for me the coolest thing is that i had been writing about how badly i wanted to go on an international mission trip when my family and i decided to spend a week in the Dominican...i didnt know where God wanted me to go but knew i was more eager than ever...this trip had been overshadowed though by the excitement of kamp...when we arrived in the dominican on saturday April 17th i knew it was going to be an incredible week...it was such a gorgeous, green place from above and the water was incredible!!...we actually had to make two landings because the runway was soo short and a gust of wind lifted us back up...we landed with our team of 10 with 40 bags!!...it was amazing how many supplies we were about to get through customs without being checked(praise the Lord)...we headed out into the hot, humid city of Sosua...we added 4 more to our team from other states and canada...we got to our hotel which was called Sosua by the Sea...it was super nice and i was excited to have running water and air conditioning...haha...the first night we unloaded all the supplies at the clinic...on sunday we went to the english church and got to hear brandon speak...brandon and nikki james were on our staff at fbch before they moved full time to the DR in january...we were soo excited to see them!!...after church we went to the tent where they have the spanish church to set up our family fun day!!...we had a puppet show and then we set up games and crafts for all the people that lived in the villages in the area...we had about 350 people that came out for the great event...i made balloon animals for 3 hours for children and adults!!...those children were soo precious!!...i made several "sombreros" that day!!...it was really fun!!...each day we went to either a village to give out food/hygiene bags or to a school to tell the story of Daniel with crafts and games...i immediately felt at home down there...i knew that this was exactly where i needed to be that week!!...i fell in love with the city and the people there...the missionaries that brandon and nikki are working with are amazing!!...it was soo refreshing to see people live soo simply after working in retail for the past 9 months seeing people spend way too much on things they didnt even need...my heart started yearning for such a lifestyle...we went to a school that was in the village of bombita where i first gave out food bags to people at their homes...thats when i met this sweet, sweet little boy that had a skin condition but he was the cutest little boy i had ever seen...he and this other little boy followed us door to door as we met and prayed with the people of bombita...they shared a pair of worn out green crocks...at one point they were playing baseball with Dan(one of our team members) when the ball went over the fence...the boy climbed right over that barbwire like it was no big deal...im sure he had done it several times before...im pretty sure his name was derrek and he will forever be in my heart...when we went to the village of policlinica i met a little girl that was soo sweet...we walked hand in hand that whole day...we shared a glass bottle of coke which was super fun to see them light up about!...i ended up getting to sit with her at the spanish church and i saw her truly worship the Lord with all of her heart!!...that night i had to say goodbye and she immediately started crying...i can not even put into words how that moment has changed me...i learned later that her mother had died a few years ago and i did not want to left her go...i was so glad that i was about to leave her a bag of goodies with a picture of us together in it...i can not wait till i get to see all those children again...another amazing person i bonded with was one of our translators named annabelle...she was a beautiful 17 year old girl who i could not get enough time with...she made each day soo much fun!!...im soo glad we are able to be facebook friends...she is someone i will be praying for as she figures out where God wants her after high school...i want her to see the beauty that i see...i can not even express how unbelievable this trip was for me and my family to take before i move away for a year!!...all i could say about the trip when i got home was "I NEVER KNEW ID LOVE SOMETHING MORE THAN KAMP!!"...my parents supported me in this when they told people they were glad i had made a commitment to work at kamp this summer...because they knew i probably wouldnt have come home!!...i love it down there and i know that this is just the start of my time in that country!!...my God is incredible and after many years of waiting to GO He is finally sending me out to the place i love!!...if youve never been out of the country on a mission trip i leave you with one word: GO!!...
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