The last couple days have brought a bit of a change of pace for us. Yesterday was a day that saw us exploring the local neighborhood around our accommodations in the morning, and then an afternoon at the beach – apparently a very popular place! With calm, shallow water thanks to the sea wall, it allowed those who were interested to go for a swim while the rest could take in the sights and sounds of the Santo Domingo beach. Our host Guillermo picked us up for the evening to take us downtown, where we could see some of the monuments built to remember the early explorers of this land, as well as what we understood to be the first Catholic church built in Latin America.
Today we had the opportunity to experience a Dominican Church service. Just down the street from our worksite at Belen school is the Belen Guaricano Church. There we were able to worship with the people we have been interacting with at the school. They were so welcoming! We were so blessed! They sang and worshiped full of praise and joy. From a simple structure with holes in the roof, and speakers that buzzed because they were turned up so loud, our Brothers and Sisters in Christ lifted their praises high. It was a wonderful service, very different from what we are used to but nonetheless enjoyed very much by our whole group. The highlight was when 7-year-old Wesley came up to take over on the sticks and blew us away with his skills, pounding the drums for at least 45 minutes straight and not missing a beat the whole time. After a 2 hour service they let us go, and then went right back to it, apparently the service would go on for another 3 hours! (Don’t get any ideas, Matt :-) .
This afternoon saw most of the group off to explore the local botanical gardens, a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the Dominican. Tomorrow we begin our week back at the school site for another day of work. Thank you to all for your prayer support, God has been watching over us and has kept us safe, and is truly blessing every one of us through this experience.
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