Adoption

We have a friend visiting with Travis/us. Daniel Whipple! I am supper excited to have him here for the month that he is here. It is always great to have someone from the outside looking in ask me questions to help me process life here in the Dominican Republic. The other night he asked me how I chose the kids that I did to love like my own. That is a great question.

How does one develop that special relationship with a kid that says I will be here for you no matter what? How do I become a trusted friend, a mentor to the youth in my life? I am not hip! I don't dress cool! I speak very poor Spanish... I am not the stereotype for what is pretty here... So what is it.

John 1:14 we read that God is Love!

The love of God is powerful it heals wounds and binds people together. Love is something that we all seek, something we all need. Love is the one thing I have to offer. These children adopted me. I did not adopt them. It is their love and need to be loved that has bound us together. I create in my house a place of peace where they can come to rest and to give and receive love.

Desmayo... Fainting

Friday I went to spend sometime with my girl Yuli. She has been staying at her aunts house because she is not doing well medically and her parents don't want to leave her alone during the day while they work. Since I got here in July she has experienced a stomach ulcer, high risk pregnancy, and now kidney stones. The public hospital here in La Vega is pretty terrible at diagnoses. For the for all three things she was told she was fine and nothing was wrong the first 3-4 times she went to the hospital. Now with the kidney stones she is in a lot of pain and running a fever. When I got to her house she was laying in bed shivering, running a fever and crying out in pain. Lucky her this was also the day she was suppose to be going in for a check up on her pregnancy at the public hospital. Around 11:30 we got onto a motorcycle and started to head to the hospital. She was between me and the driver. About 3 min. into the drive her foot falls off of the peg. Now this is strange for a kid who has been on bikes her entire life. The driver stops and I try to get her attention. A man comes over from the sidewalk to help. She is completely unresponsive. I am tapping her face and saying her name... Nothing. So we pick her feet up and put them on mine. I am holding her up and we start to drive to the hospital. At this time her aunt circles back to check on us and we tell her what is happening and she says to take her to a clinic. Now here clinics mean that you are going to get a much higher level of care. The trick is that Yuli's insurance won't cover this location. This visit will cost about 20-30 dollars. When we arrive at the clinic Yuli is regaining consciousness. Her eyes are terrified as I explain why we are here and what happened to her.

She stopped me and says, "Kisha I don't have the money to go in there."

$20 is standing between my girl getting healthy and caring this baby to term. $20 a month is what she will need to be able to come to this clinic and receive individual care. To have one doctor follow her pregnancy through to the end.

Yuli turned 18 on October 15. We are hoping to be able to change her insurance now. Please pray for us that she would find favor with the government and they would make the transition simple. Also if you would like to help her you there are a few ways. The profits from any photos I sell will be going to help cover her medical costs. You can purchase my photos at www.rememberpeace.smugmug.com Or you can donate to her through my TEARS account by clicking the Financial Support link on the right; just email me and tell me it is for Yuli.

Bagels part 2

Today is my second time making bagels with the two boys, Junior and Goneno. Junior has such a natural talent for baking it is impressive. I am looking into helping him to start baking and selling bagels. We have a friend who used to sell donuts and he is going to help us figure out if it is a viable business here or not. Junior is 14 and needs to start contributing financially to his family. It sounds like a lot of pressure to me but it is the reality of life here in the barrio. school is only a half day and if teenagers are not working for the good of the family they generally are starting to get into trouble with drinking and alcohol. I pray that bagels could be the simple thing that changes Juniors life, although I know that it will take much much more. Perhaps he will decide to open a paneria (bakery) or will make a contact that will open the door to better work. For now I will teach him how to manage his money with what we can bring in selling donuts. I will teach him how to set prices buy in bulk, manage time and how to sell. All skill that will help him in the long run.

Bagels

Last week I made bagels with two of my boys. They had a blast working the dough and then eating their creation. I have never been much of a baker myself but this was a blast. I have learned how to make all kinds of creations from scratch. I have an Indian food recipe that I make and we love it. There is also a shrimp pineapple dish that tastes like Zab Thai!

Aside from cooking I have been trying to see what my place here is? There are so many needs that my usual rule of seeing the need means I should do something about it can not apply. I came here thinking that I was suppose to start a mentoring ministry that focused on young children and tried to have adults stick with them for a few years. Now I am thinking that that dream while it sounds good it just won't happen here. There are not enough healthy adults to start a real program. So where does that leave me...

