June 8, 2002
I probably should not be writing on the plane because of turbulence. Is that how you spell it? Oh, well. Eventful trip so far. First, my gigantical suitcase was 17 pounds over the weight limit. Then I tried to write with my quill-ish pen, but I think the pressure made it explode. Well, I know it exploded, as I currently have black patches all over my left hand, but I think it was the pressure. Now I’m using Andie’s pen. My ears are popping. Joy. Maybe we should have gone for the First Class seats. . . We were going to play Spades with Aron and Byron, but they’re way in the back of the plane. You know, maybe I should write smaller. I feel like I should be journeying to the centre of the earth with this journal. The cheap pen died. So now I have to write with this one. I really don’t want to write in pencil. I’m rambling now. Well, I don’t really feel nervous. That’s good. But I still can’t wait to get home. I think this will be a life-changing experience for all of us. I pray for our safety. My hand still looks sick. 80 miles from Miami! But there’s thunderstorms. . . One more trip to go! To my family: I love you and God Bless! It’s going to get bumpy again, so. . .I’ll probably write later.
~Tori
June 9, 2002
Today was a very busy day, and it was a very eye-opening day. When we set off first, we went to church to sing and perform. The service was in Spanish, but I sat next to Ashley Blok, so she could tell me the general idea. Then we sang, during the course of which I really missed Joey, and performed. Janeu said that it was the best we’d ever done it. And it was because of God. Afterwards, a lot of people came up to us going, “God bless you!” Then we ate lunch at Bón, where I changed (clothes). Next we finally reached the school in Herrera. It was a real culture shock. There were houses stacked upon houses; slippery, dirty, and muddy streets made of dirt; and a creek full of trash that was inhabited by a huge pig. The school itself was a very nice building for where it was stationed. It had almost 4 floors - 3 floors, a gym, and a roof. Then we went on a tour of the town. At first, all the children congregated around the vets, but soon all of the girls were partaking in a beauty salon and the guys were human playgrounds. My two friends were Angie and Gabriella. I can’t wait to see them tomorrow.
~Tori
June 10, 2002
I finally memorized the names of the Colorado guys who are ministering with us! Yay! Matt, Mike, and Zac(k). Today we went door to door and even got one new believer! It was awesome. I really saw how loving and amazing these kids are. They just mob you! At the school, I helped to teach a lesson on Ephesians 2:8-10. We decorated boxes too. The food was really good. Kind of like an enchilada all mashed up. Then we gave a street corner concert. I think I held hands with at least five kids. All of the kids with us sang the spanish songs. When we has to leave they just hung all over us and the van. Maybe I will have time to elaborate on my. . .our. . .day. I know that God is working through us, and I can’t wait to see what He will do next. All of our groups seemed to have pretty productive meetings. We go out again tomorrow and Wednesday. Maybe we will get even more believers!
~Tori
June 11, 2002
Today was awesome as well! I finally got to share the gospel with one woman. She answered every question I said, and we even got to the praying part. But when she was supposed to be repeating the prayer, she didn’t. I asked her if she wanted to accept Jesus, and she said yes before Edgar, our translator, could translate. So we thought she spoke english. Then we were like, “How long have you been speaking? How much english do you know?” It was then that we discovered that she didn’t speak a word of english and was just answering “Yes” to everything I asked. It was muy muy confusing. By the way, my evangelism group is me, Steve, Christian, Neal, and Kayla. We spent an hour at this one person’s house. She had 2 kids. Jenni, 18, and Wally, 20. They wanted to know more about the Bible before they trusted, so we started a Bible study right there. We went from Jesus’ birth to Adam and Eve’s original sin. We’re going back tomorrow. At the end of out teaching (discipleship) class, Sylvia, 27, trusted Christ. I also met some new friends! Sarah, the youngest, Mayolah/Meholah, and Margarita, 10. Yay!
~Tori
June 13, 2002
I think I missed my parents’ phone call. Did I say 10:45? Share time ran over. Let’s see. . .yesterday, Jenni accepted Christ! So far, we’ve had 56 people accept Christ. We only have a 30 person team. And the Colorado guys. I have heartburn. This is the second day. When I get back, I’ll get myself checked out and make sure everything’s okay. Christian says I shouldn’t worry. Now we’re talking about gross fast food. Anyways, today Nelson, Edgar, Franklin, Nelson’s wife, Mike, Matt, and Zack came to share time. So I did my “Thank you! You guys are awesome!” today because they won’t be there tomorrow. I started crying. I talked about how I’m so shy, and I only knew 4 people at the start of the trip, and now I know so many more. And when we left, Mike was like, “Hey, we’ll see ya tomorrow! And if not, we’ll see you in the big party in the sky!” It was cool! It really made me think “I’ll be with all these people for eternity.” Yay! Tomorrow’s going to be cry day. . .I have to bring tissues. Margarita said that if I come back next year I have to bring her a bandanna and a picture of the two of us. I’m writing crooked. Oh, well. It’s after 12:30. I should sleep now. I pray for my wonderful family! I love you!
~Tori
June 14, 2002
Today is Abbi’s birthday! We went shopping at the market. I got my parents coffee, Staci a bell, and Abbi a necklace, which I am currently wearing. We had to say goodbye to the kids. I saw Sarah at school, but then she left. I didn’t see Margarita at all. The kids danced for us and had a big worship service to kind of send us on our way. It was very cute. I did meet about 5 new friends though, one of which is Carmen’s sister. Carmen is Andrea and Laura’s friend. I’m kind of going to miss being together with the youth group. I hope that the Colorado guys will be here if we come next year. This was very fun. Even if I was sick for half of it. I have to get up at 4 tomorrow. I think I hyphenated that wrong. Who made up the word squeegee? Byron got a really pretty pendant for his mom for 800 pesos. It was supposed to be 2400. (Exchange rate: 1 dollar=17.55 pesos.) It’s a blue stone that you can only get here because they dig it up in the reefs around the Dominican, and it’s framed in 24 karat gold. I was going to get a drum for myself, but I didn’t have enough time. Well, I have to go. We’ll see if it’s a cry session during share time.
~Tori
June 15, 2002
It’s hard to think that, yes, I really am going home. The week seemed to plod along around Monday, but looking back, it really flew by. Last night we reflected on the whole trip. Erin talked about how she knew that if we had done what we did this year last year she wouldn’t have been ready. Aron said that at first, when we were leaving, he was upset with God and the conditions that the kids had to live in. He said, “I just wanted to take them back with me. I could keep them in my room. . .” Then he thought about how these people literally had nothing but their relationships with God and each other and became jealous. We talked about relationships for a while. One thing that Steve said that everybody kept repeating and agreeing with was, “We think of this as ‘Oh, this mission trip is over. We can go home now.’ But really, the mission trip may be done, but the mission’s not over.” I thought it was very good. Byron said something very good, but I can’t remember it. If I do, I’ll write it down. We talked about love for a while. About the love between us and the kids, and the love between us and God. Oh, yeah. I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night, so if this entry just sort of stops, that’s why.
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En route - Miami to Houston
That was nice. I just woke up. Anyways, at share time, we talked about how the trip was mostly about relationships. It’s true. I wish I could have stayed longer, but not by myself. I’d want my youth group and the Colorado guys there. See? Relationships. Well, the whole reason I woke up was to write down memories. . .
