Race Life in the Dominican Republic

This month, Team Firefall is in the Dominican Republic. We are working with a ministry called Makarios. Here’s our week!

This week is sponsorship week. In the DR, everyone is still learning at home due to covid, but over the next two weeks, every grade has a time slot to come to the school to write letters to their sponsors and play with US! Starting out with the littles (the youngest are three years old!), we put together a fun program of songs and dancing, games, a skit, and coloring. My team lead and I are in charge of the games and the kids LOVE them! We are having so much fun teaching them our favorite games from the states and seeing the kids laughing and playing together. They are super competitive and enthusiastic about all we are doing! 

After our program, we are fed an authentic Dominican lunch! Fun fact: in the DR, a popular topping for any dish is burnt rice! Sounds weird, but it’s a perfect crunch. 

Hopped in the kitchen to “help” 🙂

After lunch each day, we head back to the “Mak House,” our home here, for afternoon projects. Some days, we go on ATL walks (which means Ask the Lord), and through this we have been able to meet people in the community, share the word of God, and continue to spread the mission of Makarios. On other days, we take time to work on blogs and other personal things to get done. Sometimes we take a minute to rest, call family, or play with the kids in our neighborhood. 

Each evening after dinner, we meet for feedback and team time. This is intentional time that we spend together as a team, whether fun or more serious. We play games, worship, get in the Word, eat brownies, and even watch tv (shameless plug for The Chosen!).

Here are some other highlights from the week!

I had the opportunity to share a devotional with the family empowerment department. My teammates have really been encouraging me to step up and grow in my Spanish skills, so despite preparing it in English, I gave the whole devo in Spanish! I was literally SO nervous but God calmed me and led me through every word. 

While on the race, I’ve seen how fear has been a part of my life. God has been showing me more and more areas where I am afraid- afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, afraid of losing control. The journey has been difficult but freeing. Speaking in Spanish is just another area where God commands me, “Do not be afraid.”

God blessed us with a super fun ATL adventure this week. I was walking through the neighborhood with two of my teammates, Karis and Mary Grace, when Karis noticed a small sign in someone’s window that said, “We Sell Ice Cream!” Naturally, we had to check it out. We walked through the door to find ourselves immediately in someone’s living room. Embarrassed, we started to run out, but were called back by the house’s inhabitants. The woman introduced herself and offered us seats, homemade ice cream, and water. She is a believer and was happy to meet us and hear about our experience in the DR so far. She asked what we had been able to do (work and fun) and mentioned a river with swimming nearby. So fun! We asked where it was, intending to go some day. Out of the blue, she asked, “Want to go?”

We all felt peace about it, so naturally, we went with her to check it out. While on the way, we were able to hear more of her story and about her faith, which blessed the three of us greatly. We turned onto a side street, and our friend casually mentioned that her sister and her family live here, and that we should stop by. Naturally, we did. We met her extended family and continued onto the river, joined by her sister and nephews.

The river was AWESOME. There turned out to be a sweet swimming spot, where you could even jump off rocks into the water. We didn’t actually get in the water (but we did another day) and when we returned to drop off the nephews, there was a hot meal waiting for us.

The hospitality in this country is amazing. There is no rush or emphasis on time. Instead, the priority is placed on relationship. It boggles my mind that complete strangers would give up their time and food for me, but they are truly happy to do so. I think the people here are bearing a part of Christ’s image that we have forgotten or neglected in the West.

Here is our entire team: Team Firefall, including our 2 Squad Leads, and our host Jacque!

These women are kind, funny, adventurous, discerning, authentic, Holy Spirit-filled, and STRONG. In sharing our stories and living in vulnerability, we are able to build each other up into the women God calls us to be, and champion each other in our unique gifts and personalities. I love these ladies, and am so thankful that God knew exactly what I needed in this team.