Doulos Adventures

So just wanted to let you know how life is these days. Things have really taken a cool new turn with my team that practices at Doulos. The girls have really began to invest in the team. Also, it has actually become a real team. Let me explain. With my other teams, the girls always have had the option of not showing up. As a result, I always felt like I had to make practice fun (ya know, and that means no hard conditioning stuff). There are certain things that have definitely been ingrained in me as a level that I would love to expect in my athletes. Ok get your point.

The girls now have to buy a t-shirt if they want to be a part of a team that practices at this school called Doulos. Basically, they now have to make a descision to be a part of the team. And if they are in, they cant make excuses like I had homework, I have to wash my clothes, I just got my hair straightened and I couldn't get it wet. Ps. that happened to me all the time. They also signed a code of conduct which was discussed thoroughly which really allows me to hold them to an even higher standard. The girls have really come together. This same group of girls has a bible study together at my house. In addition I run an English class with the same group of girls. More than anything, I just really enjoy being with these girls. The other day, practice was canceled because of the hurricane… so what did we do? Stay inside? Heck no. We made a slip and slide and enjoyed the afternoon. You can see the picture and video of us below.




Also, in the photo is a picture of one of my interns for the fall (Brittany). I also having another stud intern named Corrie. These two girls have done an INCREDIBLE job. For real, they have really invested and connected with my girls. They also have taken over one of my other English classes which has been a huge help to me so that I can plan for other things like bible studies, the other English classes, or practices. For real, I am going to miss them when they leave in December.

Champions!

Well, one of my dreams for this site was just fulfilled. With the help of Doulos Discover School, we held our first full day tournament. We had over 60 girls from Jarabacoa were able to participate. They even all had jerseys, which was a first for many of them. Let me give you a play by play of what has been going on here with the sports site.

Our goal is to plan a tournament similar to the one we just did in October. All four teams that I coach competed against each other (and look pretty sweet in their jerseys). We have created a cool environment for the girls with Christian music, a ref that enforced strong sportsmanship rules, prayer and FUN GAMES! For this particular tournament that happened this past month, we also brought in a speaker to preach to the girls during lunch. The winning team was awarded medals as well as other players were recognized with medals for excelling in areas such as best attitude, most disciplined in practice, best serve, etc. Overall, the tournament was a huge success and keeps the girls super motivated to practice. Check out the teams that participated below!

In other news, we have started a weekly bible study with two of the teams. Girls have really opened up and this has given me a chance to really enter into their lives. Out of all the things going on, this is the most important. Pray that the girls can continue to be transformed and become true disciples of Christ, not just stud volleyball players. Below are some pics of some of the girls at bible study.

Again, thank you for your support! We have another tournament coming in December, so I’ll be sure to send ya the stats as soon as I get them!

Fall Update!

“Jess, I wish I someone who could explain the Bible to me. Sometimes, I read it and it just doesn’t make sense to me. When I read it at home, people say that I am going crazy.” Just last week, one of my girls, Darlynis, said this to me and it sprung the idea of starting a Bible study with her community. Because it Darlynis’ idea, she was able to get all the girls super excited about starting a Bible study where my girls can really learn how to read and understand the Bible. So EXCITING!

So here in the Dominican Republic, I continue to work with teenage girls with my principal target being girls who play volleyball. We have developed teams in four communities. In addition, we have organized big city-wide tournaments filled with loud fans, blaring Christian music, strong sportsmanship rules enforced (by yours truly), as well as a message being preached in the middle to all who are watching and participating in the tournament. In addition, I am leading a bible study for any girls interested as well as an English class for about 20 of my girls. Below is a picture of the champion team of the summer tournament.


After one of the game days, we had a pizza party at my house and here are some pics of them at my house.


As I reflect on how God has orchestrated and led the girls sports site, I stand amazed. We started in two elementary schools and now, almost a year and a half later, we have expanded to forming solid teams with girls from all over the city. I am incredibly grateful for Blythefield’s faithful support and prayer. You are all huge participants in the great things that are happening here. Thank you.

Prayer Requests
• Support- I am receiving about 80% of the support needed per month and particular need of monthly supporters.
• Girls Bible Study- Girls will gain a genuine passion to study God’s word and as a result, become leaders for their communities

Fan Page....

