Step by Step...

I am finally walking without crutches!! Due to popular demand and those of you with medical interests, I have posted some pictures on my web album of my episode with knee surgery. I am healing well and returning to the DR on January 7th. Happy Holidays!

Out of the Red!

Surgery was fairly successful and I have safely passed through the first two weeks of recovery with no signs of infection. Ya! Praise God! I am officially allowed out of bed, but am still on crutches. I actually took a stroll on the crutches today and saw some of my first real progress in physical therapy. My leg is finally starting to feel less like a wet noodle attached to my hip. My energy level is still low, but I’m sure it will return in a few more weeks when my knee is more fully healed and less painful.

Unfortunately, the surgery revealed an additional tear in a lateral ligament that could not be repaired with surgery and will hopefully heal on its own as well as a large tear in the medial cartilage. About a third to half of the medial cartilage had to be removed from my left knee. This means that I have lost a lot of the main padding between the bones and will need to avoid high impact activities like running and soccer in the future. Apparently, I also have unusually elastic ligaments that are prone to injury. It is something of a miracle that I have never had a ligament injury before- even after playing soccer on and off for over 15 years. It really was a blow to hear that I will have to retire myself from two of my most loved activities- soccer and running- if I don’t want to have arthritis by the time I’m forty or snap another ligament. I am still thankful that I will be able to resume most activities in another 9 months or so. I am truly humbled to learn what it is like to be a full adult and completely incapable of taking care of myself. My parents and friends have been amazing and for that I am truly blessed.

I have certainly grown in appreciation for the numerous wheelchair ramps, elevators and lifts that make the US a far more disability friendly place than the DR. I am missing the wonderful warm weather and charming people of the DR, but am delighted to be able to enjoy the beautiful fall colors here in IL.

The Doulos students have safely returned form their hike up Pico Duarte (tallest mountain in the Caribbean). Please pray for the continued ministry of Doulos and for extra energy for the substitute teachers that are filling the hole that my absence has left. Through the wonders of the internet, I have been able to continue to write lesson plans and online laboratory activities, but some one else still has to be there to teach the students. I would also appreciate prayers for continued healing and prayers against discouragement. I have been delighted to receive so much support and encouragement upon my return to the US from friends and family here as well as in the DR.

The Wonders of Knee Surgery!!!!

I did indeed snap my ACL (that really important ligament that keeps your bones in place and allows you to run) and tear part of the meniscus (padding between the bones that prevents arthritis). Fortunately, in the last few decades they have developed an amazing surgery to fix an ACL since it can’t heal by itself. On October 10th, the esteemed Dr. Gurtler will be taking a part of the ligament in front of my knee and attaching it in the center of my knee to replace the ACL. I will be the first member of the family to have permanent titanium screws in my body, but I am extremely grateful that I will be able to run again some day. After surgery I will be flat on my back for at least a week and then start the long process of recovery. I will have 6 months of therapy before my leg will be healed and maybe a year before it feels normal.
Praises for How God is still taking care of me:
1. Both my mother and I had a sense that something was really wrong and that I needed to return to the US pronto. The doctor told me yesterday that if I had remained in a cast for a month in the DR, the swelling would have hardened and I NEVER would have regained full motion or normal use of my leg.
2. I am increadibly blessed to have 3 awesome communities: NCF (my home church), my amazingly helpful family that is looking after me right now, and Doulos.
3. I can be fixed and run again someday!! I wont be a gimp for life or forced to sit still all too often. Whew!!!!
4. With the wonders of the internet- I am able to plan lessons on line and send them back to Doulos.
5. My mom is an awesome cook and my dad is doctor so I will be in excellent hands.

Prayer requests:
1. That the Doulos students hiking up Pico Duarte this month (tallest mountain in the Caribbean) will remain safe and learn more about godly community and God’s amazing creations.
2. That my surgery will go well and that I will be able to recover quickly. I am still planning to return to the DR in January, but this will require me to be far enough along in physical therapy to continue it on my own. I also need to have full range of motion and have totally kicked the sinus infection I had for two weeks to even have the surgery.
3. That I wont go absolutely bonkers trying to stay still after surgery.
4. That I will be able to write creative and easily teachable substitute plans for Doulos!
4. Finances-I had no idea that dealing with US health insurance was such a headache! I am still working on funding for the next semester.
5. That I will be able to hear God and learn what he wants me to learn during this unexpected time in the US.

