Dominican Republic

Spending a week in the Dominican was an indescribable experience. I've been home for almost a month now, and I still remember everything like it was yesterday. It was amazing to be given the opportunity to work harder than I ever had in my life for someone else. That's one of the cool things about a mission trip. You work incredibly hard for the benefit of someone else. It feels good to know that the little I accomplished while in the Dominican was really a big help to the mission. God really works through His people when they're willing to give themselves to Him.
My favorite part of the trip was meeting so many people who are passionate about God. I've read about persecution all over the world because of a person's faith, so I knew that there are people in other countries who are Christians too; but I never really connected with the fact that there are people all over the world who worship the same God I do. All the people we met were so excited that we were visiting their country and hugged or kissed us. They didn't realize that we were probably more excited about worshipping with them in their tiny, Spanish-speaking churches than they were to have us as guests. My favorite people were the ones we stayed with at the camp. Local Dominicans worked with us during the week, and they had a great time making fun of our attempts to communicate with them. There were a bunch of kids who lived in the neighborhood around the camp and would wait for any of the Americans by the surrounding fence during the evening, and some of them even helped us work during the hot day.
I wouldn't trade my experience in the Dominican for anything. God showed me that His hands work all over the world. He has put a passion in my heart to help His children. I pray that I will return to the Dominican soon to see the friends I made there and that God will send me somewhere in my future where I can show others God's love the way the Dominicans showed it to our group.