When will the sun come out?

Right outside of the school where Makarios is located a little over a week ago when the river rose the first time.

About a week ago…

It’s November 19, and I believe it started raining about 3 weeks ago or so.  Yes, it is rainy season here.  But from a girl who has spent the majority of the past 3 years in a different part of the island, away from mountains and big rivers, this is a new experience.  And according to the neighbors, it is not normal. Four years ago, the river rose and flooded the poorest who cannot afford to live further away, it flooded the school and ruined many of the supplies and books, and it put within some a deep fear of future flooding.

Now, it’s raining like that again.  The river is rising.

Today, I cannot imagine living in London or Seattle where the rainy season seems endless. The sun has not peeked out for more than a few days in the last 3-4 weeks.  

In the moment I thanked God for those few moments of sun.  I miss sun.  I think I take the sun for granted sometimes.

The roads are getting worse, smaller amounts of rain cause flooding because of the sopping wet ground and the poor drainage systems.  The river is high and sometimes rises when it isn’t even raining here because maybe up in the mountains where the river starts it is raining.  Routine is broken. The bridge is threatening to break.  The roads are eroding.  Water is leaking through tin roofs. There are whispers of an earthquake a few days ago. Some people have had to clean out their houses sopping wet houses multiple times.

When will the storm cease?

The realities of the last week especially sit pretty heavy on my heart.  I am in a new place where relationships are still just scratching the surface.  What do I do?  Most of the people whom I know well, the kids with whom I work, they are fine… mostly.  But others, there are many others.  They need help. How do I help?

I pray.

I sit.

I wait. 

I hear knocks.

God answers.

Drive people to the hospital who are sick.  Spend the night taking care of others. Welcome people into your home.  Feed kids who have lost everything.  Pray for the moms who left their kids to go out and sell their bodies. Wade through water to look for a boy and a girl whose mom is in the streets. Try to process. Pray for a woman in Chichigua who has holes in her roof and a dirt floor.   Help move classroom items up up up so that the river won’t flood and ruin things like it did 4 years ago.  Prepare for Bible Study still.  Cancel it because the water is coming too fast.  Read to kids as they wait in the church.  Serve food.  Sleep on the couch as she is recovering from a virus.  Pray.  Try to process all that is going on.  Pray with a 19 year old non-believer, hoping that maybe God is working in her and that He will give me words to share with her the urgency of her knowing her Creator. 

I question:

What about when this is all over?

How do we fix this?  

How do we help build better roofs, better walls and better levies so that the bridges don’t overflow?  

What in the world is God trying to tell us?

Is this rain every going to stop.

I remember:

I am an outsider.

I must be careful in how I help.

I feel: 

...a tension between helping immediately and helping wisely, waiting and not doing enough, helping as an outsider and helping as a Christian the way Jesus would help and love and serve.  

...helpless and wanting wise advice. 

...caught in the middle.  

I pray: 

Lord, guide us.

I wait.

People are now finding refuge in the churches, being fed by military, the government and the local church. School is cancelled again. 

More questions...

What will the rain look like tomorrow?  

Will people need to sleep in the church tonight too?  

What about the kids whose moms are not taking care of them?  

What about those who don’t have dads or who couldn’t get their house dry enough before the next rain storm came in?  

What about when it all stops?  

What then?  

Will people forget?  

Will they go on with life without fixing the roads, the relationships, the communication?  

What does God want me to learn from this?  

What does He want us to learn through this?  

He’s talking, screaming, yelling at us every day for the past 3 weeks, and the question is, Will we be still enough to listen?

I hear His voice.  

Matthew 14:22-23

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.  And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.  And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I learn.

We’re imperfect.  We make mistakes.  Even when we are trying to help.  

We are strangers here.  We need wise advice and inside perspective.

We need Him.  We are so weak.  He is the One who is strong.  He can overcome this.

Pray more.  Pray with.  Pray now!

Share truth.  

Life is not supposed to be comfortable.

Don’t give up… even when we feel like it.

Sometimes it’s okay to sit. 

It’s okay to wait.

We have to pray.

We never know when God will give us the opportunity to share truth.  Be ready.

The same God who we pray to to end the rain, sent it.  Look to Him for wisdom.

We lack Spiritual Wisdom and leadership.  Ask God for it.

We lack wise decisions and patience.  Pray for it. 

