It is just about 10 pm here and we are all hanging out as a team after a full last day of work and conversation here in the community we have enjoyed being part of for the last 6 days...today was a day of sweat and reflection for all of us...we spent several hours under the warm Caribbean sun breaking rock, shoveling and wheelbarrowing dirt, and smoothing out the ground of a future community center space where a new church plant will soon become reality and there will be a new well where people can come to get water used for bathing and cleaning in a community where almost have no access to running water or even a natural water source...the guys on this team have worked and worked and worked this week...it truly is an act of worship as we work so that change can happen in the lives of those we work alongside in the days and years to come...they love the sense of being part of God's work in progress...and very much look forward to possibly seeing one day what they helped to start...
It is easy to see why we are doing what we are doing as Zac Tolsma and I spent time with the little guy and girl the Bell and Huber families sponsor here so they can attend the Lighthouse school...as the little girl hugged me and asked when we would be back again, you are blessed by your chance to invest your blessings to bless the lives of someone who you pray and believe God will use mightily someday...
We then somehow found the energy to beat a Dominican softball team that had previously been undefeated in the mission trip team challenge world...who says soccer players aren't good baseball players?
And then we sat down for a time where we refelected on what God has spoken to us individually and as a team, what he has taught us from His Word and our experiences, and the responses and next steps we plan to take in our lives, the soccer community, CU, and the world...
Here's a little window into our world and what God has been up to this past week in the DR:
*We see again that the church is a global church and doesn't just look like American in its worship and passions...
*We embrace a new passion for service and evangelism...and love how the two fit together so very well...
*We are excited to discover individually the specific callings God has upon our lives to use soccer and other gifts for impact on other people's lives
*We are committed to hosting local soccer clinics for kids in need in the Grand Rapids community...
*We are pumped to expand our Night of Nets event to have even greater involvement at CU and impact globally as we meet the needs of those in desperate need around the globe...
*And we are dreaming of a community that is built on brotherly love, demonstrates the character of Christ on and off the field, and grows in its care for each other and vision for what Jesus can do in and through us as His athletes and followers...
Needless to say, it was an inspiring time of celebration...a time to thank God for calling us here so we can learn from and embrace a new people and culture, discover and build new relationships, see how the game of soccer is a connection to people and vehicle for sharing the hope and meaning found only in Jesus wherever you go in this world, and leave with tired hands and full hearts from a place where God is physically and spiritually building something that reflects His glory to the people of the Dominican Republic...
Tomorrow we will share a last meal with the staff here and take a little visit to Santo Domingo and spend a few hours in the capital city at the market and the incredible historical sites in the place Christopher Columbus came to so many centuries ago...and then we will relax together at a beach resort and enjoy a little AC and a warm shower before heading back to Grand Rapids on Thursday...
Know tonight as we head to bed that your prayers are being answered in the lives of young men...for all the CU Soccer crew, CHIP
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