A letter to Runnymede Community Church.
Hi Runnymede.
Sorry it has taken so long to write. Hit the ground running here and it feels like I haven't stopped running since. Learning sponsorship details, (helping with groups) lots of driving and participating in building projects. We had 40 plus heat (but I hear you had that too) and what seemed to me like monsoon rains . Soaked through and through and so hot and humid that you never dry off.
I think of you guys often and miss you like crazy every Sunday. There is no church like Runnymede.
I have attached a short newsletter for July.
Lots of love
from Dave in D.R.
Saturday July 20, 2013.
Did housecleaning. motoconcho-ed to the Supermarcado. Walked back along the main road dodging bikes, cars, and whatever. Cooked pasta sauce and froze it. The apartment freezer is very reliable thanks to a generator that kicks in whenever the local power goes out. Last week I soaked in the pool for the first time. ( felt like I’d gone to heaven.) Made coffee this morning in an espresso machine, mixed it with a little honey and shelf milk. (I’m really roughing it!) There are new sheets on the bed and a pillow. Sprayed for ants and mosquitoes and only have one cockroach left but he is so big and slow that I have decided to keep him as a pet and call him Picaso. (He sort of has the same body shape) I have been working full time trying to get up to speed on the child sponsorship responsibilities and also helping where I can with visiting groups.
This afternoon got a lift on Luckny’s motorbike up to Esperanza, (that hill is a little more physical on a bike) Met up with many people and they always ask the same question. ¿cómo es Sandy? How is Sandy? Being in the village was like a cool breeze to my soul. Saw the work that had been done on the library and listened to Luckny’s dreams of how it could help the community. It would make a good resource centre where people could find and post information on jobs and opportunities, a good “Community Centre” where groups could get together. Luckny told of his concerns about a political situation that seems to be brewing trouble for the Haitians in the DR again. To see the happy and unconcerned kids playing around us in the village only underlines the vulnerability of this little community. Luckny offered a village laundry service to me (Probably Lena, his mother in law, she is very industrious). So now I have only 2 pairs of underwear, (I hope they don’t take too long. I know, T.M.I.)
Took a Gwa Gwa back to Sosua, bouncing along to Dominican music and swaying from side to side, the horn playing a new tune with every stop. Went all the way from Grand Parada to Sosua for 30 pesos (and entertainment too). Gwa Gwa drivers have a lot of fun.
As I lay in bed during the night I feel as though God wakes me up and pours into me all that I need for the day to come. The Spirit just seems to bubble up inside of me. Yet when I wake I can’t put my finger on any one thing. I feel God here with me in a way I have never experienced anywhere else. I certainly need Him here as I feel totally inadequate, and yet, isn’t that the way we are? We are only truly Whole in Him. (I miss Sandy though).
I want to thank you for helping me to be here through your emails, advice, prayers and support. I’m praying for my family, Runnymede Community Church. I love you guys.
