Packing for our Big Adventure!

Last evening nine of us gathered to pack duffel bags of supplies to take with us to the DR for the people of Altagracia. There was excitement in the room as we counted the bars of soap, sheets, pencils, crayons, chalk boards and many other assorted items. Each bag needs to have a complete list of contents and as we rearranged the items, due to bag weight limits, our scribe continued to patiently change the lists. Finally, victory! Bags packed and distributed to those who we see that they arrive next Tuesday evening at the airport.

Yes, it is only one week from tonight that 10 of us will depart from Sea-Tac Airport for the Dominican Republic. I am anxious, excited, hopeful, curious, as to what God's plan will be for me there and how my life will be impacted by this trip. I will be working with the children to teach about hygiene, trying to explain how germs that cannot be seen can make them sick. This may be a challenge but I am up for it and look forward to spending the week there helping as I can and making new friends.

Getting Ready for the Mission to the Dominican Republic!

Where did I put those pills I am suppose to take in advance of the trip?  I should be taking them right now!!!!  Where are all my tools?  Who did I loan my Speed Square to?  How long is the sale at Harbor Freight going to last?  Should I buy a case of soap to take with me?  How many cans of Deet do I really need?  I should start going to the YMCA and taking long sits in the sauna to start acclimatizing myself to the heat of the tropics-Seattle is a world away in more ways than the weather!

I'm just one of the team of ten being sent out from Southminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, Washington to the little village of Altagracia in the Dominican Republic this summer.  And you can see that for me at least there are many questions being juggled around inside my head.  The questions popping up in my head are helping me to avoid the real questions I have around what will God have waiting there for us to do and how ten people from Des Moines can be his hands and feet to the people there in the DR.

Our mission is ostensibly to build five latrines (VIP)  and to do some education with children about germs and how to sanitize your hands to stop the spread of disease.  See the plans URL below....
http://www.clubrust.com/plans/latrine.pdf

Many questions come popping into my head as I prepare for this trip.  The biggest one is "Will the supplies we need to build the latrines be there?!?!!?"  And if they are not there, "What does God want us to do instead?"  The state of mind that our group is working towards achieving is "Understanding that whatever happens, is going to happen, but let it all be to the glory of God."  We might just get to play with kids so I am packing a throwing dart and perhaps a Frisbee.  We might just have to sit and play backgammon with folk or talk baseball with young boys and if that is it, then so be it.

We are urging each other (and really ourselves) to just be open to the work that God puts in our way so that we can be his hands, his feet, his hope and his love.

It is an adventure being Christ's person!