Trues On Mission

What a journey so far. In only 7 days life has changed so much. Life in the DR is a lot different than in the US, and a constant reminder of everything I took for granted. (Like water, food and electricity). One thing that appealed to leaving the US was eliminating the ‘static’ and living a simpler and more communal way of life. Maybe you know what I mean when I say this… like the ‘static’ of all the daily tasks we do…play dates, soccer practice, smart phones, shopping—They seem like necessities, but they are not and still we run run run like they are. Now all of the static has been removed and already I’ve found myself wishing for static. Static and stuff: I want, I need a hairdryer/clothesdryer/anything dryer, window screens, a park for the kids, internet, tahini, kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff, _____stuff! Amazing it was only 3 weeks ago during my 4th garage sale where I lost my mind because of all the STUFF we had.

Here’s something I read the other day from a book called 1,000 Gifts:

Our fall was, and has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives. We hunger for something more, something other. It’s the sin of ingratitude.

Is God enough, or have I been held captive by my static and my stuff?

Are you?

We have settled in nicely in a little house in a small village called El Breton. I have to admit after this crazy week I lost a little focus and thought gosh, I could have kept my nice cushy house and life and just been a missionary in my own town. Yeah, that’s what I should’ve done….! BUT that isn’t what God called our family to do. (Plus, too much static).

Yesterday we went to church and met the rest of our ministry team. We pulled up to the compound and were greeted by a welcome wagon of so many great smiling people. We are so honored to be part of a group that is constantly rewriting storylines. 10 seconds after exiting the car I noticed there was an arm wrapped around my waste and my hand was being held, but for a good 5 minutes I was still having conversations up at 5’8” level. When I looked down I saw a big smiling face. Hi! I said, how are you? She said, good, how are you? Me: What’s your name? Her: My name is Jessica.

I sat down with her still attached but she settled for the chair next to me while my boys were already best friending with the other two missionary kids that happen to also be boys, about their age. Paul, who manages the orphanage with his wife came by and said, I see you’ve met Jessica! Yes I have! I said. Paul, although he doesn’t do much Spanish, keeps every kid and their story on his radar. He should be running youth and family services in the DR. He told me Jessica is an orphan who lives on the streets in town and sleeps in a ‘not-so-nice’ place at night. They call her the popcorn girl because she and her 2 friends sell popcorn on the streets at night. (Interesting side story is that while peddling us some popcorn back in Apr, she asked when the community center would again open). She’s only 9 and she has the where with all to jump the Manna truck from town up the hill every Sunday—by herself. 9! After some music, she ran off to Sunday school with the rest of the kids, including mine. When they finished she brought me her perfectly colored pic of Jesus calming the storm. Interesting the Spanish word for storm is la tormenta. She explained it and then gifted it to me.

Hmm, who is here on mission to bring God’s love to whom?

Please pray for Jessica and that Jesus calms las tormentas in her sweet little life.

Thanks you so much to our supporters, we are so blessed by you—you also will be rewriting storylines. We are extremely grateful because we now have funding to pay for electricity and water for the community center for two years. That means we’re open for business people! Over the next few weeks we will be coordinating with our Manna staff to determine what types of activities we will provide. For those, we’ll need more funding. If your heart is being pushed on, or if today is the day that you want to begin to rewrite a story because you don’t like the ones being told, please click the giving tab at the top.

Always feel free to leave your thoughts/ideas/prayers in the comments. They make us smile!