Rainbow Road

After

Thoughts from Lisa after day three:



Hola friends & family! 


Our third day here, & so many memories come flashing through my mind.  I wish I could share all the images with you! 


...A village with winding rows of cinder block gray, corrugated metal, laundry hanging between these homes that line narrow winding dirt paths or wobbly rocky sidewalks.  A stream running through that you definitely wouldn't want to slip into. 


Outside the village, rows of local comidas (small markets) & shops & colorful homes surrounded by high walls & metal railing protecting those inside.  Trees bearing all manner of fruit - outside just one small church on a rectangle plot of land half the size of my own yard at home - mangos, guava, cherry, bananas, avocado!  Other trees on the landscape sporting bright fushia plumeria or rich orange flowers.


Beyond the sandy beaches, the vibrant, sparkling aqua blues of the cool, gentle, rolling ocean.


And in the Haitian village & one Spanish church in the Dominican community - mothers, youth, children, toddlers, young men & women, & the older generation as well - brown faces with curious, sometimes tentative expressions that disappear behind warm smiles with a simple, "Hola!  Como se llama?  Me llama Lisa...encantada."


Connecting at this most basic level, with broken, sparse common language between us, I am reminded that we are all human. Created in God's image, we yearn to be noticed, to love & be loved, to be in relationship with others.  To know that the God of the universe cares.  That He notices.  That He might want to touch our lives, that He might want to connect with us.


I was humbled by the stories I heard today from mothers & grandmothers in the village gathered with a few women on our team.  After hearing about & witnessing the pain that one of the women on our team shared about the sudden loss of her husband, one by one, they stood & shared about their own losses & their daily sustenance by God's grace through Christ.  Each one, in turn, turned to our team member (now a dear friend of mine) & explained that they wanted to share their stories with her to encourage her.  They reached out & literally embraced her.  Now... just who was there to encourage whom?  That's how God works.  How His church was meant to be - encouraging, supporting one another...


...Today, a village witnessed how the church was meant to be.  They saw what happens when people, motivated by a desire to make this God known, get to work.  By the end of the afternoon today, & after just one day of work, looking outside the church building's open air windows, I could see soft pink with orange trim, light lime green with blue, & a rainbow of freshly painted houses lining the opposite side of the open space between.  And in that space the sight & sounds of dozens of children, laughing, playing, kicking a soccer ball, swinging high on the swings, living life to the full in the moment.


Around the corner, yes, the grayness persists.  But God was at work here today, as He has been since before our team arrived, as He will be after we go.


Thank you so much for making these kinds of experiences possible for my family, our team, this village & surrounding community.

~Lisa

Right: one of the houses before painting