2015 DR Discipleship Trip Day: 13

Location: Rivendell and Santiago, Dominican Republic

After another wonderful sunrise and Bible reading time with Jenn, we finished our coffee and headed inside to get ready for church.

We had been told that they were working on their church and to expect no air conditioning. We were fine with that, the A/C had not been working the year before anyways. Yet, by the way we were told, some of us were on guard for something interesting today.

As we all loaded into the van our hosts asked me to ride with them. :D It was a lot of fun. We drove past a large cycling group biking up the mountain. As we drove down, we jammed out to Sovereign Grace's Spanish worship songs, then...the brakes were given a test as we let baby chicks cross the road. I didn't put my shoes on until we pulled into the church parking lot.

Oh, about the church A/C...it was more than a new A/C. They had moved locations and built an entirely new church. It was magnificent and beautiful! Rosario gave us a tour of the building before church started.

We sat down for the service to start, and all at once, all of our no-see-em bites began to itch like crazy. The music service was cut short due to technical difficulties. After the service we went to our host's house in Santiago for a huge lunch. This was the first good WiFi since leaving Santo Domingo. Our drive back was in the van, Bronco Chen's, and that also has some WiFi.

Once back in Rivendell all of us girls broke off to have our study time together. It was Jenn's turn to lead.

What are you living for that is not seeking Christlikeness?

How will you reform that?

These are deep questions. Let them go deep. Take a moment. Think.

So, after this we had dinner. Our host wanted to give us American food so we had hot dogs. Then we went out on the deck and had our I Thessalonians Study and our Biblical Thinking Study. Then went to crash in bed.

love,

Jessie Bear

I Thessalonians 2:19-20

"For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy."

2015 DR Discipleship Trip Day: 12

Location: Rivendell put in the Misty Mountains of the Dominican Republic

I got up to see the sunrise. If you’re ever in Rivendell, be sure to get up for the sunrise, they are some of the most beautiful sunrises in the world (at least in as much of the world as I’ve explored). Vecina made café and brought it out to us, those of us in the pavilion overlooking the valley, and it was a wonderful way to witness first light.

After a big breakfast we had a I Thessalonians Study. Then around lunchtime, Emanuel rejoined our group! All of us happy American’s threw a lil “Partay”. We did another I Thessalonians Study, catching Emanuel up on it, and finishing our first discussion. We had needed to end it short in order to be on time for lunch.

When lunch was over, we were free to go explore the property and finally run wild. Janie and I put on our running clothes and went for a run. It felt so good to be free to run. Running down hills and stairs is the easy side, it’s the whole getting back up that burns. But it was good to get to stretch and be free to run again.

While we were out running around it began to rain! This was good news for all of us but especially Connor who tries to take pictures of lightning. The rain meant that there might be more water at the 27 water falls, in turn this means that we have better odds at being able to go. So, we all run outside onto the driveway and did a rain dance, okay, maybe it was more like we ran around singing and dancing for joy.

We sang songs in Spanish and English at the same time. As in, Jenn, Patrick, Emanuel, Rosario (our hostest), and myself sang in Spanish, while Mr. R, Mrs. R, Josh, Janie, Andrew, and Knepps sang in English. It was really fun. This was right before we did our Biblical Thinking Study. Then we were all too tired to stay up so we just went straight to bed.

Love,
Jessie Bear

Proverbs 12:25

"Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad."

2015 DR Discipleship Trip Day: 11

Location: Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, La Vega, Dominican Republic, Rivendell, Dominican Republic

Because I’d stayed up late with the girls two nights in a row, they told me not to get up for the sunrise and just to sleep late. *growl* But I was good and obeyed. I got up and packed around 9:30am. Josh and Emily had made breakfast of eggs and bell peppers, onions, cheese, and sausage. They also made fried apples with cinnamon. It was perfect for starting the day.

We packed lunches and made cards for our host. It was tons of fun doodling and writing for our host. It reminded us to be grateful and joyful.

As soon as Bronco arrived, we packed up the trailer. Then, ta-da, we hit the road! We stopped in La Vega to look around at the mission where Mr. R was born and raised. We met a group who was also from America; that was neat. We looked at the plants on the mission and then went into the cafeteria and drank lots of cold water…then we went to the bathroom. Typical.

When we all gathered up again, we piled back into the van and headed to Rivendell. It was a really good drive until a few of us started to get carsick. Once back at our “home” in Rivendell, there was major hugs and kisses all around. Vecina made us her epic café.

Once again, all of the girls were in the same room. We really enjoyed that. After we had moved in, we ran around the property like kids and explored every corner. I even found a baby snake. I failed to catch it, it was just too small for the stick to pin down fast enough. (Don’t worry Mommy, there are no poisonous snakes on the island.)

After supper we had a I Thessalonians Study where we caught Amburioux up on our progress both in the study and our lives.

It was so good to finally be back in “Rohan/Rivendell”.

Love,
Jessie Bear

Psalms 40:17

“As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, I my God!”