What Am I Doing in Ghana?

In less than two months I will heading out on a new & slightly intimidating adventure in the West African country of Ghana. This is a semester long program created, organized and ran by the Calvin College IDS (International Development Studies) department. I will be headed to Ghana on January 4th and I will not return until May 30th. For those of you who have no idea where Ghana is, here's a map:

I will enrolled as a student of the University of Ghana which is in Accra the country's capital! This means that along with classes taught by my Calvin Professor I will also be taking classes with Ghanaians and that are taught by Ghanaian professors. Our group will be living on campus in the International students dorm, hopefully we will be placed with Ghanaians roommates as well. We get the chance to travel around the country during the month of January in order to see more of Ghana's landscape.

On top of being incredibly excited and thrilled to spend 5 months in Africa, I'm finding that I am extraordinarily nervous due to the fact that is it five months in Africa. The thought of creating life long friendships with people from the half way around the world is amazing. I know I will be sad to be missing things at home including my 21st birthday, The Superbowl and of course my friends and family but when else would I have the incredible privilege to study and live abroad?

Farther & Farther

As I get farther and farther from my time in Dominican Republic I am more wrapped up in trying to remember the little things. The kid whose smile warmed your heart. The poverty that makes you cringe. The 6:45 a.m coffee must haves. The moments spent in the car with Ramon when we were laughing uncontrollably. Staying up way too late girl talking, discussing political issues or explaining why in the world I chose to spend my summer in Dominican Republic. Of course recounting the overwhelming fear of sweat marks covering the entirety of my back. No matter how busy I find myself getting with homework, working to earn money, extracurriculars and maintaining/creating friendships the memories and love of DR never seems to fade to the back of my mind. While I had to leave the country, the country and the people and the memories and the love have yet to leave me.

Time is Winding Down

I have less than three days remaining in the place that holds my heart. I'm not quite sure what to call what I am feeling right now. I love this place and I love the people and I love the way of life so to leave after becoming so comfortable and growing so much will be extremely hard. I have left even more of my heart throughout this island than I had left behind previously. I'll probably be left feeling empty and depressed. On the other hand I have been working constantly for the past 5 weeks and am looking forward to sleeping in past 7 o'clock and being able to relax a little bit.
This experience has been incredible and so life changing. It has affirmed the calling God has placed on my life. I am meant to be here in this place working as the hands and feet of Christ that is now undeniable. I thrive when I am in Dominican Republic. One of the most rewarding parts of being here was the interaction I had with the team members. I met older people, people from Texas and Colorado, people I would have never met if it wasn't for this common interest. Listening to testimonies and stories from adults about how God has been faithful to them taught me so much about life. I learned that despite crappy life circumstances keeping hope in God is the best way to get through it. I learned that prayer is truly powerful. I was able to witness the strength and healing power of prayer in so many ways. I was able to be a part of anointing a newly built house with oil and praying for no ill will to fall upon the house or it's inhabitants. I learned that I am actually quite a patient person. I am able to handle anything that kids can dish out with relative ease and grace which I experienced not all people can. This patience extends to adults as well. I worked with many types of people, whether they were type A personalities or childish I was able to communicate effectively and remain merciful.
I played Dominican baseball, explored underground caves, surfed Dominican waves, laid hands on people, watched a wedding, got tickled endlessly, snuggled adorable kids, ate rice and beans, had my fill of chicken and served this country with ALL that I had.
I can't wait to see what next summer has to offer!
Dios te Bendiga

