Nena

 

 This is Nena. Tonight, while I was singing at our worship service, she looked at me and said, "If you don't know the words, don't sing the song." I then replied, "I'm not singing for you to hear me. I'm singing for God, and He doesn't care if I know one word or all the words."

Later on, they called on me to say the closing prayer. I was praying in Spanish, which means I had a limited vocabulary to work with. Case in point, it wasn't the longest prayer I've ever prayed. Afterward, Nena came up to me and said, "What a short prayer...only five words!" I then grabbed her into a big hug and said, "God doesn't care if I say five words or 100 words. He's knows what I meant in my heart, He just wants me to talk to Him. And you know what? I can talk to Him out loud or just in my mind and heart; He hears me just the same."

To that she asked, "God can hear what I'm thinking even if I don't say it out loud?"

I then pulled her up onto my lap and began to tell her truth after truth about my Sweet Jesus. I told her He knows it all, every hair on her head, every tooth in her mouth, every bone in her body, every time she feels tired, every time she feels happy, every time she's sad in her heart, etc., etc. 

We then talked about sin. "Un pecado es una cosa mala que hicimos (A sin is a bad thing that we do)." We talked about sins keeping us distant from God, but that He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross and come back to life so that we could be in relation with Him, so that we could be "los mejor amigos (the best friends)."

I let her know that I have a realtionship with Jesus, and she could have one too if she wanted; all she had to do was ask Him. I then said, "What do you think about that?" to which she responded as such:

 

(This was taken at school and our conversation was at home, but you get the idea.) 

She gets a bit shy sometimes, so I told her to just think about it when she's got some time to herself. I also let her know if she wants to talk about it, I'm here. Pastor too, and Heather, and Marta, etc., etc. I hugged her, watched her run off to her room, and thought to myself, "If nothing else, this moment is exactly why I'm here." 

If you know what I'm talking about when I'm talking about being best friends w/ Jesus, please pray that Nena will also one day know. 

If you don't, know that if you want to talk about it, I'm here.

Los Flamingos

Contrary to the popular belief of my fellow rednecks, the front lawn is not the natural habitat of the pink flamingo. I took this picture on our way back from the sunrise hike this morning.

Beat the Heat

When I was a youngster, my Mama ran a daycare in our home. She called it "T.J.'s Happy Campers," and she would watch anywhere from 2 kids to 13 at a time. Many of my childhood recollections involve those we lovingly called 'the babysitin' kids,' and my fondest memories are held in our various summer vacation outings. Each day of the week had a special excursion, i.e. Monday: the Library, Tuesdays & Thursdays: the pool, etc., etc. One of those days was deemed as park/McDonald's day, so we'd take a morning trip to the park and then have lunch at the Golden Arches.

At McDonald's, we'd all get the ever-coveted Happy Meal and try to start playing with our toys before Mama could say, "Don't play with your toy until your food is gone!" 

After scarfing down our burgers and fries, it was a mad dash to get your shoes off your feet and into the Ronald McDonald cubby. We all made sure to first jump into the area we affectionaley called the 'Pee-pee balls.' (We called them that because all knew deep down that once the fun had begun, no one was going to climb out for a potty break...hind sight being 20/20, that seems absolutely disgusting.) 

Next was the shocking slide. I really think the person who invented those silly slides never actually slid down one because, if he/she had, he/she would know that the amount of static electricty those things generate on a daily basis is probably enough to keep our back-up batteries here at the orphanage running for weeks! Nevertheless, we continued to ride it down until Mama began the countdown to departure. Come the last 10 seconds, we'd all race back the the cubby to retrieve our shoes and attempt to put them on before she reached zero.

Just before lift off, Mama would remind us to collect our belongings and line us all up. Once we were ready to go, it was time to 'Beat the Heat.' She'd count us off, "1...2...3...Beat the Heat!" and we'd all dump our remaining cups of water on our heads to cool us off.

Today, I lead an English Education group to a local school. Some of the students didn't have a teacher for the day, so I was trying to entertain them to keep them from bothering those who did have class. At one point, they all decided it was just too stinkin' hot and began to cool eachother off by pouring water on their heads. I'm not sure why this specific instance took me back to my childhood days, but it sure was fun to remember. 


The following pictures are of my little Dominican friends "Beating the Heat":

 

 

Rompe Cadena

Friendly Letter to Shutterfly

Christine Kitts

Calle Altagracia #80

Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic

February 18, 2010

Dear Shutterfly,

    

    Thank you for all the free stuff you give me. Every time I open my email or google "Shutterfly coupons," a new promotional code seems to be there just waiting for me to use it. 