My words of wisdom for the day:
1. Trust God with everything and you will find His peace. (Psalm 28:7, Isaiah 26:3)
2. NEVER put a knee injury in a cast!!

Safely Home!

I am safely home, protected by angels and God’s grace once again. Apparently my decision to return home quickly was a wise one. I spent most of yesterday driving around town to different sectors of the hospital and seeing different doctors. I then proceeded to collapse onto the couch and finally sleep for a few hours. Placing a cast on a knee injury-especially before a plane ride-is the worst thing you can do. Apparently enclosing an area that is still swollen and will swell more during a plane ride is dangerous and can lead to blood clots, which can cause strokes and heart attacks. It was probably a blessing in disguise that I had the meanest flight attendants of my life that refused to allow me to sit in the promised seat with more legroom and I was forced to stuff my cast and all under the seat for 3 hours. If I hadn’t been so uncomfortable (periodically sticking my leg into the isle) and squirming to keep the swelling down and the blood flowing I might have really been in a real pickle. I “missed the bullet” on that one as my doctor put it. I am feeling incredible fortunate at the moment to have wonderful parents that are willing and able to look after me, a father that knows a quality orthopedist (bones and joints doctor), US health insurance, caring friends and family, and a quality education. The best orthopedist at the newest and most modern hospital in the province around Jarabacoa was dead wrong---dangerously wrong about my knee injury. I wonder how many Dominicans are unable to recover from their injuries because they didn’t receive proper medical care. Proper medical care would require a quality education which seems to be difficult to find in the DR since the doctor I saw was trained in the capital (where the best schools are). He was a nice man and obviously did his best to help me, but medical training in the DR seems to need an upgrade. This all leads me back to believing that the quality education that Doulos is providing could truly change the DR for the better. Anyway, it is looking like my ACL is severed and that I will need surgery, but I wont know until next week after an MRI and a few more doctor visits. I am very relieved to be home even though I will miss my students and friends in the DR. I will keep you all posted. Thank you for all of the encouraging messages and prayers.

Adventure in Sports Medicine?

So um…………my adventures in medicine continue. The discovery channel filming on Fronton Beach was amazing. I will post more about that later. In my attempts to play more soccer with my students I have wrecked my knee. I was going for the goal and thought I had successfully stolen the ball when a flurry of legs crashed with mine. My left leg was hit from the side and I fell pretty hard. I did a classic fetal position clutching my knee and had the new experience of being picked up and cared for by my students---pretty humbling. After icing it Friday night, I was unable to walk Saturday morning and the knee was badly swollen. A friend of mine took me to the newest hospital in the largest town in this province (Santiago-about an hour away). I seem to have ruptured several ligaments and my leg has been put in a cast for a month or so. For those of you that enjoy gross medical things, my friend Laura did manage to catch a picture of the doctor sucking all of the bloody fluid out of my knee. Since treatment, physical therapy and a reliable doctor are not readily available in Jarabacoa, I will be returning to the US this Tuesday. I am disappointed to leave in the middle of the semester, but if the ligaments don’t heal properly I will need surgery and am not willing to risk my leg on an unknown doctor with variable training. The new art teacher will be taking my place on the upcoming weeklong hike up Pico Duarte (highest mountain in the Caribbean) with the 10th and 11th graders. I will be staying with my parents in Champaign while my leg is in a cast for the next month and then another month of physical therapy. I will still be writing lesson plans for the school while a substitute will be teaching my classes. I am hoping to make a speedy recovery and return to the DR at the end of 2 months. At the very least I will return to the DR at the beginning of January for the Spring Semester. Prayers for safe travels—(especially traveling alone with a full leg cast through 3 airports), a full recovery without surgery, finances, and the hole I will be leaving in the teaching staff at Doulos. I am once again reminded of God’s grace as good friends have helped me in numerous ways and am extremely thankful that I have access to quality medical care. I am also thankful that my wonderful parents are willing to look after me for the next 2-3 months. The amazing ministry of Doulos will continue to flourish while I am gone, and I look forward to returning to it as soon as possible.

Surviving the Storms

I just wanted to calm everyone’s fears about the current hurricanes. There have been three hurricanes in a row, but so far there has been nothing like the devastation along the coasts that last years’ hurricanes caused. The Northern beaches have been damaged in the DR, but most of the damage occurred in Haiti. My house in Jarabacoa is high and dry for the most part. The roof leaks (only in a few places) and we lose power when there is a storm, but we are quite safe. Jarabacoa is a mountainous town that is safely tucked into a valley near the highest peak in the Caribbean, which I will be climbing with my 10th and 11th graders in a few weeks. There is some flooding and the potential for damage from the coming hurricane Ike.
Doulos’s work with Reef Check to study coral reefs has also come to the attention of the Discovery Channel. Weather permitting, I will be traveling to the East coast with 7 students to run a small camp studying the reefs so that the Discovery Channel can film it. It is very exciting and I hope that everything works out. Prayers for the people along the coast that are more affected by the hurricane and for safe travels this week would be appreciated.

