A New Place - A New Life

I’m sitting here in the early morning hours listening to the dogs bark and the roosters crow. It’s too early for the music to start but I do hear snatches of conversation from neighbors starting to stir. It’s cool right now, but the lack of clouds promises a hot day to come. Yes, I’ve arrived. I’m in my apartment at Jarabacoa, and it feels like home.

The trip from Guatemala to Santiago was good and basically uneventful – oh, except for the second security checkpoint in San Salvador that I didn’t know about where they completely emptied my carry-on suitcase and computer bag that I had so carefully packed to make everything fit. The repacking job didn’t go so smoothly, and I was one of the last people on the plane just before they closed the door.

It’s hard to believe that it has been two weeks already since I landed in Santiago. I have met so many people. I can find the bus station, grocery store and a couple gas stations. I have yet to find the ice cream shop where we had ice cream on one of our mission trips, but that’s on the list. I know my way to ANIJA, the Kids Alive school and The Ark, the Kids Alive children’s home. I’ve been to Palo Blanco, the Kids Alive care center turned school, but haven’t driven there yet.

Driving here is crazy – that’s the best way to sum it up. Every time I pass the large picture of Jesus, which is one of the landmarks in town, I thank Him for keeping me safe. Here are some of the rules of the road that I was given:

·         A turn signal or hand out the window means something is about to happen – not necessarily a turn or a stop.
·         Driving against traffic is okay if it gets you to your destination more quickly.
·         The full width of the road is used. This means that on a two-lane road you can be three or four vehicles across at any given moment.
·         It's okay to pass on the left and the right.

I have started becoming familiar with my responsibilities. One of my major tasks will be to check in the projects for the sponsors that the children do four times a year. It was so much fun to see so many familiar names on the labels. I have assisted in mailing the summer letter project, collecting the projects that were missing and distributing supplies for the Christmas project which we are starting now. Another of my responsibilities will be to visit each site regularly to check in with the sponsorship coordinators. This last week I visited Constanza – The Ark II and school. As the crow flies, it is only 15 miles from Jarabacoa but takes an hour or more to drive there because of the curvy mountain roads.

Lillie, the sponsorship coordinator at Constanza and some of her kids
 

I wish I could say that I have jumped right in with my Spanish and have been able to communicate, but that simply isn’t true. Spanish here is different than Guatemalan Spanish and seems more difficult to understand. The first week I was here, I went to the bus station to pick up a package. The clerk talked to me for 5-10 minutes. All I understood was that the bus wouldn't arrive until 5:00, the office closed at 4:30 so I needed to come back the next day. Who knows what else she said. When I came back the next day, neither of us said a word. With a big grin on her face, she just went back and got the package.

Sunrises are amazing!

Everything here is new, exciting yet scary at the same time. Now that I am here, it does seem like I miss family and friends and familiar places a little more than in Guatemala. But almost every time that I have opened my Bible, God has sent reassurance directly to me that He is my salvation; He is my rock and refuge; He is my hope; He has called me and will sustain me. So, with the Psalmist, this is my declaration:

 ¹⁴ As for me, I will always have hope;
    I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.
¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
¹⁷ Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Psalm 71:14-18

My favorite place for early morning devotions.