4th of July....Dominican Style

The VJ clubhouse decorated for the 4th

On the 4^th of July many people (maybe you even) celebrated by spending time with family, grilling hamburgers or hot dogs, eating watermelon, watching a parade, lighting up sparklers and viewing fireworks.  That’s actually how I’ve spent a lot of Independence Days over the years.  But this year Jenn and I spent the 4^th of July doing a lot of painting, eating rice and beans in a Dominican barrio, and holding a merengue dance party….I’m not much of a dancer, but I’ve got to admit, it was a pretty good way to celebrate. J 

        This all happened because Jenn and I were able to go ‘home’ to the Dominican Republic for ten days with 17 teens and 3 leaders from the youth group of Brookside CRC and experience the DR with them as we worked at Pico Escondido--Young Life’s camp in the DR-- and spent several days in one of the neighborhoods where Vida Joven does ministry.  It was a very rich experience in so many ways.



Stump removal

ditch work

     We talked a lot with the team ahead of time about this being a real ‘service-learning experience’.  We went there to help serve and the group did that—working at camp to stain wood, dig trenches, chop out stumps by hand (ouch) and sand and stain bunk beds at Pico Escondido. We also served in the neighborhood by helping the Dominican leaders and teens paint their club house and promote their upcoming camp.  Our team was also served as Emilio, a VJ student staffer, spent the week with us helping our teens get to know Vida Joven and what it does. (you can read more of Emilio's story in the previous post if you're interested)   Kids in the neighborhood also opened up their homes and hosted students from BYG, really sharing their lives with them for a few days. In so many ways these learning and experience parts of the trip were even richer and more beneficial than the work parts.  The Brookside teens had to wrestle with (and are still wrestling with) what they saw and experienced and how different it was—the Christian school they’ve helped support that has unfinished concrete block walls, no windows and no finished bathroom looks much different than the schools they get to be part of;  the small homes in Nibaje they were packed into that leaked when it rained are very different than their rooms at home; and the noise, heat, language and relationships with the mass of people always around in the barrio sure can seem different than a quiet street in GR. I know it was really an eye opening experience for the team to meet some of the Vida Joven student leaders and see how they live and live out their faith in God in a neighborhood like Nibaje, whose name literally comes from the Spanish for ‘don’t go down there’. 

Building relationships in Nibaje

      In short, the kids had a chance to see God at work in a place very far outside their comfort zone and it impacted them deeply. In our final debrief time some of them talked about how this pushed them to consider how they spend their time and resources, how they spend (or don’t spend) time with God and several mentioned how it’s made them take seriously the idea of a public profession of their faith.  Many of them really struggled to put into words what they were feeling and had experienced, but all said God had used the trip to really teach them a lot.

All 'made up' in the barrio

       A couple stories in the barrio really highlighted for me how this team grew and was impacted by the trip. First, there was one night in the neighborhood where one of the local girls (who is practicing to be a hair dresser) offered to do the make-up and hair of a few of the girls who were staying at her house.  She proceeded to ‘doll them up’ in a way these high school girls would NOT have chosen for themselves.  They were left with a major decision – go back with lots of make-up and hairstyles that might get them made fun of by their friends, or laugh about it, protect their reputations and get rid of it all, but potentially really hurt a girl who opened up her home and willingly shared with them.  It was a moment ripe with the chance to do a lot of harm cross-culturally without intending to. But these girls served in a way they never expected to-- they didn’t worry about themselves, they overcame any fear they may have had, they genuinely thanked their host and they showed back up with new hairstyles and lots of make-up, but also with smiles on.  In one sense it was a small thing, and yet it really wasn’t—it was a very real way they showed Christ’s love. They connected with a Dominican friend and showed a willingness to sacrifice themselves for others in a totally unplanned and beautiful way. 

       Another moment that deeply impacted us all was on the last morning of our time in Nibaje.  Much of our time and work there was focused around the clubhouse Vida Joven rents there.  Currently three college students who are VJ leaders are living there and it’s really the center of the ministry in Santiago. Unfortunately electricity is very expensive in the DR (more per KW hour I’ve been told than anywhere else in the world) and the prices have been climbing the last several months, so Vida Joven’s budget for the year can’t cover the full bill each month. The leaders have been trying to make up the difference, but with very little income they’ve been falling further and further behind. We didn’t know any of this, but that morning we were all sitting around (as often happens in the DR) waiting for the bus and saying our goodbyes when the power company showed up and cut the power to the building. When the Brookside kids found out what was happening they wanted to help. They hadn’t gone souvenir shopping yet and still had meals to buy on the way home, so they didn’t really have any ‘extra’ money, but they jumped to give. When we started I was hoping to gather at least $25 dollars—basically enough to get the electricity back on. Instead the teens gave closer to $150!---enough to make up the difference in the budget for the club from now until December!  What stood out the most wasn't the amount though-- it was their attitude in doing this…I don’t think a single person there saw this giving as a ‘sacrifice’ on their part, they instead saw it as a great moment where they could help be part of this ministry in Nibaje and God’s work with people they had grown to love.  The timing of this was truly providential and it felt like a beautiful moment that only God could orchestrate—He timed this just right, opened a door we never could have planned, and gave these kids a chance to respond sacrificially to what they’d been experiencing--- and the real beauty of it for all involved was that they responded to it with glad hearts. 

Scott and Jenn with the Santiago VJ team

     Those are only two moments from many that were part of the deep impact of this trip. Eugene Peterson comments on Mark 16:6-7 by saying it’s a good reminder to him that wherever he goes and whatever new situations he enters, the risen Christ is there ahead of him and that his job is to open his eyes and become aware of what God is already doing and calling him to be a part of.  I think the time in the DR was a great reminder and lesson in this for all of us-- God is working, what a joy that we could go and be part of it and let Him use it to shape us.



Vida Joven student staff training meeting

So for Jenn and I this was a very special time in a lot of ways. We were able to go back to the DR (our daughter Caroline didn’t come but made sure we told all the high school kids she was born in the DR). We were able to spend time with leaders we’ve known and worked with for years and with young leaders who are a key part of the future of Vida Joven.  I was able to work with the DR student staff, help our ministry staff do some strategic planning for the future and we were also able to watch teens we’ve come to know well experiencing all this for the first time and grow through serving and experiencing the ministry we’re privileged to be a part of.  
        We saw God working, He invited us to be part of it and it was beautiful.