Serving as a boat captain??

The school year has started with an amazing and intense week of staff training. We have one week left of training, preparations, and meetings before over 200 students will descend upon the school on August 18th for the first day of classes. The staff has grown to contain 47 members from a variety of nations and backgrounds.

The first week of staff training was focused on experiential learning and how to implement it. The training was truly inspiring and very practical. We started out with a day of workshops where all staff (including maintenance and office staff) participated in a variety of activities where they played the role of a student while learning background knowledge about coral reefs and their importance to the Dominican Republic. We then traveled to the coast of the island and took a boat out to Catalina Island to snorkel above some of the DR’s most beautiful coral reefs. Several members of the staff had never seen real corals and had not realized the state of their islands reefs and their importance. After viewing the amazing reefs, we pilled back into the bus to visit a local fishing village. Reef Check (an international reef conservation agency) has been working for years to create the DR’s first underwater marine sanctuary. The sanctuary is long overdue and the islands reefs are dangerously damaged. The local fishing village has banded together and with the education and guidance of Reef Check has agreed to set aside a portion of their fishing area to protect the reefs and conserve fisheries for future generations. The staff spent several hours talking to the fishermen about the government involvement in the problems of over-fishing and their hopes for the marine sanctuary. Talking to individuals that were personally affected by the destruction of the reefs and thus the local fisheries made the entire learning experience come alive and the staff developed a new passion for coral reefs and for the power of expeditionary learning. To complete the learning experience, the staff has begun working on educational signs that will be placed in the local park to help protect it from additional damage by tourists. I will be working with the sixth grade again to make additional signs. Instead of a long and dry workshop on how to teach experiential learning, the staff participated in the process and was thus inspired. The experience also helped to bond the staff together and create new friendships as well as an unforgettable experience.

Check out my web album for more fun pictures of our adventurous staff training (I recommend the slide show option).

Back in the DR!

I have safely returned to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic! I arrived late Monday evening and was warmly greeted by my downstairs neighbors at the airport and started work at Doulos at 8AM Tuesday morning. It was hard to leave my wonderful friends and family, but I was delighted to have the chance to come home and visit people. My apartment was dusty, but with no major mishaps after being empty for most of the summer. My other two roommates (the kindergarten teacher and the high school English teacher) have also safely returned and we are all glad to be settled into an apartment for the year. I am delighted to have a more manageable teaching load and hopefully have time to develop the high school science curriculum and spend more time getting to know my students outside of class. I will be teaching ninth grade Physical Science, tenth grade bible and biology (I taught this last year), eleventh grade chemistry, and a health class (for one semester). I am delighted to have been able to bring back a variety of donated science supplies. I will be sending out a supply list later this semester once I build the new curricula and determine what else I will need. I have been healthy all week and even had enough energy after a long week to hike up a river! Praise the Lord for good health—please pray that it continues. My other major prayer requests are for funding, wisdom and patience with my students and myself as I teach three new classes this year. I will also still be assisting our new middle school science teacher with the middle school expeditions that I developed and taught last year. My prayer requests are listed in the margin (scroll down) of this blog and will be updated throughout the year. I know that God is going to teach me many new things this year and I am thankful to be part of the ministry at Doulos for another year and be able to see how the students and staff grow in Him.

Learning to Serve

True to its name, Doulos (translated as slave of Christ) dedicated the last three days of school to service projects. One of the goals of the school is to cultivate a joyful servant heart in its students. If we are trying to help students become leaders in Christ, we need to teach them to serve like Christ first. I was initially apprehensive to spend three solid days with my rowdy 7th and 8th graders on a service project, but my excitement for an opportunity to serve the community with my students grew as the week approached. After a heated and boisterous debate, my crew of middle school students decided to visit the local school for students with disabilities. Our project for the week was to paint the playground wall white and then help the students in the school paint their hand print and name on the wall.
A brief snapshot of the experience:
After pilling into a local taxi, the fearless 7/8th grade crew was off serve! Armed and dangerous with scrub brushes, brooms, and an assortment of buckets we were ready for day 1: cleaning mold, moss, and other green growths from the playground wall. An excited bunch of students welcomed us at the gate and proceeded to give us a tour of the school. Our first morning was filled with complaints from some, joyful song from others, and a stream of humor from my class clowns. By mid-morning our wall was somewhat clean and we spent the rest of the time playing with the disabled students in the school. I challenged my students to focus on befriending one student with disabilities and learning to love and understand them as another person, not just a kid with disabilities. Bouncing balls in all directions (at times dangerously close to the clean and wet wall), jump ropes, gleeful giggles, and other thrown objects filled the air.