    I love to give people surprises, but as I've been in a volunteer position for the past year and a half, I no longer have the financial resources to use the excuse, "It just jumped off the shelf at me!" for purchasing unexpected gifts. However, through your generous promotional codes, I've shared many precious photographic memories without going bankrupt.

   

    I will continue to use your services for as long as picture printing exists, or for as long as you keep giving me sweet deals on developing my digital memories (I guess we have a conditional relationship...sorry 'bout that.)

Your friend,

Christine Kitts

P.S. I'm including your website address for my friends! www.shutterfly.com

   

Mama's Visit

February 6th-13th was known as 'Parents' Week' here at Orphanage Outreach because almost all of the leaders' parents came down to check out why their children love this place so much. I was blessed to have my Mama make the trip, and the following pictures are some highlights from her time here in the DR.

(At El Morro, a national park in Monte Cristi)

(Reading with Mery and Lisy during activity time)

(Mama eating a mango straight from the tree)

(Mama giving one of many haircuts)

(With the directors of the orphanage, Pastor Ramon and his wife, Marta) 

 (Mama playing a popular game of pushing a tire w/ a stick. She has good coordination!)

(Mama's birthday is tomorrow, so the girls made her an early birthday cake)

(All of the parents with their kids after the sunrise hike)

 

El Zapato

 

This is 'El Zapato.' It was named by Christopher Columbus, and contrary to what your third grade teacher told you as you colored pictures of 'La Nina, La Pinata, and La Santa Maria,' he was:  

        
1. not the person to discover the USA and
 2. quite a jerk. 

In 1492, while sailing the ocean blue in search of a new trade route to India, he stumbled upon this lovely island where I currently reside. He soon encountered the indiginous Tainos, a tribe of indians who hailed from what is now modern-day Venezuela. They were a very friendly bunch, but due to Columbus' lust for wealth and power combined with the lovely diseases of the incoming Europeans, the Taino population was almost completely wiped out, dropping from 
1 million to 500 in roughly 50 years time.

Straight Up

As a curly-haired individual, I've come to accept that some questions I will forever be asked include, "Have you ever straightened your hair?" "What did it look like?" "How long was it?" and, "How long did it take?" This past weekend, the Dominicans I live with wanted to make my hair 'pretty,' and so began the two day process to turn my springy spirals straight as sticks. 

It started with putting my hair in giant rollers right after breakfast and leaving them in until right before dinner. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of me at this particular point in the process, but here's a general idea of what it looked like:

 

The next step was to wrap all of my hair around my head in a "tubie," put a net on it, and let it set over night. The following picture is of me and my roommates with our tubies:

 

 

And the two following pictures are of the end result:

 

 

 

Unfortunately, about five minutes after this picture was taken, my spirals began to re-assume their positions, and we all confirmed that I am more so wired to sport crazy curls instead of lengthy locks!

Christmas 2009

The following link will take you to the  OO Family Week (aka Christmas week) highlights video. Check it out if you want to get a glimpse at how I spent the holidays this past year. Shots of me throughout are rare, but I do many of the voice-overs. Special props to fellow Orphanage Outreach leader, Bryson Adams, for putting it all together!

O.O. Family Christmas Pic 2009

(Bryson Adams, Christine Kitts, Coco Barrett, Heather Colbert, John Hopkins, Micah Hopkins, Caela Hopkins)

Orphanage Outreach Family/Christmas Week Video 

Cuando siento artsy fartsy...

(When I feel artsy fartsy...)

There are times in my life when a crazy desire to be creative comes over me and I just can't ignore it. To call it just a feeling would be a cop-out; I believe moreso that it is a call to worship. In those moments of creativity, I feel my Maker more closely than times I may have spent sitting in a church pew, volunteering on a mission trip, or singing at a youth conference. 

In college, those moments often came around essay writing time. More recently, they've come through various photo excursions. I hear the Spirit directing me, saying, "Ooo...look at what We made! Now, look at it from this angle." It's like I have a backstage pass and get to look behind-the-scenes. Here are some of the products from our latest dates...

Props to My Home Girl

 

If you're looking for some new tunes for the ol' ipod, I'd like to recommend my dear friend, Emily Roig (pictured above). She was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and served with me here in the DR from January-June 2009. Her debut album, Came Alive, includes favorites such as "Open My Eyes," "The Red Sea," "Came Alive," and a beautiful Spanish number titled "Las Alturas." If you are interested, you can find her on itunes by searching either Emily Roig or Came Alive. Also, you can find out more about her and her music by clicking the following link:

Emily Roig-Came Alive