The band "Foo Fighters" has a song out called "Times Like These". Some of you may think, why in the world did I use that as my title of this blog. To be honest with you it has no significance to what I wanted to write about. I wanted this blog to come from the heart, that of which it will. But at the same time I didn't know how I should start it and what the Title of it should be.
I have been in the Dominican Republic now for 3 weeks and 1 more week to go. It is hard to believe this is my last week in the Dominican Republic and even more crazy to think about this time next week I will be back home in Kentucky. As I am sitting here writing on a computer infested with ants walking around on the computer screen and keys, I didn't know what to say or how to start but I believe I have an idea now.
Alot of people come back from oversea's mission trips and they always say the same thing. "It has definitely had more of an impact on me than any other thing in my life." With that, I wanted to say that it is the truth. Being down here and living on the Orphanage property, my eyes have been open to many things. I have definitely been humbled, ALOT. Taking cold showers, sleeping in a tent, and enduring with no A/C has been crazy don't get me wrong but at the same time it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. It has made me realize that we in America are blessed to have what we have.
Seeing the Dominican's down here and partaking in their culture has been a blast. These people are the nicest people that anyone will ever meet. But aside from the Dominican people out in the towns I want to talk about my Dominican Brothers, all 24 of them. Coming down here they have had a huge part of my life. a HUGE part. These kids have suffered loss in their life time at some point. That of which they will never forget. Seeing someone they absolutely love and adore (like their Mother and Father) walk out on them and turn them over to a new place. Instead of these kids having a poor attitude or their spirit being down from their loss, they have the heart of a lion. These kids have the biggest heart. You can't tell that they are sad. They Laugh, they Love, and the play just like any other kid that we find in America. This week for me is going to really hard, having to leave these kids. Some I have grown attached to more than others, but at the same time its going to be hard to leave each of these kids.
As I go into the last week, I just want to throw a couple prayer request. The first is simple, just to pray for the group to finish the race. There is 102 people here this week, that of which we will be going to a bunch of neighborhood churches. There is a lot of interns that are leaving out this week, and a lot of week volunteers. I just pray that we can finish the race this week like Paul talks about to Philippi and to the Church in Corinth. The second is the recent attack on Uganda. For those who may not have heard, last week during the world cup soccer match there was a bombing that took place at a restaurant in the capital of Uganda. It was an act of terriorism that took place and took lives. That of which was 1 american and injured 5 more. I have heard from a recent volunteer, a team leader from a church in New York that those could have been missionaires. I would like to keep them and their families in Prayer because I am sure that is a hard time that they are going through. We don't know why God allows things like these, but we do know that with everything God does, it is for the best. I am sure all kinds of questions will come from this so I pray that people can almost look past the heart ache and still trust in God with everthing.
I am signing off now and going into my last week here at the orphanage. I miss everyone and can't wait to see all of you.
Much Love from the DR,
Jacob
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Relationships and Journeys
I have been in the Dominican Republic just over two weeks now, and I am trying to figure out where the last two weeks have gone. This past week at the orphanage we did a camp at a church in a small village called Laguna Salada. It was located in a little white church building, one of the churches that you see in the movies. I am at this point trying to figure out where the last week has gone. That week was the fastest week that I have ever encountered in my life. It is unbelievable to think that I am going into my third week here in the D.R. and this time in 2 weeks I will be at my home in Danville, Kentucky. As we keep on striving to be imitators of Christ I ask you to keep us in your prayers as we continue our journey. Pray that God gives us the energy that we need to finish these next 13 days strong.
Going into what God has shown me recently I hope and pray the remainder of this blog makes sense. I know that I am guilty at this and you better believe that I am going to change this every chance that I get. Don't worry if you are confused, it will all make sense in a minute.