The first day was a bit rocky, but after much prayer, patience and explaining, my students were carefully and joyfully playing with students with a wide range of abilities by the last day. The playground wall is now complete with a colorful array of handprints and my students have learned a little more about what it means to serve. I was overjoyed to see some of my rowdiest and most impatient boys carefully teaching some of the younger children with disabilities how to throw a ball and hugging them when it was time to leave.

It has been a challenging year, but I can already see fruits from Doulos’s steady focus on service, leadership, and experiential learning, all to impact the Dominican Republic for Christ. I am blessed to already be able to see my students changing. They are growing in their faith as well as becoming more patient, loving, and kind. I myself am learning more about the same things from my students and from the community I live in.

Caving with 7th Graders???

My recent adventure with seventh grade was perhaps my greatest challenge and triumph of the year. I recovered from the amoeba and started gaining weight back, just in time to take my seventh graders caving. Teaching five different grades (6-10) does have its benefits; when one class is struggling, another class is usually doing well. Seventh grade has been my devotionals class and consistently my most troubled class; there are more students in danger of failing out of seventh grade than any other grade in the school, these students have the greatest behavior problems, and are the most exhausting for me to teach. I have grown to love them as individuals, but as a class they aren’t even nice to each other. In seventh grade science, we are currently in the midst of our expedition on caves. In the hopes of creating a bonding and challenging experience, I decided to take the seventh grade class on an adventurous caving trip. I hired the adventure leader from the local Young Life Camp (Laura) to guide us through the caves. We headed out from the school at 6:45AM and drove 3 hours to a relatively unknown and unexplored cave. Unfortunately, the caves on the island are in danger of destruction due to the massive amounts of mining for limestone. The mining actually prevented our van from driving up the mountainside. We were forced to pile out and hike up in the midday sun. A local police truck took pity on our straggling group and allowed us to pile into the back for a ride. The cave entrance was amazingly beautiful; complete with ancient Taino Indian Paintings, a wide-open chamber with sun pouring in from the roof, and moss covered walls. The descent into the cave was two 30-40 foot rappels. The open area of the cave was scattered with piles of limestone, bat bones, snake-skins, and fallen crystals. As we traveled deeper into the cave, we entered into a treasure chest of crystal formations, moon ponds, stalactites, stalagmites, exotic cave spiders, and small flying bats. I was just as excited and awed as my students and was delighted that they were finally looking after each other and making sure their partner didn’t fall down or get lost. I suppose necessity is the best teacher. The ascent was challenging and I ended up having to pull several students up the last bit of the climb. At the end of the day, we had all learned something about caves, ourselves, and what it means to overcome an obstacle or fear. Check out my web album for some awesome caving pictures!

Fighting Tropical Diseases

It has been a big month. One of my seventh graders returned to New York and several students in the grades I teach (6-10) are in danger of failing for the year. Please pray for my students that are struggling. I would miss them greatly if they couldn’t stay next year and would be heartbroken to know that they had lost, perhaps, their only opportunity to have a better education. My parents came to visit, I attended my first bilingual wedding (American Teacher at Doulos to a Dominican Man), and the neighboring town was hit by a tornado for the first time ever and is struggling to recover. Tin roofs do not do well in tornadoes and the poorest communities near the river were severely damaged. Did I mention that I moved again? Needless to say it has been a challenging month and a blessed month.

