Covenant School's crew from Boston, Mass headed out this morning on a flight from Santiago. Some left wearing sandals, ready to pull out and put on New England-appropriate shoes upon their arrival.
I already miss them.
Here's the school website for you to check out when an exemplary job they're doing as an EL (Expeditionary Learning) school with Christian principles and backbone: http://www.csarlington.org/
God was at work daily in conversations, prayers, devotions, service projects, and most especially through our time at the beach.
The leaders can be found on Covenant's faculty site, without Uncle Mike or Nancy included.
Henry - Headmaster and the overall crew director; he and his wife, Nancy, have been here before. His fear pushed aside was motivation for mine to be pushed aside too -- I rock climbed the high point on the beach after his ascent.
Nancy - Henry's wife and art teacher extraordinaire. They taught in Germany for nine years (I think) working at Black Forest Academy. Henry & Nancy met in college, where they each played Hansel & Gretel. (How precious.) They are both from New England, and Nancy studied Puppetry in college, where Henry studied Children's Theatre. We had abundant conversations about community, God's divine appointment in everything we do, and my possible return to Doulos in the fall to be on the Art teaching team. (She's my new advocate in this department.)
Joanna - My psychology buddy. Her husband, Steven, is an expeditionary learning master who actually led Chad & Krista to pursue such a style of learning for Doulos, themselves! We talked about Christian counseling -- she's my new advocate in this department -- and the possibilities of seminary for me, feminism, and women's place in the church.
Linda Lue - A Goldilocks-haired cheerful friend who is full of wisdom and wit. I learned about languages from her and was inspired to do my best in my Spanish communication efforts. She and I were sarcastic buddies, although she nailed satirical humor more than I even attempt to.
Kit - Miss Petite, my aid in Spanish or really my guide, since she is the Spanish teacher at Covenant. We shared attending Urbana in common, traveling to Spain, and a night under God's greatest tent of all -- the night stars on the beach.
Uncle Mike - James' uncle, a fellow Southerner, and the only non-teacher on the trip. We shared the front seat in the taxi and talked about Baylor, trusting the Lord with our financial security control issues, and sharing family pictures.
The Nine - Children, that is. Seventh and eighth graders are hilarious, if you haven't spent any time with that age group lately. I couldn't stop laughing most times they opened their mouths, no matter if serious or light conversations were taking place. I have never experienced so intimately a group of youth with God so evidently present in their hearts.
Ali twisted her ankle and had a stomach bug, Joshua was constantly curious and often behind in conversations -- "Why do they have barbed wire on everything??", Annie was the fastest rock climber, Andrew was a string bean with a kind heart, Michael was the group drummer, James lacked a filter and gave the most heart-wrenching prayers, Noah provided the punch of humor, Keza (from Rwanda) was often hyper and singing pop songs, Steven rarely shared his inner thoughts but when he did I was surprised by his maturity and wisdom.
The Wallaces - Krista and Chad started Doulos; Krista is the Executive Director, and Chad is the Project Manager along with being the owner of Colorado Designs construction design company. Keren and Kate are their two little girls who attend Doulos, of course. They went with us on the trip to the beach and were the true leaders; Chad led the coral reef teaching sessions.
I already miss them.
Here's the school website for you to check out when an exemplary job they're doing as an EL (Expeditionary Learning) school with Christian principles and backbone: http://www.csarlington.org/
God was at work daily in conversations, prayers, devotions, service projects, and most especially through our time at the beach.
The leaders can be found on Covenant's faculty site, without Uncle Mike or Nancy included.
Henry - Headmaster and the overall crew director; he and his wife, Nancy, have been here before. His fear pushed aside was motivation for mine to be pushed aside too -- I rock climbed the high point on the beach after his ascent.
Nancy - Henry's wife and art teacher extraordinaire. They taught in Germany for nine years (I think) working at Black Forest Academy. Henry & Nancy met in college, where they each played Hansel & Gretel. (How precious.) They are both from New England, and Nancy studied Puppetry in college, where Henry studied Children's Theatre. We had abundant conversations about community, God's divine appointment in everything we do, and my possible return to Doulos in the fall to be on the Art teaching team. (She's my new advocate in this department.)