I have a relationship with Yuli who is about to have a baby. She is 18 and figuring out life. I have a young boy who is 14 that has stolen my heart. I have friends who are leaders in the church. My closest friend from when I was in the internship here has moved back to the barrio and she is seeking God. These people will be my mission. I will love them and try to empower them to be the change they want to see in their community. TEARS is a relational focused ministry. We purposely do not engage in programs, I will not tie myself to a program. If the door opens for an official mentorship I will be very excited but I will not force it.

I am also committed to helping TEARS become more financially stable. I have never been an official fundraiser until now but I believe in this ministry and hope I am able to communicate the vision, mission, and impact TEARS is having on the community here in La Vega, Dominican Republic and beyond.

It's weird to think that God might lead us to a place where we might struggle. I know we say that it's not that weird because we're supposed to, but deep down inside it seems somehow off-kilter. How could God lead me somewhere uncomfortable? Jesus is supposed to make me feel good, and then I tell other people about how good it feels and then they join in and we all just feel good... right?

I looked around a bit and couldn't find a verse that says following Jesus is gonna be a easy ride on the gravy train. Actually, there's way more discussion going the other direction, but I'd rather not talk about that right now. As some of you know I've been struggling to keep my head on straight and in the game down here in the DR. I have better days and worse days, but in general I'm having a hard time with all the limitations I'm experiencing in life. It's not the birthday parties like you see below, and it's not the showing up to support a kid's soccer game like above, it's the general lifestyle things that I miss from Portland... family and friends... food carts... restaurants... walking around at night time... understanding most people... offering help to people that need a hand... quiet neighborhoods... just the little things that I didn't know I'd be leaving in the US.

Please pray for me if you get a chance... I feel okay right now, but because of how raucous my students are I have a a lot of variables when it comes to emotional state of being. I want to be here because I believe that God sent me here, but I'm currently having a hard time understanding why. I need God's focus and a serious change of attitude!

feeding the 5000

My friend Laura is staying with me which means that we have a small following of children around most of the time. This is normal and had started before she came but the frequency has grown. Sometimes it feels like we are feeding the 5000.

One of the boys that I feel an extra connection to comes from the poorest part of our barrio. He has 4 sisters and often times misses meals in his house. Yesterday he came by at 11:45. I was hungry and asked him where he was going to eat lunch and his response was a shrug of the shoulder. I think of James chapter 2 where it says,

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him "Go I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action , is dead."

Now I know that this verse is not telling me that I have to feed every person who is hungry but rather is talking about faith. But the metaphor is used because it was generally accepted that we should care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. That all should give so that none would have to go without. From my abundance I should give to those who are lacking. Caring for my brothers and sisters in Christ. So back to this child...

He has learned to go visit people around meal time in hopes of receiving some food. His family is unable to provide for his needs. There are so many children like this here and I can not feed them all. But this one child... This one child of God I can feed. From my abundance I will care for him. So yesterday we fed him some left over egg salad sandwich and yogurt. You may say you love with your words... I will show you that I love by my actions.

Lightning with no Thunder

Being an Oregonian I am not accustom to thunder and lightning storms. Here in La Vega we have them all the time. My first week here I was so jumpy because the thunder was deafening and the lightning flashed all around like a strobe light. I was sure that if I left the cover of the porch that I was going to be struck! The family we stayed with had a few good laughs at my expense over this. Just this last week Eric and I decided to walk into the barrio during a lightning storm. It was off in the distance and we could hardly hear the thunder. The way the sky lit up was beautiful. We had no lights in the neighborhood so it would go from pitch black to bright and detailed.

I am becoming quite accustomed to the storms that blow over so quickly. Now I look forward to the storm and sit outside on the porch mesmerized by the flashes. It has only been 3 months and most of the time I feel right at home. There are times though when I am ready to go back to Portland. I miss my city and the familiarity. I miss understanding the nuances of life. Language/culture learning can be exhausting and seems to come in small surges. Some days I understand more than others. Some days the words come off my tongue without much work. But then there are those days where I can not get simple words out that I have known for years.

But then again I seem to have that problem in English too! :)