This past week I have been hearing a lot of life stories. Just four of us sitting around getting to know each others past, what they are feeling in the present, and what they would like their life to look like in the future. One thing that I quickly noticed was how much of life is shaped and formed by relationships. By relationships, I don't necessarily mean an intimate relationship. I am meaning more along the lines of your relationship with your friends, the relationship with your family, the relationships that have gone bad and the ones that are still going strong. Relationships are so crucial because they will be the trial and errors that form a persons life and also the base of what people use when they go to look for their spouse. It can literally tear someone down and have them build a wall so big that can not be broken down. Relationships are the chapters of our Journey. By Journey I mean our life story. After hearing different journeys, I have felt like I am on another level of friendship with those people. After hearing people's Journeys, you will find out what makes them happy, what makes them sad, what ticks them off, and what can lift them up on a bad day. The list really goes on and on because you hear their trials and errors but you also hear the good things that have gone on in someones life.
God intended on us to have realtionships and with the relationships I believe he has given us our Journeys. A journey that is supposed to be told. I was the guy that didn't look that far into the past of peoples lives. I never was interested in what happened to you when you were little or the boyfriends/girlfriends you may have had in High School. The divorce your parents went through or the mess that your life has been. I just wanted to be the one to tell the person "life will get better" and wanted to know what cool stuff we can do in the present and future.
After this week, I have a different opinion. I know that I may have jumped in friendships with people in the past but now I literally want to know their Journey. I want to know everything about it. It is one thing to have a friendship with someone, but it is another to have a relationship with them and the best way to move from friends to a true friendship in the form of a relationship (once again I dont mean bf/gf) is getting to know Journeys.
Like I said, I am guilty at rushing friendships. I think I am not alone in this boat though. I will be making changes when I get back in the states, and if I dont know your Journey, be ready to sit down and have a cup of coffee with me. We are going to exchange Journeys. If you are in the same boat as I. Reach out and get to know someones Journey. Be that person to climb over the wall that has been built up and if you can't climb, start digging because eventually you will see the side of someone that not alot of people have. Like I said, some of my best friends that I have, I don't truthfully know their Journeys. After exchanging stories, I think you will be glad that you set and listened and told.
I hope this blog made sense. I know alot of people would like to know what is going on down here with the kids, and the biggest tarantula that I have seen but their will be time for that when I get back in the states. So with saying that, I challenge you to reach out and get to know someones life story this week. Go get a meal with someone, buy their meal for crying out loud. People love to be talked to and people love to tell their Journey.
Much Love!
Jacob
Ps. Dad, I left you out last time and I just wanted you to know that soon we will be out jumping ponds stabbing frogs! Can't wait!
Also, if you go to orphanage-outreach.org today and scroll down to the photo of the day. It should be captioned "Susan teaching english to some campers" or something like that but if you look in the background towards the right side of the picture you will see me. haha
Going into what God has shown me recently I hope and pray the remainder of this blog makes sense. I know that I am guilty at this and you better believe that I am going to change this every chance that I get. Don't worry if you are confused, it will all make sense in a minute.
This past week I have been hearing a lot of life stories. Just four of us sitting around getting to know each others past, what they are feeling in the present, and what they would like their life to look like in the future. One thing that I quickly noticed was how much of life is shaped and formed by relationships. By relationships, I don't necessarily mean an intimate relationship. I am meaning more along the lines of your relationship with your friends, the relationship with your family, the relationships that have gone bad and the ones that are still going strong. Relationships are so crucial because they will be the trial and errors that form a persons life and also the base of what people use when they go to look for their spouse. It can literally tear someone down and have them build a wall so big that can not be broken down. Relationships are the chapters of our Journey. By Journey I mean our life story. After hearing different journeys, I have felt like I am on another level of friendship with those people. After hearing people's Journeys, you will find out what makes them happy, what makes them sad, what ticks them off, and what can lift them up on a bad day. The list really goes on and on because you hear their trials and errors but you also hear the good things that have gone on in someones life.
