Our God Wants to Save

I have another window of time between an efficient grocery run and an airport pickup in a few hours - and actual energy after a few days of un-Erin-like fatigue - so let's gooooooo long Concordia Seminary St. Louis (CSL) post. Like my post about last year's CSL team, this one is titled after the most memorable line from yet another legendary skit, this time about Jonah and the Great Fish. We (1st person because I interpreted) performed it for the first time for the schoolchildren at our very own Lutheran school in Palmar Arriba. Note the guitar in the background...not only was "Our God wants to save" spoken (OK shouted), it was sung, in Spanish, to the tune of "Baby Shark."

After the skit, the kids divided up by class. The oldest students made "great fish" cootie catchers; the rest played a game with "Jonah" clothespins and "great fish" recycled jars. 

THEN. Balloon animals! What are the chances we'd wind up with a volunteer who knew how to make balloon animals AND volunteered said information during the pre-trip prep process so her unique talent could be utilized for God's glory? Every child got a balloon fish (hat?). 

As the students filed back to class, we filed upstairs for...

...a Bible study with Regional Director Rev. Ted Krey...

...chapel with 4th year student Avery preaching and fellow missionary Rev. Dan Conrad interpreting...

Photo credit: Jana Inglehart.  

...Hebrew class (for some)...

 

...lunch with Concordia the Reformer Seminary students (seminaristas) and fellow missionaries...

...and choir practice with the seminaristas.

We ventured out in the afternoon for...

...a grocery store scavenger hunt (note: this team won, but they did have three people instead of the others teams' two)...

Go Team Deaconess Student!

...and Brazilian BBQ  + real talk about mission life with the Krey family (Ted, Becca, and their five kids, front row). 

A minimum 90 min. drive - with no car trouble - to the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Hospital located at Km. 28 (28 kilometers outside the capital) meant for an early-ish Wednesday morning. Director Marisol gave us an excellent tour, after which we had free time to engage with residents. 

They've LOVED BINGO every since last year's CSL team brought it & left it with me...

...but we broke out a beach ball and of course the balloons, too. 

School nurse Alexis visited with the staff nurse. 

We paused briefly to see the regional office before making a beeline for Pueblo Nuevo, from which we walked to the El Congo sector and shared a devotion + treats under la matica (the tree), as a group of church members has been for years. 

Too bad it was too cloudy for there to be a good sunset from our taco fiesta on the roof of Tirzah's apartment building. 

The team put their listening ears on again Thursday morning. Some of them attended MORE seminary classes, all of them attended our weekly regional team meeting, and lastly, they heard "panel"-style from four DR-based missionary deaconesses. 

By well after noon, it was lunchtime...or so we thought...at the Group Home. Psych! The rice was still a little crunchy, but the CSLers shopped in the thrift & gift store, took in the pictures on the walls,  engaged with the six young people, or talked amongst themselves while we waited for it to be ready. 

That afternoon, we headed to Cienfuegos for a hands-on look at what'll likely be the DR's next church plant. Seminarian Jesús led a devotion before volleyball practice at a sizeable local public school, then we walked as a group to see the mission's rented facility, right across the street. Before we left, one of the CSL students suggested we pray over Jesús and his work. Insert heart-eyed emoji here. 

Dinner that night was memorable for the food AND the ensuing hymn sing from Himnario Luterano. 

You thought Wednesday was early? Try Friday. Great fish and all, we made our way to Santo Domingo and met up with Rev. Sergio Maita (Iglesia Luterana Pan de Vida) straightaway. He'd accompany us across the street to yet another public school, where we'd perform the skit for three classrooms of kids. Sergio drove home the point - that our God wants to save and sent His Son to do so - each time. I'd say our makeshift troupe was a hit; we were like celebrities fleeing the paparazzi on our way to lunch. 

Our final and perhaps best skit rendition was for Pan de Vida's after school program kids, who first welcomed us with a hymn. We proceeded to play with them - and any other kids who approached us - in the park across the street for a few hours before dinner: pizza in the plaza (de España). 

Empanadas in hand, we made our way to the airport just after 11 the next morning. Reflecting on the week, I went into it with a high bar based on the 2023 CSL team...which this year's contingent met with flying colors. We did some of the same things they did, skipped others, and did some things they didn't do, which all added up to just the right degree of busy. Another week of Mission Education, another group of soon-to-be leaders in our church body who are that much more informed about what their denomination is doing internationally - and how they can be a part of it on multiple levels. I accidentally spilled the beans about a trip presentation they're scheduled to give for the Seminary Guild...and then quickly realized that my impending home service means I can be there for it!

Until next time, blessings in Christ!