Joanna - My psychology buddy. Her husband, Steven, is an expeditionary learning master who actually led Chad & Krista to pursue such a style of learning for Doulos, themselves! We talked about Christian counseling -- she's my new advocate in this department -- and the possibilities of seminary for me, feminism, and women's place in the church.
Linda Lue - A Goldilocks-haired cheerful friend who is full of wisdom and wit. I learned about languages from her and was inspired to do my best in my Spanish communication efforts. She and I were sarcastic buddies, although she nailed satirical humor more than I even attempt to.
Kit - Miss Petite, my aid in Spanish or really my guide, since she is the Spanish teacher at Covenant. We shared attending Urbana in common, traveling to Spain, and a night under God's greatest tent of all -- the night stars on the beach.
Uncle Mike - James' uncle, a fellow Southerner, and the only non-teacher on the trip. We shared the front seat in the taxi and talked about Baylor, trusting the Lord with our financial security control issues, and sharing family pictures.
The Nine - Children, that is. Seventh and eighth graders are hilarious, if you haven't spent any time with that age group lately. I couldn't stop laughing most times they opened their mouths, no matter if serious or light conversations were taking place. I have never experienced so intimately a group of youth with God so evidently present in their hearts.
Ali twisted her ankle and had a stomach bug, Joshua was constantly curious and often behind in conversations -- "Why do they have barbed wire on everything??", Annie was the fastest rock climber, Andrew was a string bean with a kind heart, Michael was the group drummer, James lacked a filter and gave the most heart-wrenching prayers, Noah provided the punch of humor, Keza (from Rwanda) was often hyper and singing pop songs, Steven rarely shared his inner thoughts but when he did I was surprised by his maturity and wisdom.
The Wallaces - Krista and Chad started Doulos; Krista is the Executive Director, and Chad is the Project Manager along with being the owner of Colorado Designs construction design company. Keren and Kate are their two little girls who attend Doulos, of course. They went with us on the trip to the beach and were the true leaders; Chad led the coral reef teaching sessions.
The work team arrived last week on the 16th and left this morning, the 25th. As I walked out of the luggage claim area, I had no idea what to expect. God was present in every moment, and I was welcomed with open arms into their group.
Some of my favorite times were morning or evening, or anytime, prayer with adults or devotions at night with everyone. I joined in their designated times for these often, including the sketch and journal sessions. They even gave me a nature journal to use and keep myself!
They were the first middle school group Doulos has ever had, and essentially the only other Christian exepeditionary learning oriented school in the world.
We built a walled bookshelf system for a public school toward the outskirts of town as a service project before we left for the beach. This work team was unlike many others that come solely for service; this was hopefully the first of many trips like it. They came for a learning and cultural exchange, and the learning goal was to learn about the Dominican Republic and education here, along with coral reefs.
Before we left for the beach to explore the reefs, we didn't catch a wink of sleep. Next door to the villas was a bumpin' party - BUMPIN' - until 4 in the morning. Imagine a bunch of Dominican men and women yelling and cheering (most likely in drunkenness) at the top of their lungs to Dominican rap mixes. There you have it.
So, onward to the beach!
Fronton was the most beautiful place I have been in a long time. It is located on the Samana peninsula, and the only way to get there is by boat, or "hiking" in. We hiked in on old coral that has been there for who knows how long. I felt like I was in the middle of a Jurassic Park scene.
The beach has a wooden shack-like bar and cooking area with no electricity, outside seating, and a bathroom whose toilet can be flushed with salt water -- by carrying buckets to and from the ocean before and after use. (Arm strength appeared out of nowhere for those trips.) Those were the only structures in existence.
At lunch time, or throughout the morning, tourists boat in from the next beach over to snorkel and have lunch cooked for them in the open air kitchen.
I had a huge tent all to myself, with lots of nice REI gear borrowed from Shelly and Jonathan for my plush accommodations. The work team and I explored the beach; found fossils, coral, shells and sea creatures; snorkeled; shared devotional time together...
My favorite nights of sleep were spent under the greatest tent of all, God's sky.
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