So for those of you that speak spanish, you have to check out this blog that my friend Joan made. He is so funny and claims that I am famous, so he thought he should make a blog so all my "fans" could follow it. Anyways, read it just for a good laugh.

http://dominicangringa01.blogspot.com

God is opening doors!

Okay, so one of the coolest things happened this past week. I have always thought it would be sweet to bring the teams I coach to other cities to play. Well, thanks to the idea and pushing of my wonderful intern, we finally made it happen. So this past Wednesday we loaded up two trucks of people to head down to a nearby city called La Vega (about 30 min away). The boys baseball ministry site also was scheduled to play a game in the same facility as well, but thanks to the rain, theres was canceled which means their whole truck of guys came to cheer (I mean CHEER, for real, loudest cheering I've ever heard). We had two divisions, "infantil" and "juvenil". The infantil was the group of girls I work with (ages 11-14). Then I, Cristi (the greatest intern ever), and some other girls I have worked with in the past wer able to play with the juvenil. The infantil team won but our juvenil team lost. Here is a pic of our team from Jarabacoa (missing Cristi my intern)


However, that’s not the main thing I want to talk about. The best part of the day was that one of the Americans that was on this missions team was able to share her testimony with the entire gym. She had a powerful testimony of coming from an extremely broken home but offered hope of a father above who cares, even when her earthly father doesn't. Wow. So powerful and especially impactful in this culture. Soooo many kids here grow up without a father and personally I think that's why so many marry so young. They grow up longing for that love of a father. As they enter puberty and start getting attention from guys, they CLING on and move in with their boyfriends/ get pregnant.

Anyways, when I got up to expound on her testimony and the power of the love of our father, there were numerous girls crying as a response. Gloria a Dios! (Glory to God) Also, after the game, I was able to connect with the coach and many girls on the older team. First of all, I’ve MISSED good volleyball. I kinda thought when I came here, it meant giving up that part of my life. Well folks, NOT YET!!! This team from La Vega is incredible and they invited me to practice and play in games with them. So today, I went down to La Vega and practiced with the team. I sweated a ton, the coach yelled the entire time… and I LOVED IT! I also talked with the coach and he wants us to bring groups to play every other week now and share a message every time we come. Gosh, experiences like this get me so fired up! I’m so glad God can use our passions for his glory! God is sooo good!!! Below is a picture of all those that participated in our games.


Prayer Request: There have been numerous break-ins during the past month, often to American missionaries. Today at 11 o'clock during the DAY, someone tried to break into my house. My car wasn't in front so I think he thought I wasn't home. Anyways, I grabbed a knife and yelled at him and he left. But it still totally freaked me out and still worries me. Pray that God will just protect my house and more than anything, just give me a peace to not worry about the house.

Summer Teams!

We have now gotten in the swing of having summer teams. I rememeber going into summer teams last year feeling like I had NO CLUE what I was doing. My spanish was still pretty rusty and SI expected me to start a new site and minister to the summer teams as well. To say the least, I was scared and thought I did not have the capicity to do it. However, with SI's support and Gods incredible help, I survived. Going into a new summer with more spanish and clearer vision, its exciting to see how God is going to work this summer. Here are some updates of things that are going on these days.

Training Disciples- Jesus calls us to make disciples. God (and my pastor) have kept reminding me of this call and I decided to take it to the next step with my girls. The average age of my girls is 13 so I wasn't sure what approach to take. However, I thought, why not let them give the bible lesson. They have heard me enough and they know the basic idea. So far, two of the kids have given a lesson and it has worked out great!!! They give me an idea of what they want to talk about and then I help them look for scripture to use. So neat to see them preach!

New Intern (Cristi)- I have a sweeeeet intern with me this summer. She does a great job with the girls. Her energy not only pushes the girls, but really helps me out too. God has blessed her with such joy that has definitely picked me up at crucial times. For example, we just figured out how to connect an ipod adapter (thanks Ashley Pagel for your awesome donation) to my car and had an amazing singing party in my car to a high school musical song. I was seriously ready to go for the rest of the day!

