DR Mission Trip '24: Update #4

Hola from San Pedro de Macoris. We have now spent three afternoons with the girls who come here for camp. They gather inside to worship and hear a message all in Spanish. The team prepares each morning with Phil's sermon notes so we can follow along later. This is helpful for those of us who don't know the language.

Today, when we were outside in our small groups, the girls did a craft that will remind them what they are learning about their identity. Some girls find their identity in Christ as a child of God. Many think they first have to be good enough and do certain things. It seems there is a religious culture here with rules for hair and clothing and other outward shows of goodness. We did our best to make the journey towards being a child of God understandable.

Then we had all the girls pick up trash and throw it at each other. At least, that's what it looked like. It was a game called Trash Chaos, and the girls loved it. They threw empty water bottles and paper across the team boundary, and the team with less on their side when the game ended was the winner.

The girls love all the games. They are super competitive and laugh their heads off and cheer loudly the whole time. Some of the pictures here show the balloon relay race. They sure play hard, but then they settle down quickly for the second round of worship, message, and small group time. It's very peaceful outside when they are writing in their journals and thinking about the message and how it applies to them.

On a team note, the guest house is very clean and comfortable. The guest house managers run a tight ship, and it shows. The food is prepared by Mercedes and Rosa, whom I've gotten to know by speaking a very little Spanish, some French, and mostly charades. Hopefully, they'll give me their secret Empanada recipe tomorrow so we can try making empanadas back home. —Darby Ferguson