1 John 3:18-19

"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each oher; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." ~1 John 3:18-19

This has been the verse that I have chosen to meditate on this week. I feel like it is very much applicable to my life right now and it has become my goal every day. I don't want anyone to ever question my love for them. I want them to just know not only that I love them but also that they may see Christ's love in that.

This week we had camp in Manzanillo which is kind of where orphanage outreach had its beginning. It was cool to take camp on the road again. It makes for a different week. Sometimes it's rough being gone for the whole day but I like it. Manzanillo is about 45 min- 1hour, depending on the road conditions, outside of Monte Cristi. The first day Ariel, Marcos, Leidy, Ana and Erickson went with us to help with camp. The next day we added Oscar to the mix. That made for some interesting bus times. We had so many random songs going from all directions. Ariel was listening to an ipod and started singing "I believe I can fly" while Oscar is singing Omega with his ipod and Marcos jamming out to I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. We are still working on teaching him all the words. He does really well though. We had camp at a central park and we were expecting tons of kids when we got there. Well, when our bus pulled up around the corner Marge had 5 faithful kids that were ready to come to campamento. Some people were a little discouraged but I knew it would pick up. We got there early so we split up and walked around the neighborhood to try and recruit kids. I think we had about 100 kids for each camp every day. It was awesome. We did a camp for two hours in the morning and then one in the afternoon as well. The kids loved it. Sometimes the boy's group would act out for rec so Ariel and I started a game of football and then went in to crazy soccer. We had a blast.
Monday night we had movie night with the kids as we usually do. I baked with Julie and got to catch up with her for a bit. It's always entertaining in the kitchen. Tuesday night we had an optional movie...The Price of Sugar. It was a pretty good documentary about the sugar bateyes. Wednesday night was a lot of fun. After we got back from camp we of course played basketball except there were enough people for my first full court game. It was so fun AND I didn't die. I went to get a rebound at one point and had Manuel, Marcos and Odalis coming down at my face and that's when I decided I probably won't try that again. They were good sports about me playing though. After our awesome basketball game we switched to Volleyball. We did girls vs guys which is a change from our normal American vs Dominican. The girls team consisted of me, Stephanie, Bre, Lauren, Indiana (off and on), Carolina, and Lisa. The boys team had the Manuels, Franklin, Odalis, Kristopher, and Erickson. We won all 3 games. Later that night Roberta and her team showed up. The kids all love her and call her grandma. It's so fun to watch her with them. They have been awesome to get to know. Thursday night the boys finally came out and played basketball like they used to. Meri and I sat for a while talking and hanging out. I love that little girl. Luz Maria and Nena joined us too for a while. After a bit we switched to Volleyball again. We also had our intern meeting and closing that night. Closing was really good. It was sad to have to say goodbye to Lisa but it was fun remembering all the crazy times we had. Friday was a blast. For our culture day we went to CABARETE. I had been once before but this week I was pumped about going back. I was so ready to see Heather and spend time with the interns from Jaibon. We pulled into Jaibon and they were all ready for hugs. Dustin and his hat along with Collin and his blue shirt with red dolphins just made my day. I had missed them alot. We had breakfast around 6am and set out for the 4 hour drive. We shopped for a little bit and then went to a restraunt that overlooked the beach. It was great. After that I just caught up with Heather and Emilee. We literally sat on the beach the whole time we were there, except for the 10 minute ice cream break at BON. Thanks to Elizabeth I am hooked on the 1/2 coffee 1/2 chocolate. SO GOOD! Yesterday was mixed day. Julie left yesterday and that made me so sad. I've really enjoyed our late night chats that we've been having and just her overall sense of humor. I know she's going to do great things but I'm definitely going to miss her. Saturdays are usually pretty slow. It's more of a catch up day. Yesterday afternoon we had beach day with the kids. SOOOO FUN! I love going with them. They get so excited to see your bathing suit. Right before they load up they run around like crazy lifting up everyone's shirt to see your suit. It's really funny. Indiana told me she wasn't going but I talked her out of that. Then she said she'd go but she was not swimming...also talked her out of that. : ) We loaded up in the back of the truck and headed for Playita. When we got there Nena and I played for a while. She thought it was so fun to ride on my back while I swam under water. Then of course everyone had to do it. Very tiring but so worth it. Yasmin and I played tag for a while too and tried to float. I tried to teach Junior how to swim but I'm not sure how far we got. He at least was kicking and moving his arms. Maybe next time he'll have it. Yennifer, the twins and I had fun in the shallow end too. They can't go out super deep so we just kind of goofed up on the edge. The kids are so funny when they get in water. They're crazy in general but this is a whole different kind of crazy. Last night I took Roberta, Serena, and Whit to Catholic mass and we had a great time. Marcos and Manuel were translating for the row in front of me and then Erickson tried to help me some too. It's always entertaining going places with them. That's pretty much been the week.

Training has been moving along. I'm leading this week which is a definite change. Continue to pray for this transition stage for me. And the kids here as well.