What am amazing wonderful work he did in our lives and Annie was one of those that God worked in amazing ways. Thanks Annie for going with us! We love you!!
What an amazing trip! It has actually been quite hard adjusting to "normal" life again. I miss the morning mini-sermons, the daily fellowship, the constant hugs and smiles, and the Spanish music. I was so changed by this trip. The biggest thing to me was simply love, in all it's forms.
The love God has for us became so real to me while I was gone. I have never heard Him so loudly as I did while I was in the DR. During morning Bible study, I could just feel His presence. I absolutely loved it! Watching prayer after prayer get answered and watching everyone grow was just amazing to witness. God proved so faithful during this entire trip. Even things that from the outside appeared to be a problem, He just turned them around and used them for good! They caused us to learn lessons about ourselves and to grow closer to each other.
I never expected to come home with such an amazing group of friends. I absolutely love everyone that was with me on the trip. I miss seeing them all every day! We had such fun together, crying, laughing, listening, learning, and praying. I gained a whole new family on this trip! Even since we have been home, my phone has been filled with texts just checking to see how I am doing. Texts requesting prayer and texts letting me know that my family and I are being prayed for. What a priceless, unexpected gift!
Also, the love of the Dominican people. Not just the missionaries, but the people in the villages as well. I worked with the kids at one of the schools. These kids were full of love and joy. They were so affectionate and always wanted us to play with them, hold their hands, and sit with them. I got to help them with reading and math, and I even got to play hangman! When they were asked to pray, every hand in the room went up because they all wanted to pray. Very different from Bible study at home, where most of us look all around the room and down at our hands when the leader asks who wants to pray!
The other thing that meant so much to me was the simplicity of life in the DR. It was actually refreshing to not worry about a phone, an alarm clock, or what was on tv. The entire focus was on God and people, and we as a country have lost that. One little girl carried a small purse with her everywhere, the only thing in that purse was a Bible. We carry around so much useless baggage, and this little girl carried with her the only thing that really matters. I left America expecting to help these "poor" people, and came home realizing that those people helped me more than they know. I also now believe that we are more poor than they are in what really matters. They have a dependance on God that we just rarely see in America.
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