God intended on us to have realtionships and with the relationships I believe he has given us our Journeys. A journey that is supposed to be told. I was the guy that didn't look that far into the past of peoples lives. I never was interested in what happened to you when you were little or the boyfriends/girlfriends you may have had in High School. The divorce your parents went through or the mess that your life has been. I just wanted to be the one to tell the person "life will get better" and wanted to know what cool stuff we can do in the present and future.
After this week, I have a different opinion. I know that I may have jumped in friendships with people in the past but now I literally want to know their Journey. I want to know everything about it. It is one thing to have a friendship with someone, but it is another to have a relationship with them and the best way to move from friends to a true friendship in the form of a relationship (once again I dont mean bf/gf) is getting to know Journeys.
Like I said, I am guilty at rushing friendships. I think I am not alone in this boat though. I will be making changes when I get back in the states, and if I dont know your Journey, be ready to sit down and have a cup of coffee with me. We are going to exchange Journeys. If you are in the same boat as I. Reach out and get to know someones Journey. Be that person to climb over the wall that has been built up and if you can't climb, start digging because eventually you will see the side of someone that not alot of people have. Like I said, some of my best friends that I have, I don't truthfully know their Journeys. After exchanging stories, I think you will be glad that you set and listened and told.
I hope this blog made sense. I know alot of people would like to know what is going on down here with the kids, and the biggest tarantula that I have seen but their will be time for that when I get back in the states. So with saying that, I challenge you to reach out and get to know someones life story this week. Go get a meal with someone, buy their meal for crying out loud. People love to be talked to and people love to tell their Journey.
Much Love!
Jacob
Ps. Dad, I left you out last time and I just wanted you to know that soon we will be out jumping ponds stabbing frogs! Can't wait!
Also, if you go to orphanage-outreach.org today and scroll down to the photo of the day. It should be captioned "Susan teaching english to some campers" or something like that but if you look in the background towards the right side of the picture you will see me. haha
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Suffering and Surprises
It has been over a week since I have been down in the Dominican Republic, and I will be the first to say that it has been full of suffering and surprises. Suffering in such a way that has made me lean on God more than ever and surprises to hear God speak. As I mentioned before, the week was full of suffering, suffering that I couldn't understand.
I don't know what hit me earlier in the week. It was almost like I had a feeling of unworthy. I didn't know what to do, and I just felt like I was a chicken with it's head cut off running around the Orphanage. I believe the main problem that I had was the lack of spanish that I speak. It is very hard for myself to talk to the children without a translator and even harder to listen to a child speak in spanish and not be able to understand them, while they are getting frustrated about the fact that you can not understand any of the words they tell you.
Along with the lack of spanish, I definetly had culture shock to the max. I went from having air conditioning in every building that I would enter in America, to thinking something is wrong if I stop sweating. I came from America at which a broom is something that you buy at a store like wal-mart or any other superstore to a place where the broom is a stick with a bush taped to the end of it. It is little stuff like that, that made me start thinking and feeling worse. Almost like I was here but I couldn't do anything about it because of the lack of spanish that I speak.
Those were mostly the problems that I encountered while fighting through the first few days of the first week. At the same time they were the reasons that I stuck around. As I read through the first few days of my journal I see the heartache that I endured but through alot of prayer and prayer from others I can see a change from the first couple days to the end of the week. One of the best things about the journal that I am journaling in is the verse on the outside of the cover. Joshua 1:9. That verse really describes this trip in a nut shell.
"Be Strong and Courageous. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go"
-Joshua 1:9
I felt weak every night that I fought through the suffering. I was a very easy target for satan to hit. Which he did. He through a lot on my plate that I will have to share when I get back to the States. I never could let it get me to down because of the verse on the top of the journal. After reading that and reading that I got stronger and stronger to the point where I was finding ways around the language problem. God actually provided a child from the first camp that we ran last week that was from Rhode Island who spoke english and was used as my translator through out the day. Sometimes I sit back and think "wow, we serve a God who provides in the most beautiful unexpected ways".
