Day 13: Leap of Faith
¡Hola a todos!
Let me just tell you that these past four days were PACKED! Come along with me to experience all the crazy experiences we had through this chapter!
As you may know from the previous blogs, we’ve been preparing for the upcoming cultural event where we plan to invite young people to share about various cultures to convey the beauty of the different backgrounds that originated from God.
Going out for the final day of witnessing (inviting people to studies or the cultural event), the rest area we gathered at was packed with many students! This past week, from 10:00 am till 2:00 pm, we’ve been going around the university, but this final day was the most we’ve seen it this busy. Seeing that it was also God’s love for us, we, as GPA, did our utmost to leave behind a legacy of love at this school since the next part of the trip was more focused on service work.
Other than witnessing, preparing for the cultural event required lots of cooking and baking, and the kitchen was filled with everyone’s heart wanting to make the best dish to satisfy those who made their precious time to come to our event. The dishes arrayed from Korean bulgogi and kimbap to American apple pie, Mexican horchata, Polish cake, and many more!
Although GPA is an American program, our actual ethnicities and backgrounds come from all over, so we were able to share presentations about these various countries. As the people began flowing in, we showed our dances, songs, skits, and presentations from our representing countries. Hopefully, everyone who attended could also receive a sample of God’s love through us! We ended the night with a Just Dance party, with everybody freely expressing themselves and creating an environment with love floating around, laughter, and smiles being thrown across the room.
The day after this victorious event, we again attended Sunday Service at the Family Federation Church. The speaker shared with us why we should take responsibility for our growth, and only through that can we reach perfection. After receiving spiritual nourishment, we all drove to a university sports complex to bond with the community. While playing volleyball, soccer, and basketball, some people even climbed up mango trees, eating fresh fruits from a tree!
All of GPA then gathered to share our experience in the Dominican Republic. At this point, there are only ten days left! It was amazing to hear everybody’s determinations and goals for themselves and how they were able to accomplish that or even experience God while working towards it. It helped us to make clear determinations for what we want to offer in this country for the remaining period.
Waking up bright and early at 5:30 am, we hopped on a bus for 3 hours, changed into our water shoes, put on some sunscreen, and we began our hike up the 27 waterfalls of Rio Damajagua! From the erosion over the years, the waterfalls formed natural slides you can jump, swim, and slide down on.
At the waterfalls, there was a small wooden platform that we could jump off of. With each step we took closer to the 20-foot high ledge, our hearts beat even faster, feeling like they would burst from the nervousness of this new challenge. It was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life, jumping into the cool waters from so high! After this experience, I’m sure we all felt like we could conquer anything!
Ending this day, we drove to Santiago’s CARP house (Collegiate Association for Research of Principles), where young students stay for spiritual growth and development.
The following days would begin the service work and workshop, so stay tuned for that! ¡Ciao!
Generation Peace Academy
Rie H.
Blogger, Dominican Republic