Terrill 'Mario' Kucera

This summer, I spoke with many of you about specific prayer requests for this upcoming year. They may have varied slightly from person to person, but I am confident that practically everyone heard about our desire to have some men come alongside us in ministry. I definitely didn't know what that would look like or who it would be, but I knew for sure it was a necessity.

Enter Terrill Kucera, a.k.a. Mario here in the D.R.

(Having a treat at a little bakery we found)

Over the past while, God has been doing some CrAzY-awesome things in Terrill's life and has led him to a deeper understanding of what it means to 'deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow.' Just what does that look like for him? 

Oh...ya know...just...forsaking everything he's known in his 24 years, moving down to the DR indefinitely, and raising 4 Dominican teenage boys...no biggie :o)

You can click here or here to read more of his new perspective on life, but to give you a quick summary... he worked for the same organization that I first came down here to volunteer for, developed a life-wrecking love for the kids at the orphanage, finished his time with said organization, found out some of the boys needed to leave the orphange but didn't have family who could properly care for them, felt the Lord urging him to become their guardian, and moved his whole life down here to take care of them.

(Leading the boys in devotional)

They live in San Pedro de Marcoris, the birthplace of homerun legend, Sammy Sosa. This unfortunately means they live on the completely opposite side of the island, but thanks to technology and fairly direct bus routes, we're able to stay in frequent contact. Here's a little map to give you an idea of their location vs. ours.

I share this with you first of all to let you know how the Lord is continuing His good work here in the Dominican by using one of His children to love those whom some have incorrectly deemed 'unloveable.'

I share this with you second of all to let you know that, after receiving the 'thumbs-up' from my Financial Manager (a.k.a. my ridiculously awesome Mama) , half of the monthly budget we have set aside for Ministry ($50) will be going to help off-set the costs of feeding/clothing/raising the boys. 

I share this with you third of all to ask you to pray about how you can be involved in both Terrill's and the boys' lives. He needs people to walk beside him, encourage him, offer advice, and even support him financially. His monthly requirements come to $650, so if you'd like to give, you can go to his blog by clicking here and donate through Paypal. If you'd like more information, you can either email him at tkucera.mario@gmail.com or me at ckitts3@gmail.com.

(Hanging out in our living room)

Terrill, having you in the picture this year has been an absolute answer to prayer and we are continuously blessed and encouraged by your friendship. Thank you for challenging us to think deeper and love harder and for keeping it real with a touch of sarcasm. :o)

October/November

Hello Hello! It's time for the monthly update...hope you enjoy!

On a professional, work related level, this past month in the classroom has been very satisfying. School is going really well as we’ve taken last month’s pronouns lessons to the next level and are teaching them to talk about location, i.e. “Where is she?” “She is in the bedroom.” While our younger students (1st-3rd graders) act like crazy hooligans, the older ones (4th-7th graders) put their thinking caps on come time for English, and their hard work and efforts are really starting to show. Many of them have excellent recall of the material and can formulate complete sentences with little or no prompting from us.

A funny language-learning phenomenon has also begun to take place as many of the kids are starting to speak Spanglish (using both Spanish and English in the same sentence)! This signifies that they are becoming more comfortable and familiar with the foreign language and also makes for a good laugh every now and then!

On a personal level, most of the past month has been an absolute whirlwind a violent, thrashing tornado. Allow me to first tell you about the calm before the storm.

The girls and I got a chance to step away and take a breather this month as we retreated to the beautiful mountainous city of Jarabacoa. We rested, walked around, ate some yummy cheesecake, and attended a genuine, Spirit-filled church service under a tent by the river. Upon arriving back to Monte Cristi, our hearts were full and our energy was restored.

I have no doubt that weekend was a gift from the Lord, not only because He knew we needed it in the moment, but even more so because He knew we’d need it when we got back and discovered that someone had broken into our home. :(  They took various valuables and left the house in disarray, but the physical damage paled in comparison to the vulnerable emotional state the situation put me in. Knowing that someone had been in our home and sanctuary going through my things without permission made me feel out of control and quite violated. 

