It has been a little over a week now since I said my goodbyes in Philadelphia, headed to Georgia, and then left the States for the Dominican Republic. The week brought on new memories and new experiences that I will hold onto forever.
A few months back I had not even heard of Adventures In Missions. Going to the Dominican Republic was not even a thought to cross my mind until a dear friend asked me if I would be up to going to the Dominican with her. I immediately said yes and started filling out the application. My friend ended up not being able to go, but by that point I had already committed myself to the trip and still wanted to go. I was excited for the new adventure and traveling to a new country. Little did I know that this trip would bring me together with so many wonderful people. Each person is unique in their personality and brings a different quality to the team. I am beyond blessed to be with loving leaders and a great team.
The country here is beautiful. We are up the mountain a ways, so the view from the house gives way to a wide expanse of green vegetation for miles. They have a lovely waterfall on the property that we can bathe in if we would like. The weather is hot but bearable. Spending time in Georgia most defiantly helped prepare us for the hot and humid weather here. However the bugs here are not the nicest. Last time I checked, I had about twenty bug bites decorating my legs in a wonderful red array.
These past couple days here in the Dominican have been absolutely fabulous despite my bug bites. Our days usually start at 6:45 in the morning to the waking call of Brittine. From there we have worship as a team, quiet time with God, and then breakfast. After breakfast we do something as a team until lunch. After lunch we do more as a team until dinner. When dinner is over we have free time until around 10:00 p.m. In our free time after dinner we usually have worship and a devotion as a team before we go to bed.
During the day, I have spent time tutoring one of the girls here on the compound. The girls are homeschooled, so when they have different groups come through, the girls get different tutors. I tutor the oldest of the girls, Starr. I guide her through a lesson of Grammar and then a lesson of Pre Algebra. School can sometimes take awhile, but I enjoy helping her with it.
Besides tutoring, the team as a whole has taken on a number of challenges. Everyone has had different experiences with the work they have taken part with here on the property. Moving trash, clearing the grounds, hand washing laundry, and moving rocks in the stream were all things that different people did. Moving trash some team members had an interesting encounter with a goat. They were told that if one of the goats started coming towards them they were supposed to pick up a few stones to throw at him and he would go away. Instead the goat chased some people up a tree and followed others. One of the girls, Haley, even got bucked gently in the butt by the silly goat. It was something that people talked about all evening at dinner; laughing about their interactions they had with the goat.
We also had the opportunity to go out into the community to bless the people here. Thursday, July 7, we split into two groups and did a prayer walk through the community surrounding the compound. The following day we split into two different groups again and did home visits. We met so many welcoming and loving Dominicans. One women in fact so loving that she kissed a girl on my team on the lips. Hannah was defiantly taken by surprise but laughed it off. The lady was adorable though. Her hair was wrapped up into white space buns on the top of her head. She lived in a little pink house with her chickens.
Today, July 9, we went to a basketball court up the road from the compound to play with local kids. More and more children gradually came to the courts to play with us. We played with them until lunch. After lunch everyone got their phones back and had the opportunity to make calls home. Later this evening, we all loaded onto a bus and headed to the city of Santiago. We stopped at a shop to buy some souvenirs. From there we all went to eat empanadas. We made a short stop for some fro-yo at Sweet Frog and then we headed back home up the mountain. The ride home was joyous and everyone was happy. Music was blasted through the bus and we all sang along to the songs. Brittine occupied herself with some interpretive dance that had all of us laughing.
This adventure is only now getting started. The upcoming week and a half will be full of more memories and surprises. With our time left, prayer for health would be greatly appreciated as some team members are still struggling with sickness. Please pray for our continued safety when we are out in the community interacting with locals and then in our travels back home to the States later in mid July. Have a wonderful day everyone!
Tianna Beiler
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and give you peace.
