Gloria a Dios

Okay, so I'm a little late again at posting. My apologies.

Last week was a crazy week. In the mornings we stayed and worked with the boys. We tried to finish up teaching them the fruits of the Spirit, which was interesting. I think they had a lot of fun with some of the activities. One day, they painted rocks with the word Paz (which means peace in English) so they could keep them in their pockets and remember to pray for peace.  On another day, they made instruments out of cups, paper, and hard macaroni to make praises for the Lord. As far as the lessons, I'm not sure how much they took in. They were really good, however, at memorizing Scripture, which was encouraging.

During the afternoons we went to a small church out in the community. God had me teaching English with two other girls/women who are very head-strong. It was definitely a learning experience for me in terms of preparing and carrying out the lessons. That's part of the reason that I said in my last post that it was a time for pruning. God was trying to show me to be patience through every circumstance He put me in. On the first day, we tried to teach them to say "Hello, my name is ___________. What's your name? Nice to me you." We used little puppets we made to make them feel more comfortable with acting it out with each other. It worked really well with the girls, but with the boys it didn't really work at all. On the second day, we taught them how to say My favorite animal or color is _________________, and we had a list for them to look at. We stood in a circle and passed the ball. When they received the ball they would say "My favorite color is _____. What's your favorite color?" and passed it. All the kids loved it. The boys were still a little roudy, but it worked better than the first day. On the third day, a day I don't think I'll ever forget, as you will see later, we wanted to review everything and teach them some verbs. We had each group split into two teams. I held up a flash card that had a picture, and the first person to say the correct word in English won a point for their team. The girls, once again, did well. The big boys did not do so well. When they got to our station, they were out of control. They kept pointing toward Dan and saying some word that I didn't understand. I ignored it at the time and tried to keep their attention. They were so hard to work with that day that we couldn't even really play the game. After they left, we had the little boys, and at that point Dan told us that our station would only be 10 minutes long and that we wouldn't have closing. Our stations were usually 20 minutes long, and we always had a closing of about 10 minutes or so of singing songs. I knew at that point something was up. However, I continued teaching the lesson with the little boys. Halfway through, Dan came by and told us to pack up our stuff and get on the bus. I didn't hesitate because I knew he was directing us to do so in our best interest. As we were leaving, I kept telling all the kids that I would see them the next day. Once we were all on the bus, he and Brian told us that they made an executive decision to pull out because they found us to be in a possibly unsafe environment. Later, I found out that one of the boys who got kicked out of camp for not behaving came back with his friends. I don't think I can say much more here on the Internet, but just know that what they had with them and what they said definitely made it unsafe for us to be there. Needless to say, we didn't return the next day. Please pray for these boys. My heart breaks for them, I can't even describe to you.

On Thursday, instead of having camp in the afternoon, we just did work projects. Work projects here have consisted of a lot of ho-ing, which is great exercise, let me tell ya.

Friday was a marvelous day. We got to take the boys from the orphanage to the beach with us!!!!!!!! The beach was absolutely breath-taking. I was in awe for the first five minutes atleast. It literally looked like something off of Survivor. The water was crystal clear and bright brillant blue in the distance. Oh it was beautiful.  It was sooooo much fun to play with the boys. It gave me an opportunity to bond with some of them that I had yet to bond with. I got to throw footballs, frisbies, go fishing with a parachute thing, swim underwater with them, even help teach them how to swim. Oh my it was a blast. I met some other people there as well. There was this girl named Perla, which means Pearl in English, there who introduced herself to me. She was with a bunch of guys. They all played catch with me, too. Oh yeah and some of the boys got burried in the sand, which was amusing. Oh my goodness, I can't describe how fun it was to play with them. I really wish we could do that every Friday.