I gave myself a little time to process through the break-in, and just as I was starting to come to terms with it, our neighborhood flooded…two nights in a row! The first night, the water in the house only rose to our ankles (only), and that was enough to keep us sweeping out the “muddy” water until 5 a.m. (due to the odor that accompanied the water, we speculate that not all of the brown stuff that came in was mud, if you catch my drift). The second night, the water rose knee-high, and the ensuing three days were dedicated to putting the house back in order. Thankfully, nothing of major importance was ruined and, although it took a lot of sweat, bleach, and tears, the house is now clean and sanitized.

It’s funny to look back over my ‘growing-up’ experiences and see how the Lord was preparing me for the future. Since living here, I’ve had countless thoughts like, “Hey! I remember doing this on our mission trip to Kentucky, Michigan, Alabama, etc.” and more recently, “Hmm…this is all too reminiscent of the time I went to help with the Hurricane Katrina clean-up…” Never in a million years would 13, 16, or 20-year-old Christine have thought that she was being prepared for 27-year-old Christine's daily life experiences!

It was odd to be in the middle of the craziness instead of being the one to offer a hand from the outside. We were right in the thing along with everyone else just working and fighting to restore order back to life. We live in a place where there’s practically nothing we can do to keep from being identified solely by our nationality or the color of our skin, but the natural disaster made us a little bit less like foreigners and a little more like members of this community. In a way, it was humbling to have nothing more than a listening ear to offer and a story to share.

Thank you for all the prayers, messages, and words of encouragement as we’ve trudged and tromped through this past month. We’ve been shaken and rattled, but many of you have reminded us that our Foundation is sure. We’ve had to fight for joy like never before but are choosing to believe that the Lord is the Wall around us and the Glory within us (Zechariah 2:5). 

September/October Update

I've been back in the DR for a little over a month now. The past 4 weeks could probably be broken down into 3 different periods... the 'Honeymoon' period, the 'Blah, Everyday Seems Like the Same Thing' period, and the 'What in the Heck is Going on Here?' period.

If you glance back over my previous post, you may easily gather that I was on Cloud 9 when I wrote it. I had a buzz, a special energy that is specific to returning to a familiar place, reuniting with precious friends who have become family, and falling back into a routine.

Routines are so necessary. I'm not a fan of anything too rigid or set-in-stone, but I do believe that we all need a rhythm, an underlying beat that keeps the days flowing. After 'honeymooning' for about a week, my rhythm started setting in and I was feeling the flow. Wake up. School. Lunch. Siesta. School. Dinner. Friends. Sleep. Wake up. School. Lunch Siesta. School. Dinner. Friends. Sleep. Wake up. School. Lunch. Siesta. School. Dinner. Friends. Sleep. Wake up. School. Lunch. Siesta. School. Dinner. Friends. Sleep.

After about 2 weeks of keeping time the same way day in and day out, I started to get restless. The first thoughts that seemed to come to mind were doubts about why I am here. I began to question effectiveness and whether or not the little bit I can do even matters. Thankfully, the Lord meet me where I am and whispered, "Chill out. I'm giving you a break before the craziness hits. Get ready. This is the calm before the storm."

And sure enough, the storm came. Within a matter of days, multiple friends became sick and needed extra attention, another friend needed help finding a place for his brother to live, the furniture gave out and needed to be repaired, cultural mishaps left us with hurt feelings or unintentionally frustrating others, some material possessions were taken without permission, and the water for the whole town was cut off for a week which of course meant that it was time for the lever we have for our back-up water system to break! Haha.

I wish I could say I handled all of the circumstances listed above with countless amounts of grace and faith that the Lord wasn't going to leave us where we were. Saying so, however, would indeed make me a liar. I will confess, instead, that there were moments I lost my cool, raised my voice, and acted out of anger instead of love. At other moments, I gave into anxiety and paranoia instead of trusting in the protection I've been promised. And even in the times when I appear to be calm and collected from the outside, I know what's taken place on the inside.

And so does my Father. And what does He do about it? Well, this afternoon, He sent us a sweet friend with her 7 month old baby boy to chat and laugh with, He sent another friend to fix our water lever so we can once again have running water, He sent another friend to make us laugh with his quirky ways, and He sent the furniture, completely repaired and looking better than new.

He's so gentle and patient as He's teaching me to act in Love at all times, to trust that He's got things under control, and to really believe that He has me here for this season of life. He really doesn't give me more than I can handle, and bit by bit, He's pushing and stretching me to have a heart that looks more like His.