My biggest prayer request at the moment is for better health. I have encountered my first tropical amoeba and bacterial infection in my gut and have been struggling against it for the past week and a half. Both of my roommates and several other teachers have fallen ill with similar ailments. I am pretty sure that we all ate some suspicious lettuce at the wedding dinner. Stomach problems are so common here and most of it is due to dirty water. My roommates and I have been struggling to retain food and liquids in our bodies and have enough energy to teach. We have been fortunate to locate Gatorade in a variety of flavors and after a trip to the local clinic and pharmacy we are certainly on the mend. Medicine is unregulated and inconsistent here, but at least it is available. I was fortunate enough to get to know the mother of one of the students that plays soccer at our school, who happens to be an excellent pediatrician. Everything here is based on relationships. That means that things take longer many times……but it also means that once you have a relationship with a member of a family, then you know that you will be well taken care of. I sometimes wonder what has been lost in our super efficient and business-like North American Society. I like knowing that since I am on good terms with my landlord, his cousin’s, son’s friend is held accountable to fix my water pump! Please pray for protection for our school and this community against sickness.

Living without water.....a blessing in disguise?

I hope you are all well and blessed. I have moved once again (Lord willing for the last time!) to the second floor of a house close to the school. I am now living with two other teachers instead of just one. The new place is slightly bigger, cheaper, and has fairly consistent hot water. I have traded in my solid cement ceilings and broken water pipes for a slightly rickety tin roof that allows occasional bats and mice into the house. Both of the latest apartments do however have a remarkable view of the mountains and a fresh breeze. The latest mouse provided no end of stories for my students. They all wanted to come over and show us how to kill one. Time will tell if this move was a wise decision. Unfortunately, the water supply has become much more variable since our landlord moved out from underneath us to a quieter neighborhood across town (the endless crowing of the roosters and bachata music from the neighboring vegetable stands now seems like a natural background). Their moving has led to a series of water problems…….. I am grateful to be living in a house that has well water instead of city water. The city water supply is pumped directly out of the nearby river with no filtration whatsoever. I prefer not to think about all of the things that you can find in the river water. The pump that supplies our water tank is probably the oldest, rustiest piece of machinery that I have ever seen in my life. The first time we called the landlord to find the on/off switch we could not locate it since it was described as green. In the pump’s rusted state it looks more like a dull red piece of junk. It must be handled with great care and ghetto rigging. Unfortunately, the landlord was the only person that truly understood how to fix the pump, and we have been without water at least 2- days a week since his departure. The water supply is currently becoming more consistent. As far as local landlords go, our landlord is very contentious with a multitude of sons and employees that he has promptly sent to our rescue. I think they even started to recognize our phone number……….. In the past month, we have run out of gas for the stove, water, and periodically been without electricity. Water truly is vital to life. It is by far the most frustrating resource to live without. We have adapted and now keep more jugs of water around the house and in bins outside. Despite the annoyance of running out of water mid-shower, I have been truly blessed by the graciousness of my neighbors. Several of my students live in the surrounding houses and when one father saw me struggling to drag an extra bucket of water up the stairs he offered me his house. I enjoyed an afternoon of laundry and sweet tea across the street with two of my students and their mother. The next time we ran out of water I had just returned from a long run. Out of consideration for my roommates, I felt the need to find a way to shower. The school secretary that lives next door immediately offered me the shower in her house. If I was living in a wealthier country, or just in a wealthier area of town I might never have the opportunity to be so blessed by my neighbors. It is humbling to be so in need of life’s basic resources, but it has allowed for huge blessings and new friendships.

A forming family?

As my homeroom class of seventh graders continually changes, we are still struggling to become a family. We have lost our German student and gained a new girl. I am still struggling to change this energetic and slightly wild group of middle schoolers into a family. There have been definite improvements in behavior, but there is still no sense of family. I still frequently have to talk to them about using kind words and taking care of each other. Despite my efforts to have times of sharing, prayer and games, there is still nothing like the solidarity in the 7th grade class that I see in the 6th and 10th grade classes. If nothing else, I have finally realized that I can do nothing on my own. I can plan as many team building activities as will fit into our schedule, but I need to spend more time praying for my 7th grade class. God is the only thing that is going to change these kids. I think about the college group I had and the small group I have at New Covenant and what an amazing blessing it is to be part of a group of Christians that are earnestly seeking God and fellowship with each other. I want them to experience a piece of God's family, but I need His help to teach them how to be a family. We did have a class lunch together this past Friday. About half of my 16 students crowded around one little picnic table. I am so busy here teaching 7 classes that I don't always have enough time to just enjoy my students outside of class. This was the first lunch where I could just enjoy them and I didn't have to talk to any of them about saying mean things to each other. I am convinced that the change I have started to see is due to prayer and my giving up the idea that I could think of the perfect activities and classroom management to create a family out of the 7th grade class. This past Tuesday we had an all school Independence Day Celebration. Each class sang a song, performed a dance or read stories to celebrate the history of the Dominican Republic. I was so proud of my seventh graders for their performance. It was well rehearsed and quite entertaining. Please pray that God continues to work in my seventh grade classroom. There are certainly the wildest class in the school at the moment, but they have great potential.

