We were greeted by some of the nicest people I have ever met. They welcomed us in like they have known us all of our lives. They fed us very well (if you like stew with plantanos (banana) and some other stuff that I have no clue what it was). Knowing how picky Kelly and Dalton are I was quite worried but we all know that Jorge will eat anything. It was VERY good though and did the job well. Oh wow the coffee was DELICIOSO!! And most of you know I haven't had any coffee in 2 weeks.
Anyways I know you want to hear about the kids so here are a few things that happened today.
When we first got there today we were greeted by some cute little kids yelling Hola!
They were so sweet. We were waiting for Peggy's students to get there which are the deaf and/or hard of hearing kids of all ages. While waiting Peggy gave us a tour of the school and church. We then went out onto the roof of the building which was REALLY REALLY hard on all of us. You could see the entire area around us which was an overhead view of some VERY VERY oppressed people.
It was hard to take it all in - no place for the kids to play, and there was trash piled up in a lot of places. After a little while the kids arrived and went to their classes. We split up and went into different rooms to watch the teachers and kids interact. What a blessing Alexi was! He is a 7 year old little boy that is hard of hearing and is on a learning level of a 3 year old. He was awesome!
We learned spanish words (which he taught me with pictures) and I was teaching him to finger spell in sign language. I know the Lord put him with me - he laughed and laughed while I cried and cried! He was so much fun!! I then went up into Peggy's classroom with her kids which are older. Although they may be in their teens, this is their first year in school.
They were SO funny teasing each other and calling each other names. They loved giving us new names so that we didnt have to fingerspell our names every time. I cant wait to show you our new names!!! I think Dalton's is the most creative!
After school we were able to walk through the barrio (the very poor area around the school). We met some AWESOME people who welcomed us in their homes and prayed over us before we left their house. Then we went in deeper into the neighborhood and met a wonderful man named Dennis who knew a little English and told us how much he loved the Lord. He showed us a photo album of years past where he served the Lord with a children's ministry. He has been doing it for many many years. He was wonderful and they all told us we were welcome to come back any time and that their homes were open to us. They have NOTHING but was willing to share it all with us - WOW!!! What a humbling day today. It was a bitter-sweet rash of emotions that was on us all day long. I might be smiling one moment, but completely broken the next.
I can't wait to show you all the video that we have shot of the trip. Especially some of Kelly's driving here! I think that some of his Spanish traits are coming out. He is CRAZY on these streets - which you have to be, but I didn't know he had it in him. People are wild on the roads here!!! Now I know why the put horns on the cars - if you do not honk at everyone - every 5 seconds they will know you are a tourist. It is quite comical though (gotta see the video).
Well, since we stayed at the school so long today we decided to stay with Peggy again. So yes, we are still in the city, but I am not freaking out so bad tonight. We did get pulled over by an unmarked police man on a dark road. It was pretty scary and Peggy told us that he was trying to bribe people for money. She told him that we were tourists, and she told us that they cannot mess with tourists. Praise the Lord for that!!! We have seen so many things that there is no way I could possibly tell it all.
I am looking forward to a new day tomorrow. We will be heading out to the county so I doubt that I will have any more internet time (that is the reason for this long blog). If I can get online in the morning before we leave out I will try to post some more pictures.
Love you guys!
Shawn
(I am hoping Kelly, Jorge, and Dalton will write some on here too)
1 comment:
WOW!!! It is amazing that you are in the Dominican Republic and we can keep up with you here. I can't wait to see your video and hear of all the great things that the Lord is showing you and working in your lives.
How funny about Kelly driving there :-) It looks like you've been welcomed with open arms and I pray the Lord keep His hands on you during your journey.
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