Our lives are strung together by
moments. We experience moments of joy, sadness, laughter, & tears. Then,
there are moments when every worry ceases and you become fully present. Fully
present; how many of us know what that really feels like? I know what it is
like to be distracted. I know what it is like to be worried, but fully present?
That can take a lot.
We started classes this past week,
and let me tell you, it can be difficult to be fully present after the second
hour of Spanish instruction when you know you have two more hours to go. It can
be difficult to not get distracted when you’ve gone through 60+ flashcards of
Spanish words 3 times and yet you still can’t remember the Spanish word for
“likewise” (Igualamente). Now granted these classes are needed for me to be
able to assimilate into the culture and also to communicate with the Dominicans,
but in the midst of this language barrier, it can be frustrating and tedious. I
will share with you the one thing that keeps me going, the one thing that
motivates me to try and “roll my “r”s one more time”, it is the moments when
being fully present, is as easy as breathing, because I am being transformed by
the people in front of me.
I had much anticipation of the bus
ride to Quisqueya. I believe that it is within this city that I fell in love
with the Dominican last August.
Something in my heart began to stir as we drove down the long narrow
road into the city; flashbacks of me looking out at those same fields, with
tears rolling down my cheeks because I didn’t want to say goodbye. In the
present, I was excited because I knew there would be no need for “Adios”,
instead I could say “Hasta Pronto” (See you soon!) As the bus pulled up to the
Emmanuel House, a local school that we will be working with, I was present,
really for the rest of the day I was present; taking in every sight and sound.
Learning about the school and how it functions was amazing! Most of the
students who receive an education at Emmanuel House, are unable to attend other
schools due to poverty and home life. Students with disabilities are bused into
Emmanuel House from long distances because other schools will not service them.
I felt the purest sense of hope as I looked at the pictures of all the
beautiful children who attend school there, proudly hung on one of the
classroom walls. Without Emmanuel House many of these children would never have
the opportunity to be educated, but there is hope.
We then took some time to walk the
streets of Quisqueya. I had mentioned in a previous blog about my trip last
August and the opportunity I had to pray with a mother whose son was recently
put in jail because he killed his cousin. This was an emotional time for me
last year because there was such a sense of heaviness and pain in that house.
As we approached this same house and I saw the mother sitting on the porch,
smiling, tears filled my eyes. As we spoke with her, I discovered that her son
was still in jail, but it was evident that she had a peace that was lacking
this time last year. Her circumstances had not changed, but something in her
heart did. In this moment I was completely present and surrounded by the
faithfulness of God; she found comfort in her Saviors arms.
In one of the last houses that we
went to, I met a girl who was 15 and unable to go to school because she has no
birth certificate. She desperately wants to learn, and help her mother provide
for her other siblings, but there is little she can do without an education.
This moment, this moment, as I looked down at the dirt floor of their very tiny
home, this is the moment when I wished things could be different. To be honest,
this is the moment when I said “God, why?” & in the same breath said “Your
ways are better than mine, you will provide.” See, I do not know what is next
in this beautiful girl’s story, but I do know that I will pray, and if it is
possible, I will help, but even more importantly, I know that God loves her
more than I possibly ever could. I will trust.
As I reflect one the stories I have
written above, I feel God comforting me and showing me his faithfulness.
Yesterday I was able to visit an all-girls orphanage called Pasitos De Jesus. I
spent 4 days at this orphanage last August. There were a few girls who
remembered me, and greeted me with big hugs; it was beautiful. We laughed and
played with the girls for a couple of hours. They all are so happy and full of life,
it wasn’t until I stopped and looked into their eyes that I remembered they all
have stories. Stories that are filled with pain and abandonment. Many of them
left on the streets with no one to take care of them, but then one day their
lives changed, and they received shelter, clothes, food, and… love. Just as
their stories went from bleak to filled with hope, so can the story of a young
15 year old girl who desires desperately to better herself, but currently has
no means to.
My heart in writing these blogs,
and sharing with you all some of the deepest parts of my soul, is not that you
would think “Wow, Meghan’s doing such an awesome thing.”, but to give you all
hope. My prayer is that we will wake up each day and confidently face any
trial. My prayer is that we would wake up and not only see the needs in this
world, but do our best to meet them. Please take some time to pray for me and
my fellow Gappers, but take even more time to pray for the people of the
Dominican. Thank you all for your support and kindness, continue to share that
kindness with the many people you come into contact with throughout your day.
Be there, be real, be present.
~Meghan Elizabeth