Sports

So, most of you know that sports + Kin = a hot mess. I can't do sports. Sports of any kind are not for me. In Dominican the biggest sport is baseball which all of the boys play from the time they can walk. There's a man in Brisas named Jose Luis who coaches baseball and is involved with the school that VT works with.  A couple of the guys from the team will go watch and play baseball with the kids or Jose's team. Jose has a two year old son named Justin who is the cutest and most ornery little boy. Naturally I gravitate towards him and end up holding or playing with him. This afternoon I was holding Justin and Jose Luis points to Justin and says to me, you and him come to the baseball field. Before I knew it I was walking down the road with a group of Dominican guys towards the baseball diamond. Here is where the sports come in. I figured I would babysit Justin while watching from the dugout to enjoy the game. A mitt was shoved into my hands and next thing I knew I was catching pop ups thrown by Jose Luis. Slightly intimidating considering I was the only girl and I was surrounded by a bunch of experienced and extremely talented boys. Jose Luis began rounding up the boys and splitting them into teams, by this time I was taking a calming deep breath because I thought my ordeal with sports was over, until Jose Luis told me to join his team. Guys, let me tell you, I was stressing out. I have never played baseball before. Let that sink in. I have never played baseball before. I don't even watch baseball. Of course Jose Luis told me to bat first...that went just swimmingly. Actually, it could have been worse. I struck out once but the rest of my times on the plate I hit the ball but they were both caught so I never made a base. When it was our turn to take the field Jose Luis asked me to be catcher. Seriously man, give me a break. Jose Luis was the pitcher and multiple times he decided to throw fancy pitches like curve balls and whatever else you could possible do. Basically, I do not have a career in the MLB to look forward to but I also didn't make a complete fool of myself. After a month in DR I can finally say I've played Dominican baseball!

Questions Posed

As of Saturday there is a new team in DR! The team I'm working with this week is from Colorado Springs and they have been coming here for about 5 years. They work in an area of Santo Domingo called Las Brisas. I was warned several times about not only the craziness of this team but also the extraordinary heat in Brisas. So I tried to mentally and physical prepare myself for the collision of both of those things. VBS, teenage bible studies, adult bible studies, construction, dental cleaning and baseball are all on the agenda this week so it's a little hectic around here but hey, that's pretty normal. 

Today I was speaking to one of the women on the team and I was explaining that I'm working in DR for 5 weeks this summer then in January I am planning on studying abroad in Ghana, Africa until May. This shocked her because earlier I told her my ideal dream is to live and work in Dominican Republic. To her she heard Africa and 5 months and thought I was insane for desiring to go on a trip for that long especially in a place like Africa. She said to me "Why are you doing all of this?" That caught me off guard. I guess I had never heard it put that way. I have been pondering my answer to that question all day long. It's a simple answer. Why am I doing all of this? - Why not?

I think in American culture it has become so normal to choose the easiest and most comfortable life possible. A house in the suburbs where you and your high school sweetheart raise your two children, Sally and Joey and dog named Fido. You pick your major or career based on the annual salary not how it suits your strengths or passions. I was going to do that very thing. Speech pathologists make an average of $70,000 a year and I figured that was perfect, I could comfortably provide for my family. I could work part-time while raising my children in the suburbs and hopefully provide them with an easy and comfortable life. But where is the need for God in that life? A life like to me doesn't need God. You are making enough money and have a nice roof over your head. You aren't worrying about how you're going to make ends mean or for your safety. If you aren't uncomfortable or out of that comfort zone most often you aren't living day to day relying on God. I have decided to go against the flow and "make my passion my paycheck." Who knows what kind of money I will make or what my job will actually look like but I know that God will be the only reason it all works out. I am choosing to fully rely on His provisions and faith. God has given me a passion to explore other countries and the strength and confidence to do that. It dawned on me these past couple weeks how well I can hold my own even in a different country and with people who speak a different language. I have the patience necessary to connect with and handle children which is a gift not all people have. Overall, this place has so radically tranformed my life that I have in turn given my life to helping to transform the lives of people who live here. I have a love of the people of Dominican Republic and I have a love of helping people so why not mix the two together? 

