setting the oppressed free

     What a crazy past few weeks it's been! I moved out of the missionaries' house and into a house a few blocks away with six other interns (with no wi-fi - hence the delayed blog update). All 22 summer interns arrived one week ago, so last week was all training and getting them comfortable here. There were several teaching lectures, we got to spend time with the school staffs that we will be teaching with, and as Dominican custom, I got soaking wet on my birthday. It was a busy week but lots of fun getting to know my new friends!
     Shout out to Cameron Foose and Andrew Lindquist! They are two friends from Wheaton that are also working in the DR, and they came out to the mountains to visit this weekend. We had an awesome time hiking up a river, jumping off a waterfall, running a race, and spending some quality time together. It was a sweet breath of fresh air, something I seriously appreciated.
     I am reading two books right now, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns and Helping Without Hurting by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett. I highly recommend both as I am learning a ton right now about our calling as Christians to truly love our neighbor and seek justice for the poor and oppressed. When you really look at scripture, there really is no way around that. It has been interesting reading them in the context that I am in down here. Matthew 25:31-46 includes the infamous verse, "What you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Realizing that by loving and bringing joy to, nevermind ultimately attempting to help educate, these small and innocent, yet totally impoverished children, I am loving and bringing joy to my Savior strikes a chord within me. Just as this blog is named after Micah 6:8, another verse that keeps being brought to my attention, especially through these two books, is Isaiah 58:6-7. "Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and to untie the chords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not the share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (go read the rest of the chapter!) 
     What does it really mean to seek justice and set the oppressed free? I mean, what does it really actually look like? It's been a crazy reality check when you walk and drive by the overwhelming poverty on a daily basis, and then remember that you are called, in fact you are mandated to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. We, as the Church, have a heavy responsibility that we need to take seriously.
     The Dominican Republic has been shown to have the worst education out of all the Latin American countries, and is ranked 137 out of 139 countries across the world in a study on math and science education (if you want that citation, let me know). I am praying and hoping that the work the Lord is doing through the interns this summer and through the tutoring program I am trying to help get rolling will truly make an impact on the kingdom and the fruit of our labor will be setting the oppressed and uneducated free.
     Please be praying for the Lord's guidance and strength in the summer programs this week. Today was day one and it was stressful, confusing, yet incredible all at the same time. It has been striking me ever so clearly how desperately we need the Lord's provision during the next five weeks.
     As always, thank you for showering me with love and support. I am so grateful for an incredible community!

I love ya like a grape.

After several power outages and a few trips out of town, I can finally write an update!
     Serving the Lord can be pretty hard sometimes, with all the sacrifices you need to make... but it's pretty fun when it involves going to a beautiful, coral beach for the weekend, learning how to surf, diving for sand dollars for hours on end, and quality time with some pretty amazing people. :) Life here can be uncomfortable at times, but it has been a blast.
     Last week, I went to Constanza, the first place I ever went to in the DR back in 2004. Vic (KAI co-director) drove me down the very road I shared my testimony on for a couple hundred Dominicans during a church service. It brought back a lot of memories and was amazing to see how the programs there have really grown. My project was to work with another missionary here to get all the kids to write letters to their sponsors. Each child in the program needs 3-9 sponsors in order for them to stay in the orphanage or attend the school. After succeeding in getting 50+ kids to write all their letters in a single afternoon, the next task was to translate them into English for their American sponsors to understand. I now sympathize with elementary school teachers in the impossible handwriting legibility battle... We had a good time playing 'Mad-Gab' as we would read a line out loud over and over until it sounded like something in Spanish that made a little bit of sense. My favorite line was definitely this:
          What she wrote: "Teciero com un uba."
          What she meant to write: "Te quiero como una uva."
          What it means: "I love you like a grape."
... apparently she really likes grapes? The kids really understand that the only reason they are able to have these different lives are because of their padrinos, sponsors, and a lot of the letters were really beautiful and touching to read.
     Since then I have been coloring 250+ pages as part of preparing tutoring boxes for the summer programs. 11-year old Chase has been a pretty huge help with that. In fact, we finally finished today! We celebrated by making passion fruit juice - she's an expert. The 20 interns come in less than a week, so my deadline for prepping the boxes is closing in, but I'm excited for them to arrive!
     The Lord has been so good to me, teaching me a ton about his love for each of his children, his faithfulness in our lives, and his strong and steady hand in every situation. The whole mission of Kids Alive is to rescue orphaned or at risk-children, love them, give them a new life, and prepare them to go back out and make an impact on their community. Last week I heard a few of the older 'kids,' who have finished the program and now live on their own, share their stories. They were some of the ones I really connected with five summers ago, while they were still living at the orphanage. It was incredible to hear them testify of God's amazing provision in their lives; from being orphaned and literally starving, to living in a safe and loving community where they received one of the best educations on the island, to going back to living in the very same barrio (neighborhood) where they were born - but this time with a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). They chose to go back there and to live intentionally. They both actively serve and participate in their church and they are tangibly making a difference in the lives of their friends and community. Talk about God's faithfulness. I was humbled.
     Last I heard, the woman needing blood is still in the hospital, but is now stable. I am looking forward to the adventures God has for me in this next week, so thank you for your prayers and love!