Back in the saddle...

Well, I am finally back in the DR after too many months away! I arrived safely last night, and have already been out to Cielo to catch up with a few old friends before the work begins. Our group of 60 college students from Wake Forest (Go Deacs!) and UNC (Boo Carolina!) will arrive on Sunday, so the next few days consist of preparations, relaxation, and updates on what has changed in my months away. It is crazy to think that since I was last here, the ministry has continued to grow and change so much that several friends of mine have joined the full-time staff, a new office building has been set up, our physical therapy clinic has been completed, a new generator is getting ready to be installed, and the Haitian Care Team has been established to help with all of the refugees that have flooded into Cielo and Nazaret. Things look different here so quickly...I miss a lot when I am away for 8 months! 

I would love your prayers for the group about to arrive...many of these college students have never been here, and thus will have a pretty eye-opening few days. You can pray for their construction projects, for the energy and strength to work hard at some seriously physical labor over the next week. For their visits with the Haitian Care Team, as they feed children each day and provide them with activities to fill the void now that they have left their homes. For the team dynamics...that they will love each other well and deeply, in spite of personality differences or conflicts, and the challenges of being in a new and unsettling environment. For their leadership, for their times of worship and prayer, for new relationships forming between Americans and Dominicans, for God's presence to be seen and known. God is always so evident to me in this place, and I hope this will be the case for these students as well. I long for people to love this country as much as I do, and to see how these communities have been so drastically changed, healed, and helped in the last 15 years of Mission Emanuel. The Dominicans who serve here constantly are doing incredible work, and we are blessed to come alongside them and be a part of it. It is a blessing simply to witness what is happening here! God is good, and I look forward to seeing prayers in action this week. Hopefully I will have some interesting updates to share!