Anticipating Visitors- On the next outreach, 3 girls who came on an outreach last summer plotted together to all come on the same outreach again this summer. They come in a week and I am soooo excited to see them again. With all the short terms trips always coming and going, its nice to have some girls come back! One of those girls just happens to be my sister! She came with an outreach and will be coming back again for a couple weeks. So EXCITING!

Goodbye- My brother, Josh, just left for Burkina Faso, Africa to serve with the peace corp! He will be living there for 2 years and teaching Math to highschoolers in FRENCH! He's such a stud, I'm so proud of him. However, its a bit hard for my family because during that 2 years, he will not be able to come home. Keep him in your prayers!

Birthday- I celebrated my 24th birthday during this month. It was so cute. The kids threw me a birthday part and then we had a domino tournament with my friends. Below is a pic of some of my friends.


Okay thats about all for today! Take care and please keep me posted on what's going on in your lives! Congrats to my friends Lo and Matt and their engagement! So exciting!

Haiti Reflections

Ever since the earthquake in Haiti in January, many have asked if our organization has gotten involved. (The DR shares the same Hispanola island with Haiti). In January, we helped send aid over but did not make an actual trip. In April, the staff decided to exchange our spring staff beach retreat to go help in Haiti (some exchange eh?). Our group went to work with an organization that my Dominican church has been in cooperation with ever since the earthquake. Honestly, its hard to put into words my experience that we had there. Honestly, I was a really emotionally tough trip on me. Even though the DR is considered a third world country, Haiti is much worse. Haiti is hot, dry, hot, poor, and HOT. Our staff divided into 6 groups to serve the different people in the community.
1. Womens Group- who taught a group of women in the community to bake bread that they could sell. We also brought down an oven to donate along with the ingredients to get them going for a couple weeks.


2. Teenage boys (sports and other "manly" games)
3. Teenage girls
4. Pre-school age
5. Elentary age group - This is the group I helped in. We did different fun activities, bible studies and crafts. This day, Fausto dressed up like a clown and we did different games with balloons. Plus, the kids just loved playing with him. :)


6. Construction- group built private bathrooms where people could privately bath themselves (with bucket water).
7. Dentistry

Just a disclaimer. We were only there a couple days and these are my reflections based on the limited time I was there. I do not claim to be an expert by any means. Thus, if you see something false with my observations, feel free to correct me. :)

HEAT: Okay, so the heat here is NOTHING compared to Haiti. In Port Au Prince where we were, there are very little trees and no breeze. So, there is no way to escape the heat. A large portion of the population live in these tents, that are packed into every open piece of land. Actually, they are packed into ANY type of land. Sidewalks, allies, parks... everything is full. So if you do the math. The Haitians are never able to escape this heat. If anything, its even hotter in the tents.


Things for kids to do: When we went April 21st, school had just began starting again. The kids were forced to stay in their housing areas. Honestly, I don't think I even saw much grass while I was there. The community where we worked was gated off. Thus, it was safe, but there was very little for the kids to do. Anybody want to bring a sports ministry to Haiti? They sure need it!


Lack of jobs: Because everything is so dry, there are very little jobs for people. The DR brings people in because of its beautiful trees, rivers and mountains. As a result, many people can find jobs in tourism. However, in my opinion, the only thing drawing people to Haiti is earthquake relief and God. The main jobs I saw were road vendors and people working in sugar cane fields (which is HOT, hard labor).

While I thought I was not a too high maintence person, I realized how I am still very emotional dependent on my privacy, running water, and cooler nights. It made me more aware of the lifestyle we live as Americans is incredibly different than the majority of the world. Now, does this mean that I am going to take bucket showers from now on and never turn on my fan. No. However, it has made me realize that I have very little to complain about. I cannot let my emotions get flustered when our lights go out everyday or we go a day or two without water. I am still incredibly blessed.

Please continue to pray for Haiti. There is still much work to be done, even now 4 months after the event. Also, pray for the missionaries who work there. A little shout out to Jared and Jalayne Coblentz who are still currently serving there. Folks, it takes tough missionaries to live there. Thank you Jared and Jaylayne and any other missionaries who are serving in Haiti.

Here are some other pics of the trip.

Capital Building