I want to leave you all with a video from last week at school. Our older students are picking up on English SO quickly, and this is a video of them reciting pronouns. Enjoy!

Thankful is an Understatement

Summer was a blessing. 

I needed a break so I could recuperate from what could possibly go down as one of the most challenging years of my life. I needed to talk, laugh,cry, and share with people who knew me long before I even knew the geographical location of the Dominican. I needed to sit by myself for multiple hours at my parents' house where the only expectations hanging over my head were to load the dishwasher and put the clothes in the dryer. I needed to eat ice-cream/frozen yogurt every chance I had. And of course, I needed to read The Hunger Games non-stop over the course of 4 days :)

The vacation's over now, and if there's one thing that my heart is confident in, it's that it's time for me to be here.

I feel rested and restored to a healthy state of being. My grasp on reality and what's important has been reestablished, and just as my Father promises, I have a peace that passes understanding. Thankful is an understatement.

Stateside

Here's the crew (minus Mama and Nana) that was waiting to greet me when I got in on Tuesday night. It was so nice to see their faces and receive their big hugs! 

I'm back in the States for a few months of R&R and a little bit of work before heading back to the DR in August. Hope to catch up with many of you during my stay!

Wrapping It Up

We only have about a week left until we head back to the States for a few much needed and anticipated months of vacation. The Lord has been so gracious to bring us to a point of wrapping everything up, but to go above and beyond in showing us grace and favor. Here are a few pics for your enjoyment!

 Natali in her cap and gown

 Elizabeth with her graduation certificate plus two other awards!

Heather and me with two of our first students, Staci and Nerolisa

 My students enjoying my going-away party

 All smiles :)

 Definitely hyped-up on sugar!

 Snapped this during a round of the game Red Light/Green Light

The front view of our new house. We're moving in this week!

Rattled Thoughts as This Year Closes

When you see me this summer and you ask me how my year was, I'll probably smile. It will be a real smile and may even stretch from ear to ear. When you see my smile, you may anticipate that the words to follow will be something like, "It was SUCH a great year!" or "Oh man! I don't even know where to start!"

I won't say either of those things, though. It's not because those statements aren't true. On the contrary, they most certainly are the truth. There have been countless moments of love, laughter, and pure joy.

However, what I really think about this year is that it.was.so.hard. So many times, when I asked the Lord to tell me what in the WORLD I am supposed to be doing here, the only thing I heard was "Wait."

I think one of the reasons this year was so hard is that I didn't wait well. Many times, I rushed ahead to make a decision, give an answer, or solve a problem. As a result, I feel that in various situations, I've been more of an enabler than an empower-er. I've yielded to my need to feel that everything is under control, and, in turn, I think in certain relationships, I've been more hurtful more than helpful.

This isn't me saying I'm done here, though. It's in the messing up that we learn. I'm learning how to set better boundaries. I'm learning how to be firm. I'm learning how to be culturally savvy. I'm learning how to love people in accordance with how they need to be loved and not just rely on how I feel.

Above everything, I'm learning that all.is.grace. I can strive for perfection and at the same time relax when I fail because all.is.grace. I can make mistakes and trust I will be corrected because all.is.grace. I can do things right the first time or not get it right until the 100th time because all.is.grace. ALL.IS.GRACE.

Moses brought the law. I love the law because it gives me a guideline. The law, however, doesn't love me back.

Jesus brought grace and truth. I am in love with Jesus because He loves me because He loves me because He loves me because He loves me.

And because He loves me, I can know in advance I'm going to mess up again one day but not give in to defeat. I can try again. and again. and again. All.is.grace. And not just a little bit. All.is.grace. Grace upon grace upon grace. Period.

  

Rock that Wig

 Whenever a crazy, red-hot, completely random wig shows up at your doorstep, the only logical thing to do is rock it like you own it! Here are some of my peeps doing just that :o)

 Ariel

 

Heather

 Andres

 Me

Jacqueline

Orlin

Manano

One of my newest creations taken at El Morro, the national park in Monte Cristi.

Hope is Rising

The three of us girls along with our friend, Luis (a.k.a. Bebo), have begun to study the book of Job together on Monday nights. We were all kind of ‘whatever’ about the book to choose because, although we know and believe that the Word never returns void, starting the Bible Study was/is more about building a solid-core foundation in preparation for the greatness that’s starting to sprinkle and is about to rain down on this country.