Isaiah 61:1 

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives"

Craziness

Well, there are many things worth talking about tonight. But I'll start with this really cool guy named Sammy, who kindly and graciously put up with me for 3 weeks here in DR. Within a couple hours of meeting we were ditched at Provocone for dinner and had a discussion on humanity. Pretty much, Sammy is awesome and I'm going to make sure that we stay lifelong friends considering we spent so much time together in a place we both love. So sorry, you're stuck with me man! Thanks for amazing Sammy! (I know you'll read this eventually).
Second on the list to talk about is what the main event of this week looks like. WEDDING BELLS! I met a wonderful Dominican man and we are getting married...HA just kidding. On Thursday in Cotui nine couples from the town are tying the knot! NINE, NUEVO, NEUF! Wedding dresses, food, decorations, the couples are getting the whole deal. They never even considered the possibility of having a wedding ceremony or buying a wedding dress but thanks to the faithfullness of God these couples get to act on their love and partnership to get married! Thursday is going to be insane but I'm so honored to be a part of such a momentous and once in a lifetime experience.
Thirdly, last night was just a joyous night, well some of it was. The team from FBC is conducting a marriage seminar to prepare not only the couples getting married on Thursday but also others from the area. This meeting isn't until 7 pm so the men can come after work that means we are in Cotui from 11 am until 9-10 pm so the kids are with us ALL day long. Kids being kids, they misbehave and act out. So the young adults and I took the kids to the field that is next to the learning center to keep them entertained, occupied and quiet. Some kids were rapping, some kids were finger jousting, and others were climbing trees. We attempted to get a game started but the group of niños was distracted rather easily. As the sky darken and the rain started falling we all ended up holding hands, running around in a circle playing a mash up of ring around the rosey and tag. One person stood in the middle, closed their eyes and stuck out a hand, then the circle would run around and the person in the middle would say "boom" and whoever was in front of his or her hand when he or she said "boom" is out. The rain was coming down, everyone was holding hands and laughing and smiling. In those moments I thought to myself, how am I ever going to leave this? If these past three weeks have taught me anything it's that I am meant to live here. I will at some point in time live in Dominican Republic for a significant amount of time.
I have uno amiguito (a "little buddy")! His name is Shamil, he is 11, lives in Cotui and has been quite literally attached to my hip well in better words he has been draped across my shoulders constantly. He was hanging out with us as we played games the past couple nights. Once the adult meeting was over he and my other friend Nelson were walking with me back to the learning center and they started singing "McKinley, let's go" in their little dominican accents. My name sounds more like "Mackinney"when any kids in DR say it but still it's better than McKenzie. I often find myself in awe of the friendships I have created with kids all over this country. I don't speak Spanish so communication is awkward and rarely understood but simply saying hola, giving high fives or chasing kids is good enough to create lasting friendships.
I love this place and its people beyond words.

Perspective

During the past three days a small group of people spent the afternoon at the home of a local woman who needed work done on her home. Might I say I have never seen a Dominican house quite this bad. Imagine a third world version of a house on hoarders. It was incredible that a family was happily living in situations like that. I'm not easily phased by the poverty I witness in this world because I've seen it but this was even hard for me to handle. A colony of at least a dozen pigeons made their home in the rafts of the roof which could not be defined as a roof. This was wood slats laid across the length of the house. It leaked so much that the couple was forced to put a mattress in the rafts to soak up the rain and pigeon poop. The amount of dirt, dust, feces and who knows what else that was haphazardly swept off the floor would make every mom in America cringe. This home was filthy, however, I never saw anything but a smile on the faces of the residents. Today the roof was finished, just in time for rain and the group was able to finish and cover an extensive off the back door to give the woman of the house a covered place to cook her food, considering using the porch isn't ideal. 

After seeing this conditions of this house and the joy of the people who live in it I am again struck by the ungrateful attitude that I and most if not all of Americans have. Poor in America is equal to the filthy rich in a third world country. Remember that no matter how bad it is for you someone out there has it much worse. You have a roof over your head, the ability to read and access this and security in the meals of tomorrow. The majority of this world does not. God has blessed each and everyone of you! Thank Him continuously for what you have even if it seems insufficient or it isn't quite what you asked for. 

Romans 12:12-13

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."