I am… we are … SO broken.

We can’t fix anything.  Only God can.

If we are willing He will use us.

Stay humble.

Don’t judge.

We are distracted.

There are LOTS of people who are lost and don’t know Him.  

Share with them even if it is uncomfortable.

Do not conform.

Building relationships is important… especially when it’s not raining.

Do what we know how to do and do what the Holy Spirit leads us to do.

Be thankful for simple things like sun, a dry bed, a cement roof, people who share, the local church.

The local church that God has put in our path is great!  Help them help others.

I have to believe that while in moments I question if the sun will come out, that it will.  In the midst of the literal and the figurative storm, I have to believe that Jesus is just standing out in the sea with His hand outstretched encouraging me and others not to be afraid, to focus, to walk.  I find myself slipping looking ahead at the waves and scared.  I doubt. What is going on?  I don’t know how to do this.  I need direction.  I want to turn back, quit, re-do it?  I want wise guidance. Where is the sun?  When will it come out again?

And it is so clear…

Adrienne, I need you to know...

I AM here, He whispers.  I AM here. I guide you.  I lead you.  You cannot see ahead. You may not understand why or when, but trust me.  I lead you hear.  My hand is outstretched.  I can see where you cannot.  I know why when you do not. Trust me. There will be sun, in my timing.

Coming into Focus

I find it a bit hard to focus lately  

on God

on school

on ministry.

And things just aren't perfect.  (When is it, right?). 

I finally have pictures to share... they won't upload.
So much has happened, and I cannot find the words.
I am learning so much...
doing so much...

I feel like God is teaching me to be patient (as always it seems) and content in where He has me right now.  He is reminding me to focus on Him and everything else will fall into place.  He's teaching me not to worry, not to doubt, to trust Him, and to let Him lead.

I’m in a stage of learning and planning and waiting. (Waiting is so much fun!). He’s teaching me to be thankful in all moments for who He is.  He’s teaching me to look to Him for His will and His way.  He’s teaching me every day my need for Him in all things and in every moment.  Sometimes I find myself distracted and then convicted and then again gazing on Him.  Please pray for my continued focus on Him, that I would not be concerned with circumstance but instead that I would recognize and believe in God’s truths and His power.  I pray often for humility, praying for me to become more and more my focus.

Lately, many of the things that I am planning are the same as things that I planned and helped with at Emanuel House.  Many deal with organizational things… both within ministry in the communities and ministry at the school. I’ve been working with another Dominican teacher on a lot of educational planning… things like diagnostics tests, workshops that the teachers need, showing a new reading curriculum to help the younger kids with reading… and then trying to be a support in the new outreach ministry for families by continuing to be involved in Chichigua giving reading lessons, a Bible Study, and a closer discipleship for two of the women there.  My days are full but good.  And in general, I feel like God is preparing me.  (Yet I cannot see clearly quite yet.) He is building trust and deeper relationships with the teachers and with the ladies in the community and at the church.  That’s where the patience comes in.  I take my class at the university on Fridays and my theological class at the church on Mondays.  I’m learning a lot about both the Dominican curriculum and about theology, and I really praise God for the opportunity to learn alongside some of the leaders of the local church.  I pray that both of these classes will help me to further God’s work here in Montellano and help out ministry at Makarios even better.

I also had the opportunity to give the teachers some workshops for a few days on things like, figuring out SCOPE and SEQUENCE, Annual Plans, Reading Programs and reminders about why reading is important.  Over and over again, I value the training that I received through experience teaching at Wesleyan.  God gifted me with some great guidance there which is helping me empower teachers here.  Also, I have been able to model Children's Church and teach a class.  It's fun to be getting involved in this new ministry at Templo Bíblico which is not burdensome.  It's a shared responsibility between many members and I will get to teach about once every 3 months. 

Teaching a class at church for the first time about Jesus being God's son.

I have traveled to Quisqueya twice in the past month -- to give a workshop on a reading program that we are also using in Montellano and helped them with their curriculum. Seeing my teacher friends in Quisqueya is always nice as it is one of my hopes to continue to support them and continue relationship with them even though I no longer live there. I have also visited the five little girls whose mom died two years ago.  Please pray for them as they started school a week ago for the first time this year.  They are all behind at least 2 years and were in grave danger of missing yet another year of school due to lack of attendance caused by no uniform nor supplies.  Please pray for God’s protection and His will for them.

