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Day 5 - Ellison and Anna!

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We all woke up around 8 am and made our way down for breakfast that was beautifully made by Gracie and Aaron. They both woke up early to chef up breakfast for us and they made avocado toast as well as eggs and a LOT of fruit which really fuels us through our day. After breakfast we all hopped in the big van and drove to Brisas Proclama, a church that is about 20 minutes from KefalĂ©.  When we arrived we were greeted with joyful smiles and laughter, we then proceeded to pass out toothpaste and than we all intermingled and sat together to hear a short message from Blake!   Blake shared his story and why we are all here and how we are here to serve. after that we all went outside and played soccer, tag, baseball (with a stick and rock) as well as whatever games we could make up with our few words of Spanish we all knew. After running around in the rocky courtyard with all the children of the neighborhood for hours in the hot sun we then ate a delicious rice, beans, and chicke...

Day 4 - Brooklyn and Gracie!

Take a look at this video blog, recorded by Gracie and Brooklyn to document this day in our trip!  

Day Three - Blake and Aaron!

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 Blake and Aaron- This morning we had the privilege to go to a drug rehabilitation center run by Pastor Chain. He runs the center with zero help from the government because of his incredible emphasis on the importance of Scripture and things of the Lord. Four of us were given the chance to share a little bit about ourselves with the people being helped there in addition to why we chose to come.  After that, Dr. Daniel gave an incredible message out of the story of Nehemiah by speaking about the walls that are broken down around us by sin, leaving us helpless and ashamed, and how Jesus can help us build those walls up.  As always, Pastor Tito was incredible and translated for us, in addition to loving the residents well by asking them questions. One young man named Luis shared a little about himself and the fact that he was not a believer but that he was moved by Dr. Daniel's lesson. He gave his life to Christ then and there, and we hope that you will join us in praying th...

Tuesday, by Ava and Kaitlyn!

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Tuesday!      Today, the spring DR students took a trip to New Jerusalem and Las Brisas. At New Jerusalem, we helped paint the church that pastor Tito has been helping out with. It needed a lot of helping hands, so everyone took the time to make sure everything was spotless. After we were done painting, we ate lunch with the community. Some of the boys found a stick and “ball”, and everyone took turns to bat. No matter if we did good or bad, everyone was cheering. A little while later, we left and headed to a children's school called Las Brisas. The people there were so amazing!  When we first got there, Frandy (one of the Kefale church members) climbed right up on a ladder and started hacking away at a coconut branch. After he got the coconuts down, Will, Aaron, and Ellison decided to tear open the coconuts by hand. We were also able to paint the little kids’ faces after spending a decent amount of time figuring out what they wanted us to paint.  We even got t...

Arrival Day!

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 Arrival Day! We made it! After a day of intense travel, the team has successfully arrived and gotten settled at Iglesia Comunitaria Kefale.  We started off our trip today at 4 in the morning, gathering at the airport to try and get an early start for our flight. We sailed through security and by 7:40, we were on the plane and ready to fly to Newark for our layover.  The layover and the following 5 hour flight were uneventful, but exhausting. When we finally arrived in Santo Domingo's Airport of the Americas, all of us were simultaneously tired and excited; an emotion that definitely trended more towards excitement as Pastor Tito pulled up in a van and loaded us on board.  Once we arrived at the church from the airport, Pastor Tito and his family treated us to a home cooked lunch of rice, beans, and chicken; given that most of us hadn't eaten since 7(ish) in the morning, a very tasty and welcome treat. Once lunch was eaten and cleaned up, we settled in to rest for ab...