And… Switch!

Traveling to a new country brings a lot of adjustments. You go from a place you have just started getting familiar with, a language you have been practicing, and people you know, to an entirely new place. The countries my squad has been to so far have all been Spanish speaking with only minor differences, which is nice, and they’ve been relatively the same climate wise. 

Coming to the DR brought the normal changes of culture and people. There are a lot more men than women out on the streets here and they are quick to call to us, whistle at us as they drive by, or come up to us at the grocery store. It’s also very common for the people to thank Dios (God) in regular conversation, but they don’t live their lives surrendered to Him. We noticed that not many women wear shorts so we have adapted to wearing pants most of the time when we go out. Which is interesting because it’s hot and humid. 

Along with these changes we also added being on new teams. Team changes happen every few months on the Race. Our leadership prays into our new teams and allows Holy Spirit to build them. Then at our debrief we got to see who would be on our new teams. 

To reveal them to us, our squad leaders took us to an athletic field and had us put our masks over our eyes so we couldn’t see anyone else. Then they put a glob of paint in each persons’ hand while whispering the name of a person on the squad who we were to find and put the paint on. When we all had our paint they told us to start, so we were all yelling the names of different people loudly while wandering around the field blind. As we found our person we slimed their arms with paint, then waited for everyone to finish. At the end we all took off our blindfolds to see the color that was on our own arms.

My arms were covered in green paint, and I was quickly surrounded by five other people who had the same color. And this was my new team!

We quickly realized that we had been put into teams by gender. Yay gender month(s)! There are three all-lady teams and one guy team. At the beginning of my first Race I wasn’t too excited about the idea of being on an all-gal team. I typically have gotten along more easily with guys and didn’t want to deal with girl drama. But the Lord has been changing my mindset as I’ve gotten to know the other fierce, godly women on my squad so when I saw my team I smiled and said, ” Yes, Lord!”

We also got to see who was chosen to be raised up team leaders and squad leaders. A few weeks before debrief our squad leaders asked me if I’d be willing to be a team leader.  The Lord had been hinting at this for a while so saying yes was easy. So on top of a team change I also had a job change. 

A team leader is the liaison between the leadership and the team. We facilitate doing Bible studies together, praying as a team, and having intentional team time. We also make sure each member of the team is seen, heard, valued, and encouraged to step into what the Lord has for them. We love to celebrate our strengths and differences and how those make us stronger as a group! I love being able to intentionally pray for and spend time with each of the wonderful women God has put me on a team with for this next season. 

After finding out my new team and job, I also found out that we would be doing ATL, ask the Lord, for our ministry in the DR. That means that we don’t have a set host or ministry, but we pray and allow God to direct our movements and our interactions. 

As soon as we arrived in the DR we started praying. First, God led us to Santiago De Los Caballeros where we stayed for three days. We prayer-walked through some neighborhoods, we explored the city, and my teammate Rachel and I met a Christian doctor. We went to get her cough checked out and my bug bites looked at, which led us to the local clinic. No one really spoke English, but eventually one of the doctors referred us to a doctor in the clinic who spoke a little English.

We walked into his small office and introduced ourselves. He asked us why we were in Santiago so we explained that we were missionaries traveling for 11 months. He very excitedly responded that he is also a Christian and he plays the drums at his church. We left feeling mutually encouraged and again in awe of what God is doing. 

As our three days came to an end, we didn’t feel a confident direction from the Lord. We prayed and prayed, and still got nothing. The last morning we woke up and talked about what we were all hearing from Him and the general consensus was to go north, and we landed on the city of Puerto Plata. 

ATL can be a challenge. It is incredible giving space to listen for God’s leading, but it can be hard having 6 different people hearing possibly different things. Yet when we needed to make a decision, the Lord gave us similar things which pointed to a destination. He is so faithful and he leads us well when our faith is fully in Him alone. Now we are spending our days walking city streets praying, meeting the neighbors around our Airbnb, and building relationships with whoever crosses our paths. 

Every day is an adventure from the Lord, full of changes, trust, and learning. I wouldn’t have it any other way.