A Day in the Life

 

LIFT 45 in the Dominican Republic - Post #3

What have we been up to?

What does a workday look like while serving with Students International? Our day starts at 6:45 with quiet time until 7:15. During this time LIFT students have been working through a SI specific devotional. From 7:15-8:00, LIFT students lead a short worship set then hear a message from an SI staff member based on the devotional reading for the day, followed by breakfast and lunch pack for the day. At 8:45 LIFT, Global Bridge students (a study abroad program focused on missions), and SI interns load onto the bus and trucks and head for the different ministry sites.

Students work at the sites until 4 pm. From 4-6 is free time! During this time students can swim in the pool, go on a run near the base, play volleyball, set up hammocks, read or study, play games, etc.. It is time to spend building relationships with one another along with the other students and staff at SI. After dinner is team time. This has looked different almost every evening. Some evenings are activities centered around knowing more about the Dominican culture, some are for journaling and reflecting on our experiences, and others are classes on holistic ministry and learning how to effectively love our neighbors.

On Monday night, SI staff put together a Dominican culture night for LIFT where they taught us about traditional Dominican food, dress, and lifestyle. They served us “La Bandera” aka “The Flag” for dinner, a classic Dominican dish of chicken, rice, beans, salad and avocado. We also got a quick lesson on how to dance the Merengue. Que divertido! (What fun!)

On Wednesday night, we heard from Miguel, the director of SI Santiago, about the history of Dominican and Haitian relations. Miguel and his family, although Dominican themselves, spent 9 years living and doing ministry in Haiti. Miguel is passionate about God’s calling on Christians to love one another regardless of ethic allegiances. We are all one in Christ. We share in his body and blood together. We are all redeemed by grace. As he spoke, he educated LIFT on the ethnic tensions between Dominicans and Haitians explaining the history behind it. He graciously answered questions and shared how his own misconceptions were broken apart after living and falling in love with Haiti; a country and people he was told he was supposed to hate. We ended the evening with a time of prayer for Miguel and asking from peace and reconciliation on the island between the two countries.

Miguel and his staff are an amazing team whom God is using to bring light and love to the island of Hispañola.

-Izzy Oliver

Here are some pics from the Early Childhood Development Center:

 

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