Update

So it has been a while since I have written. It's been a busy couple of weeks due to school starting. This is going to be lengthy, so I've separated it into categories so you don't have to read the whole thing if you don't want!

SCHOOL

You know you go to school in the DR when your professor shows up a half an hour late, and students still come later. It is a huge adjustment. They do school completely differently here:


-some of the professors basically get paid to show up.
-they are huge fan of group work.
-college math is like 9th grade math (we haven't made it into algebra yet).
-some classes require that everyone study the same way (read and take notes).
-some classes are student taught, even though there is a professor.
-coming in late is usually okay (I only have 2 classes where you actually get called out for being late.
-you get two excused absences (the equivalent of 6 in the states).
-there is zero communication between the administration and the students.
-some of the classes require the stupidest discussions...for example, in my writing class we spent 45 minutes discussing three figures of someone watching TV. I've never used the word asinine so many times in my entire life.


That is just a sampling.

 CHURCH

I'm in the second row on the left.

When I moved here, I was confident that I knew why God had called me to the Dominican Republic...to go to medical school, but being that God is God, he had much bigger things in store for me.

I had very much been in a very dry place spiritually the entire seven years I lived there. I felt like I was in a literal rut and kept falling back into the well work path of sin. I made a conscious decision that thing would be different here.

The day after I arrived, I called a guy from one of the many churches here. God completely directed my steps to this church. I had emailed someone in the capital about finding a church here in San Pedro, he emailed a friend of his who used to live here, who emailed the phone number of his son who attends my church. The name of the church was very appropriate for the place where I was finding myself, Agua para los sendientos (or water for the thirsty).

To say this church is alive in the Spirit would be an understatement. It is bursting at the seams with God's love and passion. We worship in a tent because right now they can't afford an actual building (which makes church during a hurricane interesting), but I like to think that we worship in a tent because the walls of a building couldn't hold the amount of love, peace, and goodness that God has blessed the church with.

I will say that church here is not for the faint of heart. Our services on Sundays last from 10:15am to 1:30pm. We also have a discipleship class on Mondays, community prayer and worship service on Tuesdays (prayer like I have never experienced before), cell groups on Wednesdays, and another church service on Thursdays. 

There is a huge presence of children in the church with a focus on their spiritual development. On Sunday, there were two young men, probably around the age of 11, who during the worship went to the front of the church, before the alter and raised their hands in earnest prayer. It was amazing to see. 

I've only been here for a month, but it feels like home. I feel like I was drowning and finally have been able to catch my breath. Like my soul was wasting away in the desert I've now found an oasis. God has been softening my heart. I cried during worship for the first time in probably 10 years. I'm amazed at God's mercy, love and forgiveness and how he wants us to experience it fully. Daily I am amazed at his provision. 

Thank you for your prayers and support. Continued prayers would be greatly appreciated.

CAT

Me and Felipe-Felipe (aka. Felipe the terrible)

I adopted a cat about a week and a half ago. I named him Felipe-Felipe after this comic:

But after having him for several days, I think that Terror might have been a better name! He is incredibly mischiveos. He enjoys making everything in a game, including sleeping. He sleeps all day while I'm at school and then he is away all night. Last night was one of the first nights that he slept through the night (except he tried to do so, lying on my head). He's like an infant, except most infants don't have incredibly sharp teeth.

I knew that it was fate to have him because he followed me home one night about half a mile or a mile. He looked so miserable, skinny, matted fur. Now he looks well fed and his coat is shinny. He is also INCREDIBLY energetic. I can't wait for the day that he exits kitten stage, but being that he is only a month or two old...it's going to be a while. Until then, I just have to remember how cute he is!