Hello for the last time from the Dominican Republic...we just finished a final team dinner together on a warm and breezy night...we said goodbye to new friends this morning at our ministry site and then headed into the capital city of Santo Domingo...we visited the market and then walked in and around some of the oldest buildings in the Western hemisphere, including the National Cathedral and National Monuments of the DR...these buildings are amazing structures and are almost 500 years old! I did have a very fun moment this am...as I went thru a pack of baseball cards I brought for my sponsored child in this community and school, we found together a baseball card with Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez that simply said Dominican Pride...it was a moment that connected us together as we took a picture of that card together...I love God's little fun surprises for a dad in the USA and a little boy in the DR who both love baseball and the Dominican Repubic...
We then drove to the coast and spent some time this afternoon enjoying a resort on the ocean...there has been good food, lots of Dominican music, and a time to relax at the beach after a very busy week for us all...in many ways, it is somewhat strange to be at a resort after being part of a community with such great physical needs during our time in the DR...you find yourself feeling somewhat guilty and somewhat resistant to what you see all around you...yet in many ways this resort represents more of who we are as blessed Americans...and the greatest challenge of this trip is yet to come in many ways...God's calling to us is not to just feel guilty and grateful...it is to live with what we have seen, experienced, and heard from God in a place of prominence in our daily lives...it is the challenge of living in our own community and culture that God has placed us in as a Christian who is compassionate, communicates about the needs of others near and far, and serves out of a heart that is full because of what God has done in Jesus for us...that's really our final task of this trip...to spend time asking God to show us specifically what our response individually and as a team will be as we come back to Cornerstone and the semester ahead...we'd ask you to pray for us to be motivated and passionate to be advocates for the people of the DR and to help us to build a community that is focused on others and creates a mindset of service and love and character in the soccer community and other places of influence in our lives...
We are tired and yet so very blessed after our time on this missions trip...thanks for reading this blog...I've loved being with young men and women who I believe will indeed change the world...CHIP
p.s. If all goes well, we should arrive back at GR airport sometime around 10:30 pm tomorrow night or so after our travel day! We know there is snow...and we will call from Atlanta with any flight updates!
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