The DR: days 3,4 & 5
I would highly reccommend reading the DR days 1 and 2 first otherwise you’ll be confused :P
Second day went much the same, only, of course, a little smoother as we settled in. We had three different VBS groups with a story, skit, craft, etc. Since mine was day two, we performed stunningly the story of Zacheus or Zacceo to the kids J People were already getting sick though. The day before a girl had; she was one of few who had been here before. It was kinda weird.
So the third day of VBS rolled around, and I broke down. I broke down completely. I mean, we hadn’t been there that long, but it seemed like forever. I was tired, feeling completely alienated from the group, and I felt really, really alone. I wanted, so badly, to just be home with my family and friends. I went through VBS, but we had a siesta time every afternoon and during that I completely broke down crying.
Deb, one of our leaders, found me while everyone else was eating. I told her how I felt alone and useless and she talked with me. Eventually I calmed down enough to eat some food really quick and be ready to go for the church service that night. That was a truly interesting night, one of many significant times that made this trip what it was.
For our last night in Los Niches we were going to show a Jesus video in lieu of a preaching service. Oddly enough, our projector just happened to freak out and die. Literally. Half the screen went funny-colored and then it was just weird. So, yeah, no movie tonight.
I don’t remember exactly what we did. I know Pastor Orlando stood up and spoke a bit about how God always has a reason for what he either does or doesn’t do. I, admittedly, was thinking of how convenient it was for God that He didn’t fix the projector. So we sang some songs and my attention was diverted from the disaster by the little kids all around me.
Several of them had picked me as their ‘buddy’, a few giving each other rather evil glares for a seat next to me until I noticed and fix it by kinda positioning them around me in a ring. It worked (I think). So we sat and listened and (since I didn’t really know what was going to happen) we kinda played a little bit while we waited. Then we got up and sang some songs and just held this little impromptu little service.
Now I, personally, was still looking around at the kids. Without doubt, these are beautiful children. They all have these absolutely gorgeous dark eyes that are always shining so brilliantly with life and joy. It’s a really amazing thing to see. I loved these kids, and I didn’t want to leave Los Niches how it was; I wanted these kids to know exactly how much they had meant to us and how much God loved them and how beautiful they truly were.
Now, before he dismisses the church, Pastor Orlando counts to three and we all cry “Gloria a Dios” Glory to God, then church is dismissed. So he was telling everyone to get ready for that and I knew I almost missed my chance here. So I stood up and tapped him on the arm and asked if I could say something. He kinda looked at me for a second, then nodded and moved aside, telling everyone in Spanish that I had something to say.
I still don’t know what I said. I hope it made sense and touched someone there, but I wasn’t speaking anymore. Because the second I stood up, the Holy Spirit just took hold and gave me words. I could feel His presence and everyone else did too. I was crying by the end of it because I wanted these children to know they were an amazing, unique blessing to the world and each one of us. Many of the other girls and
Orlando’s wife Diones were crying too and they all thanked me for telling these kids what they had all wanted to this whole time. I told them all it wasn’t me and they said they knew; they could feel it too.
We went home that night sad because we already missed Los Niches and the experiences we’d had and people we’d met there, but we were also happy because we felt we had done well. We were triumphant.
But we weren’t done in Los Niches yet. The next day we went to the school there and performed one of our human videos (a really amazing one). Then we did a craft (for over a hundred kids we almost ran out), and played a game. Then we headed back to pastor
Orlando’s and I broke down again. Yeah, even though we were doing amazing and all this cool stuff was happening right in front of us, I still felt terribly alone, especially now that I had felt, very clearly, the presence of God.
One thing you have to understand about the DR and
America: the air itself is different. Here in the
US you don’t really feel anything special everywhere you go, but in the DR it’s painfully obvious whether you’re alone or with God. And, seriously, it’s a feeling in the air. I still don’t know why this is, but it’s completely different down there.
This time, it was Julie, a different leader, who found me. Again, we had a talk, and I was ready to go by that night. We held a church service in Dajabon and went home and slept.