On Saturday, we were supposed to go on some fun excursion, but Amanda cancelled it because she didn't want us to have too much fun in one week. She also gave all the workers a day off, which was definitely needed. They hadn't had a day off in months I think. However, since she cancelled our trip, we didn't have much to eat. For breakfast we had cereal, for lunch we had PB&J (for which we ran out of bread), and for dinner we had mac and cheese that the staff had left for us. Saturday was a very trying day for me. I was in such a bad mood. Everything had just caught up to me and I couldn't shake it for awhile. At first, we heard that we weren't going to off site this week. Then, since we really wanted to go offsite, they suggested combining the Christian and the secular group to do a camp together. However, the camp would not have a Bible station. This really upset me, yet everyone else seemed to be okay with it. One person made a really good point, a Bible station is not the only means by which one can show God's love, which I totally agree. But we were going to be going to a place that we had never been, and I signed up for the Christian program so that I could share the name of Christ with people. That's what I believe in. That's why I'm here. I couldn't believe that no one else was upset about not being able to share the Gospel. It would be different had we been going somewhere that we had already held a Bible camp once this summer, but that wasn't the case. As it turned out, however, Amanda and Tom decided that this would be a good week to stay on campus because I guess in the following weeks we would be having camps off campus in the morning and the afternoon.

Part of me is excited, and part of me is still sad. (I know I sound like an emotional roller coaster, I won't deny it.) I'm sad because we are supposed to be doing a progressive program with the boys here at the orphanage with Spanish literacy and Bible classes. If we are going to be off campus for the next three weeks after this, there won't be a program for them. Why in the world are we calling it a progressive program if it's not progressive?! I really don't understand these people. I wish they'd quit thinking in the best interest of the volunteers' experience and put the interests of those we serve in focus. Nonetheless, I have to hold strong to the fact that God is in control of every single situation, whether on the outside it seems good or bad. He does all things for the good of those who love Him and to bring Him the most glory. Thanks be to God that we have Someone who is in control and reigns.

This week with the boys at the orphanage has been sooooo much fun so far. The Christian program split into two groups to better prepare a program tailored for the boys. We have a younger boy group and an older boy group. I signed up for the older boys so that we could dig deeper into the Word. Oh my, it has been so cool. We decided we would go through James with them this week since it is a smaller book of the Bible, but there is so muchhhh to glean from it. On Monday, we read Chapter 1 and I asked them a few questions. One part was super super cool. I have to share it. I asked them which verse stuck out to them the most, and Galan answered James 1:27. James 1:27 says "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." We got to explain to him that that is why we are here. Can you imagine how cool that must be for the boys to grasp that verse? That God cares so much for them that He desires for people to visit them? How cool is that. After that we did a fill in the blank activity. At the end of the activity, I asked them, in their opinion, what does it mean to be rich? For the most part they answered that a person is rich if he has God. They answered it that way without any leading or encouragement to answer it in a particular way. Danny, especially, has a special heart for the Lord. He understands who God is and wants to know Him more. I'm so encouraged by that. They memorized James 1:19, which calls us to be fast to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. We ended by coming up with a prayer. We had learned in James 1 that if anyone desires wisdom, they should ask God for it. So I thought it would be good to pray for wisdom. They had a real hard time coming up with a prayer because they have a prayer memorized that they recite at church I guess. Therefore, Abby and I created a prayer for them. The prayer was about asking God to help us to have the wisdom to do what He desires of us.

Today, we went over Chapter 2. The boys were a little less focused for some reason. They got to learn about how faith is dead without works because if a person truly has faith in the Lord their life will reflect it. It was a hard concept for them to understand. And I guess it would be for children to distinguish the difference between just having faith and living by faith. Nonetheless, I pray they gleaned something from it. We did an activity at the end that we didn't have a chance to do yesterday. In James 1 there is a verse about how every good and perfect thing/gift is from the Lord. So we had cards that each had a different talent on them. We had them select one and act it out for the group. Of course, beforehand we prompted them about where good things come from and asking them what other kind of things the Lord gives us, ie talents. They had so much fun acting out the different talents. Some of them were reading, running, painting, singing, dancing, etc.

In the fields today, while working with the children, some of the kids were being mean to Danny because he has a rash on his face. I ended up hanging out with him to cheer him up. I asked him, purely out of curiosity, who his best friend was. He answered that I was his best friend. I said do you just say that to whoever asks you that question?? He said no. It was sweet, even if it wasn't entirely true. We played a little bit in the fields instead of working the whole time haha. He told me to close my eyes and count to ten. I counted and openned my eyes and he was gone. He had hidden himself in the tall grass. Then it was his turn to count. I wasn't nearly as sneaky as he was and he found me pretty quick. He let me hide again, and that time I did a much better job. Then we ran through the field and if we touched a plaintain plant it meant that we were dead. We had so much fun. He's such a sweet kid.

