DR Reflections Part 5--A personal bonus

The exhaustion finally caught up to me when a big storm came through last night, knocked out the power for about 6 hours, and kept me awake most of the night. I woke up so tired and disoriented that I couldn't drag myself out of bed early enough to go to school. I'm about ready to take a nap again, but I figured I'd take advantage of the peace and quiet to write another reflection from my trip. 

It was truly incredible to join the Freedom team and actually be a part of the ministry that is continually growing and reaching more and more people for Christ, educating so many students to love God, love others, and live out their God-given design. Mike and I would love to take returning trips there, and I am praying about a specific child that He may lead us to sponsor and begin to build a relationship with, a child that we can possibly visit from time to time in years to come. Only God knows how this trip will continue to affect and impact our own lives back in Indiana. 

But apart from the ministry aspect, the bilingual teacher in me felt so incredibly blessed to be able to visit, observe, and be part of a bilingual school in another country, even if just for a short week. To walk through the classrooms without students and see the set up and decorations in both languages, and then to see it in action was an experience I truly treasured. You could tell I am a teacher because no one else seemed a bit interested in taking pictures of classrooms or classroom doors or taking videos of kids singing their national anthem. Teachers are always soaking up other teacher's ideas and methods. You can never have too many extra tricks up your sleeve to pull from when needed. It also made me.thankful for all of the resources I have available to me and made me wonder how the abundance of materials can actually detract from authentic teaching. 

Kids starting their class out in prayer, specifically praying for students not there that day. Precious. 

Same rules as my own classroom. 

Bible class. 

All the classroom doors were decorated, so I got a picture of each one. One person told me that the Dominican Ministry of Education requires it, while another person said that there's just a lot of pressure to do it. Either way, I enjoyed looking at them all. I love the deep patriotism in this country. 

I loved this one--the door to the Discipline office. 

"Are you walking in the Spirit?"

Getting to see a public school in the little village also greatly interested me. I wish I could have seen inside. 

But the biggest bonus to my trip was getting to meet up with my CURRENT coworker in her own country. Such a gift from God, confirming that I'm right on the path He's always had for me (even though I had NO idea that I'd be teaching Dual Language again when I moved to Indiana,) and every experience He gives me builds upon all the previous ones. I didn't even know Susan a year ago, and now we work together every day, attend church together every weekend, attend women's ministry events together, and have a very special spiritual bond and connection. My new Dominican sister-in-Christ.