 Job 5:16 is the verse I’ve been meditating on for the past few weeks.

“So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.”

I see this verse come to life on a daily basis. Justice is moving in and redeeming all that injustice meant for destruction. The orphaned are being given families, the hungry are being fed, the sick are being made well, the captives are being set free, and hope is rising.* 

Being a part of hope’s rising, however, is dirty.

She (Hope) has been buried under years and layers of offenses, mistakes, pressures, hurts, grudges, etc. She doesn’t just pop up with the help of a pair of grip-inhanced, flower-patterned gardening gloves and a shiny hand shovel. Ha!. Nope. To get her to emerge, it’s taking digging and patience and sweat and prayers and more digging and tears and risks and successes  and more digging and defeats and laughter and pain and still.more.digging.

She’s starting to show her face, though. After a year of feeling like we have no idea what we’re doing here, Hope’s staring to spring up. Sometimes I see her over an early morning coffee chat. Other times, I know she’s there when we’ve finally found a safe place for a friend to stay. I’m pretty sure she was present at last night’s dinner, and because I got a full sleep last night, I’m confident she wasn’t too far away.

The Lord is good and He promises good things to His children. I have never felt more amazed, awed, protected and comforted by His goodness. He is everything He promises He will be.

*I have intentionally chosen to not blog about my friends’ personal stories, cause, lets face it, that would be a cut below the dignity belt and officially place me in the ‘sucky-friend’ category.

Cookbook

It seems that everyone here knows how to cook dish after amazing dish, and they have all the ingredients and steps programed into them from childhood. My Hot-Pockets and Ramen Noodles past offers no hope of instinctual culinary habits, so I've found solace in this awesome cookbook I found on a whim this past week. It was a nice little 'desire of my heart' gift from Papa Dios for sure :o) 

Growing Up

The girls and I have been talking about how we don't feel like grown-ups. Maybe we seem like it on the outside, but so many things about us still seem child-like in our eyes. We're trying to figure out how to make the cross over into true womanhood, and so for a small start, I thought I'd try and make my blog style a bit more mature. Hope you enjoy the new look!

Shauna Niequist

Reading is my favorite past time. I just finished a book called Cold Tangerines by the author, Shauna Niequist, and am now working on her second book, Bittersweet. Check them out if you get the chance!

Wisdom.

I love wisdom.

My younger sister, Steph, might pose the argument that I love wisdom because I always like to be ‘in the know.’ She would not be incorrect.

Surface-level, nosy-rosy, pleasure-seeking Christine hates to be the last one to hear the latest news, detests being left out of the loop, and delights in knowing information (before you) for the shear fact of knowing (before you). 

Holy Spirit-living, genuinely-loving, humbly-serving Christine desires wisdom because she has learned that wisdom brings PEACE, unveils TRUTH, calls forth Purity, is Considerate, full of MERCY, and full of good, luscious, yummy FRUIT.

I want to be the later described Christine more often than the version first described. We’re still working on it.

Living by the Spirit is easy once I give up and let the battles be fought for me. It’s the ‘giving up’ that I have the hardest time with…

Demasiado Goodness

Demasiado Goodness (noun): when your love for someone or someones is so intense that it feels like your heart is trying to burst out of your chest; when you get a year long ab workout after laughing for 10 minutes; when silence isn't awkward; when you cry so hard you can't distinguish tears from snot; when your walls are shaken but you know at your core that your Foundation is sure; when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the seemingly 'tough' conversation that just happened really had Jesus spilled all over it; when you realize the desires of your heart were given to you instead of created by you.

How to Make a 1st Grader Stop Whining

What you will need:

1. One excessively whiny 1st grader
2. A camera (digital optional but preferred)

Step 1:
Give all of your students a water drinking break. Be sure to encourage the ones who brought water to share with those who didn't.

Step 2:
Wait for the kid who no-one-wants-to-share-with-because-he's-mean-to-them to come up to you and whine about no one sharing with him.

Step 3:
Whip out your camera and take pictures of him whining until he laughs and walks away happy.

See pictures below for a demonstration.

Kisses from Katie

If you want a better glimpse of my heart for here, go out and get this book. Home girl, Katie Davis, is living it out and loving hard in Uganda. Many many many of the things she writes parallel the way I think and feel about things in the Dominican.