Rain, rain, go away!

Why do I have time to write a blog post mid-morning when I should be working? The Dominican Republic is currently getting pounded by rain. For the last three days, all of our work projects have had to be changed, adjusted, or cancelled because of the continuous rain. We had to cancel work entirely this morning, so instead of being in Cielo laying block or teaching Haitian children, we are sitting at the hotel watching the US World Cup team play Algeria. Nice to be able to watch the game, but certainly sad to be kept away from our friends in Cielo!

The last week has been crazy and really abnormal in terms of how weeks usually run here. It has been raining every day. Almost half of the staff got sick last Friday, some of which took 4 days to recover and lost up to ten pounds. We sent a group from Orlando home last Saturday with bottles of water and garbage bags for the plane because they were so sick as they left that morning. Church is cancelled tonight because of rain. My parents are here for the first time ever and are experiencing the weirdest week I have ever seen here. Certainly not ideal!

I am just not sure what to say about this week, other than we need prayer. We need prayer for sick staffers who are struggling through their last week here. We need prayer for the rain to go away long enough for this group from Winston-Salem to get some work done. We need prayer for Dominican friends who will likely be experiencing flooding in the upcoming days. And I need prayer for creativity as I (and a staff of brilliant minds) try to come up with ways to occupy 75 people when our normal plans require us to be outside all day. We have used up most of our ideas in the last three days, and we are quickly running out!

The slogan on our staff shirts for the summer says 'Love like the rain, Serve like the son.' We are certainly seeing a great example of that love as the rain pours down!