The Ark

Hello again. It has been a couple of months since the last blog update, and for that I feel very badly. Our camera has been, and still is, broken , a lame excuse but who likes reading a blog entry without pictures? Well your stuck with good ‘ol fashion reading for now, because there isn’t anywhere here we can get our camera fixed. Much has been going on since our move to Jarabacoa. We are living in an apartment at the orphanage outside of town. There are about 45 kids divided up into 6 different houses. Each house is run and managed by a Dominican married couple who have children of their own as well. We have had the privilege of spending time with almost every family unit. The love these kids receive has been very encouraging. The children come from the worst of the worst situations, but to see them interacting within their homes you would never know they had a “past”. There is discipline, structure, organization, spirituality, and fun that flows from every home, and house parent. Although “The Ark” is quite a ways out of town, especially for only having a motorcycle, it has proved to be a very unique culture experience, as well as a refreshing mountain living experience.
What we do
Caitlin immediately started teaching as the school year began when we arrived in August. Jarabacoa is home to a few different Kids Alive sites. “The Ark” is one, and another major project is “Anija” The school we run in town. Anija is where all the “Ark” kids go for school, as well as a majority of other kids in the Jarabacoa community that are sponsored through our program, and also a few kids from wealthier families whom are paying tuition. It is a school that goes from age 4 up to 8th grade. Caitlin is teaching English to the 2nd through 8th grade students. It is proving to be a good test of patients with her, as the cultural norm for classroom behavior is quite opposite from that of the US. She is also working with the sponsorship program at The Ark. That means all those letters you receive, and send go through her first. She gets to spend a good amount of time with the kids doing the different projects and translating the letters. The kids love to brag about their sponsors and show you their pictures. The smiles on their faces are a sure tell that are loved. It has been a very rewarding experience for Caitlin to be involved with this work, as well as the both of us in living at The Ark.
My work is not so easily defined. On any given day I might be at 3 different ministry sites. We have another Kids Alive site further up in the mountains in a town called Constanza. We have come to know the missionaries there that host teams fairly well. I was able to spend some weeks on and off with them during a period when they were hosting teams early this fall. I have also been helping out with various projects at our care center in Palo Blanco. Palo Blanco is a small community outside of Jarabacoa. The care center in Caraballo is much like the one in Palo Blanco. My first project was doing the electrical work for an entire upstairs addition. The only thing I knew about electrical work before I started was what color wires hot, neutral and ground were, which does no good here because they haven’t really figured out the color coding thing yet. It was actually a lot fun, I learned quite a bit. With my “How-to” book and some guidance from a couple a guys who actually know what they’re doing , I finished the project un-electrocuted, and with all the lights and outlets in working order. A regular electrician now, I am. The project I am currently working on is at The Ark. With about ten buildings and about a hundred people, we are basically a small community. No community is complete without lots of broken things and ongoing maintenance projects. I could just jump in and fix everything, but in the long run that doesn’t accomplish much. The solution therefore is training the house dads, whom all work in different capacities at The Ark. My plan is to demonstrate a level of professional work and problem solving that helps in maintaining routine fixes and everyday tasks. We are starting by moving all 5 locations where tools, parts, and junk are stored, into one central organized shop. After that I will develop a work schedule and problem solving organizational solution to accomplish work.

In summary, we are busy but rested, happy but challenged, both learning brand new things but receiving the upmost respect. I would say we are truly happy. God is growing us in our relationship with Him, as well as each other. We are constantly seeing and seeking his grace, and peace and comfort, but also not missing his sovereign nudges of growth through uncomfort.