Dear Friends and Family,
These past weeks, five of us female LIFTers
have been serving at Students International’s Women’s Social Work site Cienfuegos.
It is a place where women and girls come to have a time of relaxation and participate
in an activity or craft while also hearing about God. There is a sign outside
the door that reads, “Bienvenidos el Refugio del Arte”, which translates to “Welcome
to the Refuge of Art.” This is quite fitting because the girls come from a
community stricken with poverty, and this place gives them a place to rest, be
with one another, and possibly give them time away from a difficult home
situation.
When we arrived at our site for the
first time the first Monday, we quickly learned that our site leader, Amalfi Toribio,
only speaks Spanish. This challenged us all to use the Spanish that we have
been learning! We had the blessing of having two girls from SI, Janelle and Madison,
help translate for us and guide us through the day-to-day site operations. Before
we came, we believed that we would be working with both the women and girls but
learned that there would only be girls from ages about 8-13 attending. There
were different girls that would come in the morning or afternoon depending on
their school schedule. While this was not what we had expected, it ended up
being very fun and allowed us to connect with the girls more!
At the beginning of the day, we prepare
for the day by cleaning or working on a craft that we would do later in the
day. Around 10:00, girls will begin arriving and we will sit and talk with them
for a bit. Then, we all read a story from the Bible and have a discussion about
it afterward. Amalfi always has very wise and insightful things to say and we have
learned much from her as well as the girls have. We then have either a craft or
game that we do for the remainder of the time, until about 12:00. After lunch
and time to rest, the same happens from 2:00 until 3:45 when we head back to
the SI base. During our lunches, we took turns sharing our testimonies. It was
very special to hear how God had worked and is continuing to work in Amalfi’s
life and in the lives of the SI girls and even my fellow LIFTers, and a great
reminder that despite differences, we are all beloved daughters of Christ!
It has been incredible to see how
Amalfi connects with the community. She grew up in a nearby community and has
been serving with SI since this base in Santiago began 7 years ago. It was not
uncommon for people to walk by the house and say “hi” to her and have a quick
conversation. When we walked around the community, she would talk to most of
the people she saw, regardless of if she knew them or not. It is clear that she
is very respected in the community and her ministry thrives as a result. Though
the women are not coming to the site currently, she maintains contact with all
of them and often stops by to visit them. She has taught us much about how
important it is to love and invest the people you are reaching and to truly be
a part of the community.
It has been a great blessing to be in
Santiago and serve in the Cienfuegos community. We greatly appreciate all of your
prayers and support as our time here in the Dominican Republic is coming to a
close. God is doing amazing work here and it is a privilege to present
ourselves before him to be used to further his kingdom!
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