Tomorrow we will go over Chapters 3 and part of 4 in James. Please pray that they would be interested in what God has to show us through His Word.  We will finish the rest of the book on Thursday, God-willing. On Friday we are planning to go on whatever excursion that had originally been planned for Saturday, which I think might be Santo Domingo..woohooo. (the capital).

I cannot believe that I will be going home in a week and a half. Part of me is ready. But the other part of me is torn to leave the boys. I genuinely love each one of these boys so much. What am I going to do when I can't hear their giggles? Or when I'm not being punched because someone is a little meanie? Or when I have no little kid to read to? And who is going to ho the fields with me after this? There is a time for everything says the Lord. For this reason, I must make the most of it. With love,  Ashley Mae.

Prayer Requests:
-Please pray for those who were at the afternoon camp last week. They need safety and protection from the Lord, as well as changed hearts.
-The boys here at the orphanage of course. But more specifically that they would be growing in their understanding of who the Lord is.
-For me, that I would only find my comfort in the Lord and not in the things of this world. It's so easy to get distracted. Only the Lord can satisfy my soul, and that is what He desires. May it be my desire as well.
-For those I come in contact with, that they would see the light of Christ in me and may know Him more through me.
-For a guy here named Mac who is interested in learning about the Bible.
-For the other interns, that a fire might be ignited in them to be excited to serve Jesus.
-For the kids at Monte Cristi, who are being sent back to their families and separated from their close-knit network at the orphanage.
-For Amanda, the OO in-country director
-For all of us please =)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

A Time For Pruning

So, since the programs merged this week, God answered a prayer by not leaving me as the only one who speaks Spanish. The Christian program and the secular program are still split, we are all just living in the same place. The Christian camp works with the boys here at the orphanage in the morning by doing a Bible lesson with them and working out alongside them in the fields. This week we have been going over the fruit of the Spirit. Last week they learned about love, yesterday they learned about joy, and today they learned about patience and peace.

In the afternoons we hold camp at a small church somewhere in Jaibon.It's only Tuesday and it has been a difficult week. Abby and I are program leading this week in addition to leading stations. Like last week, I am helping lead the English station. It has been very interesting working with two other people in leading it, though. The first day for our station at camp was not very successful. However, the Lord is teaching me patience in every way possible, I think, over and over again. Today, camp went a little bit better. One girl told me afterwards that the English station was her favorite. I told her I didn't believe her, but she insisted. I'm glad we are reaching someone. Although, I really would love for them to love the Bible station even more. We only have three stations at this camp because of our small number of volunteers this week (due to the 4th of July). The three stations are Bible, English, and arts/crafts.

In addition to the trials of leadership, the Lord has been convicting me left and right, especially today. We finished studying Ephesians yesterday, and started 2 Thessalonians today. Whoa. Did it blow my mind. Literally, every aspect of Chapter 1 convicted me. It kind of hurts when the Lord prunes you. Am I growing in my faith? Is my love for those around me increasing? Am I thanking the Lord for my brothers and sisters in Christ? Am I seeing others as the Lord sees them? Do I have His eyes and His heart for them??? Today was a wake up call for me. How many faces, when I look around here, will I see in heaven?? Let's be real about it. Heaven is not where everyone goes when they die, otherwise what would be the point? And it's not about good works, because we could never do enough good works to cover the abundance of our sin. (ref. Eph 2:8). It's about trusting our lives in Jesus, that He went to the cross holy and undefiled and paid our ransom. He shed His blood in my place. His death was not in vain. I believe that with my whole heart. And because I believe it, I must share it. I want everyone to know Him, and to know Him deeply. When I look around, and I see all these faces, my heart breaks. Why have I not been sharing? Each and every person's life is a thread away from heaven or hell. No one ever wants to talk about hell, but it's just as real as heaven ever will be.

Oh how great is our God!