DR 2008 Letter

Dear Friends and Family,

I cannot believe how quickly time has passed since I returned from the Dominican Republic! It clearly has taken me awhile to get this letter out to all of you, and I do apologize for that! I am not sure how to even to begin summarizing 3.5 months in the Dominican Republic. Most of you have received my infrequent updates, so here is an attempt to give some highlights. On the airplane ride home, I made a list of close to 150 people that directly impacted me in the DR this summer; old, young, from Los Higos, the church there, the kids club, SI staff, other interns, a few of the team members, and that didn’t even include the many more people like each of you who supported me through prayer, encouragement, and finances. Wow, what a blessing.

“Themes to Remember”

Reading the Gospels in a small-community, rural village culture brings on an entirely different (and more real to me) way of understanding them. I really could picture a lot of what is in the Gospels actually happening in Los Higos, with slight modifications. (eg: the widow and her 2 mites)

Poverty comes in lots of forms- we who were sometimes “ministering to the poor” realize a little bit of how poor we are in love, very often, and sacrifice. And yet we still, all of us, have SO much…

Without love, nothing is worth anything, at all.

Be satisfied in God alone, and come as you are

The Little things- God works in incredibly big ways and incredibly small ways too (but always with a purpose). He REALLY does. (Timing, nature, stars, storms, sunrise/sets, ocean, rain, orange-tinted glasses, people, themes….)

God doesn’t always answer our questions- but gives us himself and says, “Come, my child,”

“Memories to never forget”:

Worship, prayer and learning from the SI staff

Worshipping in Los Higos

Sitting and talking with kids one-on-one

Hearing testimonies

Playing cards by candlelight

Teaching flute lessons

Seeing Diogenes’ face as he learned (very quickly!) to play the piano

Dominican Fashion Show

Warm greetings, sweet coffee and incredible hospitality

Two-hour conversations with my host mom, Maritsa

Conversations, adventures and time with the interns

Quiet times outside in the hills of Los Higos, the beach, SI base

Times of exhaustion, frustration, confusion, and doubt- and God’s faithfulness to say, “Here I am, come to me, and rest. I will be your satisfaction and strength.”

Well, I apparently have a lot more to share than I even thought I did, and this is just the little bit that happened in the 3.5 months I was blessed to be in the DR. Thank you, each of you, for your prayers, encouragement, letters, and financial support, and the ways that each of you has poured into my life so abundantly. You have all been a part of the ministry God is doing, and thank you for allowing me to as well.

In His grace alone,
Erin

Returning from the DR

Ask and I’ll give the nations to you. Oh Lord, that’s the cry of our hearts. Distant shores, and the islands will see your light, as it rises on us. Oh Lord, we ask for the nations!

Dear Friends and Family,

As my family and I enjoyed my first solo attempt at Dominican cooking the other day (rice, beans, chicken, fried potato patties, and hot chocolate), I was reminded again of how much I have been impacted by the last month that I was priviledged to spend in the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic. I have been back from the DR for nearly two weeks now, and I am writing this to you to thank you again SO very much for your prayers and support, your e-mails, and your financial help as well. This trip was certainly possible only through the grace of God and the way He used SO many people to help us get to the Dominican Republic, all of you who were praying, and all those who worked with us while we were there. It was truly a month of seeing God at work, in small simple ways of building relationships and just living life alongside others, so often in spite of our inadequacies.

Just to reassure you all, since my last e-mail left everyone
somewhat in suspense, we are all back and everyone is,
for the most part, fairly healthy now I believe. Continued
prayer for a couple girls who are still not feeling great would
be good, but praise the Lord for the ways he provided,
financially, and in health and time to rest. This was especially
clear in all the challenges we faced at the end of our trip, and
something that the Lord really used to ask me “are you really
willing to trust me? Who do you say that I am?”

Well, I have no idea how to begin to describe this last month,
and as my first attempt with pictures failed to actually send,
I am going to have to try to use words  Just as a review, our
main activities were spending the first week with my cousin Jessica and getting to explore and learn so much about the culture, history, and life in the DR from her. We then moved up to Los Higos, where our daily activities included cooking, cleaning, and living with our host families, teaching Kids Club (computers, English, piano and guitar) and several times each week, gardening with the children. We had Bible studies or church services in the evenings, and then went home to have supper with our families and spend time talking and playing cards.

It is hard to describe, though, the actual impact of the time that I was priviledged to spend with 9 other amazing girls in the DR, getting to know the missionaries from SI (Arlene, Andre, and many others), the children in club, and especially our families. By the grace of God, each person on our team, regardless of her Spanish ability, was able to build close bonds with the host families, in a way I never thought would be possible in only 3½ weeks there. The way I have been describing the trip to myself is that God opened up the heart of Los Higos to us, allowed us to learn, live, and grow with the community, and then as we left, allowed us each to take with us a piece of their community and love, and to leave behind part of our own hearts. As cheesy as this may sound, it is really what I feel has happened. As difficult as it was to leave the community, seeing how impacted they had been- through our companionship, desire to learn, and simply through the grace of God- I was encouraged simply to know that we were allowed to enter into this community, and to see a little piece of the way God is at work there. He began the work before us, it is He who draws people to Himself, and He will continue the work after us as well. I hope and pray that I will be able to return soon to Los Higos, as I know that my “Dominican family” is waiting there with an empty bed and open doors for us to come back. Most importantly though, no matter what happens, God has been at work- in our own lives, in our team, in your prayers, in our families (here, and in the DR), in our willingness to trust God to provide financially, in health, and in language, and the fact is, that He is not done! He is just as real in Los Higos right now, here in Spokane, and wherever you are, and He is the one who is faithful- always, no matter what. I pray that this will be an encouragement to each of you, and that you will know how incredibly awesome the Lord Almighty is.

May the grace of our Lord shine upon you, and thank you again, so very much, for all your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for the Dominican Republic, for Los Higos, for our team as they all return home, and for the families that impacted each of us so much. I would love to hear from all of you about what has happened in your life, and how I can be praying for you as well.

In Christ’s mighty name,
Erin Stearns