March Letter Home

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm going to write a more serious, introspective update this month. I'll have a list of top 5 funny and serious lessons I've learned here next month (si Dios quiere).

A couple weeks ago I waded barefoot through knee-deep water in the only street that could take me home after putting plaster on a house, praying with every step that I wouldn't step on a piece of glass or nail with tetanus. Last week I helped rewire some of the church's electricity; this week I'm finishing the plumbing in the science lab, and next week I will repair the main church doors. This morning I carried away a dead cat in the street for a neighbor and a rat the dog at the school killed.

I am blessed.

With every new day I find that God has a completely different use for me here. Sometimes I'm a plumber, sometimes an exterminator, and sometimes just someone who is willing to listen for hours to someone who is questioning where he is in life. And I've come to appreciate each of these blessings that are often in disguise. Sometimes it's very hard, admittedly, and I get wrapped up in having 'my' plans changed. I have finally learned through countless experiences that I don't want my world to run on my schedule; I want it to run on God's. It is my prayer that I will remember this when I return and face the rapid American culture.

As I promise to keep these short, I have one very uplifting story to share. If all you have is 30 seconds, READ THIS; God's love is spreading here!

A few weeks ago, Anna, a neighbor, told me she was excited to have been given someone's old ceramic floor tiles, but that she had to wait until she could scrape up enough money for the cement, etc to put the tiles on the floor. I arranged (without her knowing) for the needed supplies to arrive the next day. Eventually she figured out it was me, but the point was still very clear that God can share His love in a multitude of ways.

This morning, I brought paint, sand paper, and pieces of scrap wood so the kids could make building blocks for themselves and the other kids who were not there. I paid Anna for snow cones for the kids to encourage working for the things they want and asked her to not mention that I had paid for them. After it was all over, she gave me almost half of my money back and said she wanted to contribute to these kids learning to work also. Perhaps on the outside, the 40 pesos ($1.30) is pretty insignificant, but one of the things I've noticed in my time here is that this neighborhood (I can't speak for the rest of Dominican society, though I believe this is widespread) has become so dependent on US wealth, that the majority of people don't do much to help each other (outside their family) and expect the Americans to do it all. Anna's contribution was a significant step that was actually visible to me in which someone helped others just because she thought the principle was important.

As I type this, I feel the presence of God again, in the neighborhood, and in the work here as I also prepare my Holy Week sermons. Seeing the love of God spreading is invigorating, and real, and I give Him incredible thanks again praise for that.

May the little things in your life today remind you of God's presence by His love between one another. 'As I have loved you, so you should love one another.'

Happy Easter! And please eat lots of chocolate for me. Chocolate Easter bunnies with giant ears aren't a custom here. :-)

Peace,

Andrew