Master del Desierto

Jake and I participated in the Master del Desierto race/competition with my boss, Krista, from Doulos last Saturday. The race consisted of biking, padaling, running and swimming as well as nine team challenges. We had so much fun and really enjoyed ourselves, despite Jake being sick and me not feeling prepared. It was an experience that we will not forget and one we are glad we had the opportunity to participate in.

One of my favorite challenges was the soapy wall. We had to get all three of us up a 12-15 foot wall that was covered in a soapy mixture. Luckily, by the time we got there, a lot of it had dried and we got up the wall pretty easily by climbing up one another. It was a little painful to have the weight of someone on my head and shoulders. It put a whole new meaning to bearing one another's burdens.

Another of my favorite parts was actually wandering through the desert. I couldn't help but imagine what Jesus and Abraham must have felt like. We even stumbled upon some olive trees and I really felt like I was traveling around Israel. Of course, I had plenty of Gatorade and Powerbars to eat, but I felt like I understood how hard that would have been to wander for forty days without food or water.

Hopefully, we will have more pictures later and possibly even a video, they are going to make a mini-series out of the race, kind of like The Amazing Race or Survivor. There wasn't as much drama though I can guarantee.

We'll keep you posted!

Jumprope Fun!

A work team from Texas came and brought some awesome equipment for the students to use. Their favorite was the double-dutch jumpropes. It was such a blessing to have this group. They did an amazing job and taught the kids how to jumprope, juggle with scarves and many more activities!

Some pictures of Jarabacoa

Here is the sunset from our kitchen window...

Jake...

I will add more later...

Sixth Grade Girls Party!

Jake and I have been doing great. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We have really felt them especially as people have commented that we are adjusting remarkably well. Thanks to the Lord, he has helped us so much in this transition.

One of the things I love about the place I work, Doulos Discovery School, is being able to hang out with students. I had wanted to have the sixth grade girls over to our house and finally it happened! It was so much fun to connect more with the girls and the other teachers. I had eight sixth grade girls over after school until about ten o'clock. They wanted a pajama party, but I thought this would be enough time together for now. We had a water fight in the yard, played tag, painted nails and toenails, ate junk food and pizza, danced a lot, and watched a movie. I had so much fun and can't wait to plan our next party.

I am really excited about the way that the Lord is opening doors to be involved with kids' lives. I love getting to know the students here and in doing this I hope that I can be an example to them in word and in deed. They are so awesome and I just wanted to share some pictures from our party so you can see how much fun we had!

Please continue to pray for me as I am asking the Lord what he would have me continue doing here. I would love to be involved more in discipling and leading Bible studies. For right now, teaching has been an amazing way to connect with students and to pour into their lives.

Some fun sights we've seen

Here we are in the capital, in front of the oldest still functioning church in the new world

A moonlight stroll on the beach

The Cristopher Columbus statue in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo

Cabarete beach, one of the biggest kite surfing meccas in the world

Presidential elections are in May, so the streets are always full of honking cars with flags waving for their preferred candidate.

Sixth Grade Field trip!!

These are some pics from the field trip that I just took with my sixth grade class. We had so much fun. The kids liked the waterfall, but not really the hike back up. One of the highlights of my trip was seeing one of the kids' mothers take off her sandals and hike barefoot. She was even carrying some of the girls' backpacks and encouraging them along the way. Wow, these people are amazing.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, we are doing really well. Next week is Semana Santa, or Spring Break. I am looking forward to a break and Jake will be hosting a work team. Until next time...

Our lives in the DR

I am just finally having a moment to write and update y'all on our lives so far. Since we have been here, we have been busy with figuring out where we will live, buying a car, figuring out our new jobs and meeting a lot of new people. Jake has been doing great in his new job. Last week was the first work team at camp and it was very busy but also a great week for him and everyone else. Also, two new interns arrived to work at camp and Jake has been busy hanging out with them and leading them.

I have also been busy. When we arrived, I wondered what God had for me here in this country. There was not enough work for both Jake and I at camp, so I started looking for oppotunities to be involved in this community. I wound up at Doulos Discovery School (http://www.ddsdr.org/), a place I had been considering working at before. Last year, when we visited, we came to this school and I was excited about the possibility of working here. I am working as an assistant in the sixth grade classroom and I also teach English/Language Arts as well as Art with the sixth graders. It has been a wonderful community to be involved in and the students are amazing. I love getting to share the Lord with them and seeing their smiling faces everyday. For now, this is where I am called to serve. I am learning more Spanish and getting to know the kids that I came to work with.

Also, I stay busy with Spanish tutoring five days a week. This has been busy, but it has been really good. Everyone says that the first two months are difficult, and that is definitely true. I have not found it easy to live here, but I have found that God is faithful through all of my struggles and frustrations.

I am excited to share more pictures once we have the internet at our house or when I am able to upload some pictures. For now, here is a picture of the sixth grade class that I work with and their teacher, Patrick. Thank you all for wanting to hear about our lives and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Love,

Kyla