Homestays here we come!

Well, here we are, the last day of our work at Pico Escondido. We have seen many projects from start to finish-what a sense of accomplishment and joy! Everyone it excited for our next adventure, home stays in the capital of Santo Domingo. We'll leave here tomorrow morning for a two hour drive, meet our home stay hosts and get ready for a full afternoon and evening doing a community work project and hanging-out with the locals!! We had an amazing time together as a team with some of the local Dominican's last night. Words always fall short of describing reality. We had a sweet time of worship in English followed by some worship in Spanish. Most of us had no idea what the Dominicans were singing except for an occasional word like "amor" or "Jesus" but we knew they were singing to God with joy! The night went on like this for hours with lots of laughter and sillyness. What an incredible team we have!! We may not have internet while in our home stays so if you don't hear from us for a couple of days that's why! Enjoy a few more pictures of this incredible journey we are on!!

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 Yesterday was a much welcomed day to break from physical labor. It started with  an extra hour of sleep in the morning. After breakfast we had the option of heading to the Dominican "jacuzz" (which was a water hole with a waterfall pouring into it), enjoy a quite day of solitude with Jesus, go to river or head into town to enjoy the  Dominican people and culture. After lunch we visited a coffee plantation where we learned all the steps of growing and making coffee. The highlight of our day was visiting "The Ark", an orphanage for around 75 children ages 3-16. We learned more about the ministry and the way they love children that come from abused or neglected homes. After two hours of running around, playing soccer, swinging on swings, playing baseball and loving these kids, we had to say goodbye and head back to Pico Escondido! This visit made an impact on all of our lives and will be something none of us will forget!

Hi family and friends, this is Hannah Morell reporting from Team DR! These past four days have been incredibly beautiful to say the least. Waking up for devotionals in God's creation is certainly a blessed way to start our days. Our work begins right at 8 am, where they have broken us into teams for various labor projects. By lunch time everybody is comparing their scrapes and bug bites from the four-hour stretch of building, digging, lumberjacking, and chiseling we endured. Then it's right back to work until 5 pm, when we get to enjoy a typical dinner of rice, fried meat, and a few unidentified edibles :) We get to wrap up our evenings with Young Life "club", where we spend sweet time in worship and fellowship. Last night we learned to merengue and bachata to latino musica, which left us joyful and exhausted and ready for sleep (which does not always come easily in our humid cabins). So far I think I can speak for us all when I say that our beginnings here have been adventerous and rewarding, and we can't wait for what else God has in store for us to experience!

Working hard

God has blessed us with a perfect beautiful day for our first day of work, low humidity and a beautiful breeze!! The team is doing an amazing job working hard on lots of tasks including mixing cement, digging trenches, cutting down trees, sledge hammering concrete and more. Enjoy a few pictures from our first few days!!

We're here!!

Yes! Our team of 32 arrived at camp around 11pm DR time last night. After some much welcomed sleep we had an amazing morning hiking a gorgeous waterfall, doing some swimming and jumping off the rocks. Thanks for your prayers. We'll try to get you some pictures later this week!! Internet access is spotty so please be patient with us!

DR Here We Come!!

Bright and early tomorrow morning, we will begin our amazing adventure—11 days in DR! We go with excitement and expectation that God will use us, work in us and make us more like Him. Please pray for us whenever God puts us on your heart! We'll keep you updated as much as we can!!

Thank you for supporting us and praying for us!!

The HSM Domincan Republic team of 32!!

Send-off dinner

What a great night with our team and their amazing parents tonight! Just four days before departure, our send-off dinner was a sweet time to be together, encourage each other, pray for each other and meet everyone's parents! Stay tuned for some pictures from tonight soon! We're super excited that we leave in four days!! Thank you for praying for us, encouraging us and supporting us!

Pico Escondido

17 Days and Counting!

Welcome to our Dominican Republic blog! In just 17 days, an amazing team of 32 will head to Pico Escondido, the Young Life Camp in Dominican Republic! We are so excited to experience all God has in store for us! Check back often for updates. We’ll do our best to post pictures and posts while we there! Thanks for your prayers and support!!