It's Becoming VERY Real!

Today is our second full day in the Dominican Republic. It is BEAUTIFUL! Since being dropped off for orientation on Monday, there has been a range of emotions I have encountered- ranging from fear to nervousness to excitement.

Two of us lost our carry-ons that we had checked as we were boarding our plane on Wednesday.  Luckily they were carry-ons and there was not really anything super important, except Paige had her computer in her’s. The mistake was pretty much mine. When the airlines asked us where our final destination was I told them Santo Domingo. Paige went along with it, and we did not find out until we were in Miami that we were flying into Santiago, not Santo Domingo.  We talked to the airlines in Miami and were told our bags would meet us in Santiago (even though we had said Santo Domingo) because the flight number was right on the tag. But when we arrived in Santiago this was not the case. We were told the bags would not have left Miami because of the confusion. The airline said we should get our bags on the next flight to Santiago from Miami, which was last night (Thursday) around 8 pm. We got a call this morning that the bags were in and they would be here today, and praise the Lord we got them thirty minutes ago. (We were not expecting to get them today because of “Dominican time” being pretty relaxed.)

We met our host families today for a short orientation, and we will be moving in with them tomorrow. This made the experience seem very real and relieved a lot of stress I was feeling about moving in. My host parents seem very nice! Monday we start Spanish class. It will be nice to be able to make a routine and get used to it.

So far, God has shown me that He is calling me to step WAY out of my comfort zone!

-Brittini

The Beginning

Tomorrow starts a trip that I have been anticipating for many months. As many know (because both my family and I have been very excited and told everyone we have talked to), I am spending this semester in the Dominican Republic with a group from Bethel. I will be studying Spanish and the culture, as well as taking ministry classes in preparation for serving in a preschool later on in the trip.

For those wondering, the layout of the trip will look something like this: the first five weeks will be intense language study, then we will have a week of traveling, and the rest of the time we will work in our ministry sites set up by Students International. 

Tomorrow starts orientation where will be taking some classes and getting to know our teammates better. Then we will fly out on Wednesday.  Internet connections will probably be sketchy, but I will try to write updates when it is possible.

I would definitely appreciate prayers! There are going to be some challenging times coming, but I know this is where God has me and He has made it clear that this trip is His plan for me.  
 

-Brittini