Women's Retreat

One of the biggest blessings I have found in the DR is an awesome women's bible study. I have thoroughly enjoyed our Tuesday afternoon bible studies. The four other women in the study are also from the US, but opposite ends of the country. From right to left the women are Kim from Maryland, Melanie from Tennesse, April from California, and Micky from Colorado. We have some how all ended up in the small mountain town of Jarabacoa, DR. At the end of January, we all traveled to the outskirts of the town for a weekend women´s retreat through our church La Vid. The retreat was held in a Catholic retreat center in the mountains right next to the river. It was a wonderful weekend. The retreat center was one of the quietest places I have found in this country. I thought I was a social person, but this culture is on a new scale. It is hard to find time alone and a quiet space to think. The weekend was a huge blessing. It was also my first women´s retreat. I never would have thought my first women´s retreat would be bilingual in another country! I was hugely thankful for a quiet garden where I could sit, read, and pray about the teachings for the day. I also met lots of amazing women.....a few of which are working in other ministries near by. The retreat center was beautiful and I spent Saturday hiking up to one of the local waterfalls I hadn´t had the chance to see yet. Hopefully I will have more of a chance to travel out of the town into the mountains this semester. I posted a few pictures on my web album.

Back in the DR

I have safely returned to the wonderfully DRY and refreshingly warm Jarabacoa. It was 45˚F Monday morning in my bedroom, but it has warmed up to a toasty 85˚F in the afternoons. All of my students wanted to know what snow feels like. Hurricane season should be over and I am delighted to find the pipes in my apartment fully functional and the power hasn’t even gone out for 4 days straight! Now I just need to get used to cold showers again. Christmas break sped by so quickly that I still feel like I’m catching my breath. I recovered enough from an episode of bronchitis and sinus infections to jump on the plane without major ear trouble. I hit the ground running Monday morning at 7AM after having returned to my apartment at 10:30PM Sunday night. I am definitely in need of some rest and relaxation after the busy week. It has been wonderful to see my fellow teachers and friends in the DR, but it was difficult to leave my family and friends in Champaign-Urbana. My students have not seemed to calm down or miraculously become less rowdy over break, but we were happy to see each other. I seem to have quickly slipped back into the routine of life here. My teaching load has not improved, but I think I am learning how to handle it better. I am still working on funding for the year, but am very excited and thankful to have some donated art and science supplies to use this semester. I may be even more excited than my students to simulate a volcanic eruption with our new volcano kit! Returning to the states was a reminder of what an amazing family, small group, church, boyfriend, friends and support network I have in the US. It was hard to leave all of you, but I am blessed to have such wonderful support. It is wonderful and incredibly difficult to be here and I know that I would never be able to continue with this work without everyone’s support. I do feel a sense of peace and assurance that I am supposed to be teaching at Doulos even if I don’t feel like a superstar teacher every day. That’s it for now. I hope you are all starting off the year well and filled with joy in the Lord!

DR night

I hope you are all enjoying a blessed New Year and had a restful holiday season. After a delay in San Juan Puerto Rico, I finally made it home and spent some quality time with the many relatives staying in my parent's house in Champaign, IL. Unfortunately, I caught a bad cold and developed a low grade sinus infection and a touch of bronchitis just before New Years Eve. I am slowly recovering and am very thankful that I took some personal days to stay in the US until this coming weekend and attend a friend's wedding . It has been a huge blessing to rest, eat my mother's cooking, take hot showers, and visit with friends and family. However, I do miss my new friends and students in the DR. I think that you end up leading two lives once you have learned to love a new country.

You are all invited to hear about my experiences during the past 5 months while teaching in the Dominican Republic. I will be showing a slide show and talking about what life is like living in Jarabacoa and teaching at Doulos Discovery School. There will be coffee and juices from the DR afterwards. I look forward to being able to reconnect with many of you and hopefully provide you with a glimpse of what my life is like in the DR. I also want to be able to say thank you to all of the people who have been supporting me in so many ways. Please feel free to bring friends and family who might be interested in hearing more about what I’m doing.

Date: Wednesday, January 9th 2008
Time: 7:30-8:30 PM
Location: New Covenant Fellowship
Directions: corner of Randolph and White St. in Champaign, IL