My birthday also happened.  I cannot believe how many years God has given me.  And, I got to share it with my dear friend, study mate and fellow Makariana, Nicole, who has become one of my good friends here and who happens to have the same birthday as I do. My roommates celebrated me well!  A good week!










My Bible study is small but consistent.  There are 4 consistent attenders and we have almost finished the book that we are going through about some fundamentals of the faith like salvation, church, the holy spirit, worship and testifying to others.  Please continue to pray for this community.  God is helping me to be more of an insider than outsider… And while relationships do take time, I am starting to consider some of those ladies to be my closest friends here.  It is a natural place to visit and chat, and God is deepening the relationships more and more each visit.  Please pray for the spiritual growth of believers there and also for Biblical truth within the church, that they would understand God’s grace and what it means to be saved not by works but by a sincere faith.  May they feel the freedom that God gives us when we give our lives to Him and may that freedom be reflected through them to those around Chichigua.  Please pray against the spiritual warfare in the community, against the witchcraft that dwells in the background.  Please also pray for the women that I am slowly getting to know who don’t know Jesus but who have an interest in knowing more.  May they come to know Biblical truth and may I continue to know truth to be able to teach them.  


(Please also pray for the connection that I am interested in making between my Bible Study ladies in Quisqueya and the ladies in Chichigua who lack work and whose families struggle to provide for their children.  Often making less than $125 a month, being able to learn skills and learn to read along with understanding who God is and what Jesus did for them, could make a huge difference in their eternal and life here on Earth.)  

My schedule for reading at school with kids has finally found a rhythm.  For the most part my kids are interested in learning, feel special to get taken out of class to spend intentional time improving their reading skills and overall behave well.  At the beginning of our sessions, I find out if they have any prayer requests and it seems that they have a lot going on at home.  Most are not from Christian homes and have a need for people to be praying for their families and for them.  Hopefully, I can get some pictures up soon for them.  

This week there was a medical team here. They come each year.  (I remember them from last year which means that I’ve now been here in Montellano for a year. Yes, it’s gone by fast.) The new Outreach Director is taking advantage of the time by having parents fill out a questionnaire when they come to the school to see the doctor. And I’ve gotten to help with that since many don’t read.  It’s been really interesting to understand more about the families, their relationship or lack of relationship with God, their physical needs, and also just to get to see them. The past two days I have been around my Chichigua friends at Makarios which has been fun.  They really are who I am comfortable around and who God has put on my heart to love.  And they always love me so well too!

As of Monday I no longer have responsibilities in the library which even though I still love and care about it, it will free up some time to do some other things that I can be helping with.  One of the other Mak teachers will be there full time now!

And today?

Space.

Time.

Quiet.

Breathe.
Pray.
Listen.

Today I get what is called a SOLO day.  I'm excited for it.  Basically, I get to spend 7:30 - 3:30 just focusing on God... reading, listening, praying, journaling.  I get to STOP and reflect on Him!  I get to be away from all of the noise, away from people.  Just me and God.

I'm ready.

2 minutes and it begins!

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

I will continue to have a wish list on Amazon for items for the library, the reading program and community outreach for supporters to donate if interested.  Click Here to look at my Wish List. Any of these items can be sent to the office in Austin, Tx to be brought down with the next group.

Financially:

• There are still a few kids who do not have sponsors.  You can go to the Makarios website to sponsor a child.  
• Make a one-time donation to Makarios Annual Fund as a way to support the efforts that are being made to help the communities around us both spiritually, physically and emotionally. 
• Donate a book or books from my Amazon Wish List to help cultivate a love for reading both at school and in the community.  Click Here for books needed in the Makarios library and Click Here for books that can be used in Community Outreach.  Send books to:  Adrienne Christian. c/o Makarios International.  1801 E 51st Street, Ste 365-300, Austin, TX 78723.

Prayerfully:

• Pray alongside me for one or more of the prayer requests above.
• Choose a child with whom I work to pray for regularly during this school year.  Let me know which one and I will send you more information about him or her.
• Pray for my days of Sabbath that God would renew me on those days and that I would continue to feel well physically and emotionally.
• For the Makarios family and guidance and wisdom in making decisions, spiritual growth in the kids and for the families and staff who are here serving.

The Mak Family of teachers / staff at the school.  It is a blessing to be a part.