As each day passed I found myself searching for more and more. After a night of just playing around on the guitar, I quickly found out that we were lacking the time of worship. After confuring with a couple of the leaders down here, we now have set aside a time of worship of which I will have the privledge to lead along with some great people.
Also after hanging out in the with the boys, I am taking the role of teaching english to two children that speak spanish and creole which is similar to french of which I can speak a little of. Here english is very essential for the children to succeed and without it they almost dont have anything to succeed with.
As my time is nearing to an end on the Computer, I just wanted to say that the first week is down and three more to go. 20 days and I will be back in the states ready to tell all the stories that has happened to me in the D.R. I would like to throw a shout out to Lindsay for picking the perfect journal, like you knew what I was going to go through before I did. I thank you and appreciate that more than you will ever know! Miss you guys and I will soon be back.
P.S. Russ - They do have Mcdonald ice cream cones here!
Mom, Kaitlyn and Lindsay - 22 days till an amazing night of worship with hillsong
-Love all you guys,
Jacob
I don't know what hit me earlier in the week. It was almost like I had a feeling of unworthy. I didn't know what to do, and I just felt like I was a chicken with it's head cut off running around the Orphanage. I believe the main problem that I had was the lack of spanish that I speak. It is very hard for myself to talk to the children without a translator and even harder to listen to a child speak in spanish and not be able to understand them, while they are getting frustrated about the fact that you can not understand any of the words they tell you.
Along with the lack of spanish, I definetly had culture shock to the max. I went from having air conditioning in every building that I would enter in America, to thinking something is wrong if I stop sweating. I came from America at which a broom is something that you buy at a store like wal-mart or any other superstore to a place where the broom is a stick with a bush taped to the end of it. It is little stuff like that, that made me start thinking and feeling worse. Almost like I was here but I couldn't do anything about it because of the lack of spanish that I speak.
Those were mostly the problems that I encountered while fighting through the first few days of the first week. At the same time they were the reasons that I stuck around. As I read through the first few days of my journal I see the heartache that I endured but through alot of prayer and prayer from others I can see a change from the first couple days to the end of the week. One of the best things about the journal that I am journaling in is the verse on the outside of the cover. Joshua 1:9. That verse really describes this trip in a nut shell.
"Be Strong and Courageous. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go"
-Joshua 1:9
I felt weak every night that I fought through the suffering. I was a very easy target for satan to hit. Which he did. He through a lot on my plate that I will have to share when I get back to the States. I never could let it get me to down because of the verse on the top of the journal. After reading that and reading that I got stronger and stronger to the point where I was finding ways around the language problem. God actually provided a child from the first camp that we ran last week that was from Rhode Island who spoke english and was used as my translator through out the day. Sometimes I sit back and think "wow, we serve a God who provides in the most beautiful unexpected ways".
As each day passed I found myself searching for more and more. After a night of just playing around on the guitar, I quickly found out that we were lacking the time of worship. After confuring with a couple of the leaders down here, we now have set aside a time of worship of which I will have the privledge to lead along with some great people.
Also after hanging out in the with the boys, I am taking the role of teaching english to two children that speak spanish and creole which is similar to french of which I can speak a little of. Here english is very essential for the children to succeed and without it they almost dont have anything to succeed with.
As my time is nearing to an end on the Computer, I just wanted to say that the first week is down and three more to go. 20 days and I will be back in the states ready to tell all the stories that has happened to me in the D.R. I would like to throw a shout out to Lindsay for picking the perfect journal, like you knew what I was going to go through before I did. I thank you and appreciate that more than you will ever know! Miss you guys and I will soon be back.
P.S. Russ - They do have Mcdonald ice cream cones here!
Mom, Kaitlyn and Lindsay - 22 days till an amazing night of worship with hillsong
-Love all you guys,
Jacob
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