouldn't be thrown around. How I wish I could have understood as they talked!
These are men dedicated to knowing more about God and sharing His word with others. Our leaders explained that what we're doing here supports them in the villages and opens doors for them to reach more people for God.
Jeanne Ball
Some photos submitted by Marlene Murrin:
