This past week we had our first week of vacation Bible school (VBS) for the summer. This year’s themes are the armor of God and fruit of the Spirit. While helping the team prep Tuesday morning someone asked me what my favorite fruit of the Spirit was. My immediate thought was “I want to have them all!” I want to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control! After thinking about it a moment my response to her was love. God is love (1John 4:8) so if I keep working on loving others as Jesus does then the other fruit will in turn come more naturally to me as well. I’ve always loved that it is fruit of the Spirit…we have the ability to grow in these areas and that is so encouraging to me.
So, what have I been up to the past few weeks? Well, May ended with two weeks of university barrio teams. The first week we had a barrio team from Southern Utah University (SUU) and the following week we had a large group of nursing students from Ohio Northern University (ONU). The thing I love most about university teams is their enthusiasm…they are excited about every new thing they get to experience here. I love getting to experience barrio weeks through their eyes.
The Zimmerman family came to visit the last week of May when ONU was here. The Wednesday of that week Katelyn, Kelsi, and I hosted a party for the Bucher and Zimmerman families. It was a special time to celebrate both families and the work they’ve done here in San Juan. When the team left at the end of the week all the American missionaries loaded up in the van and headed to a resort in La Romana for a couple days. I’m thankful we had this trip planned so that we could all spend some time together!
After returning home from La Romana, we had a week and a half off before the start of our summer teams. During that time we had some meetings for work and I sent out the medical initial planning emails for the remainder of the year (yes, we really do need to start communication with teams that far in advance!) I also did some home visits to do post-op care for one of our surgical patients, and to check in on a friend’s mom who is bedridden. Whenever I am asked to do house calls, I always feel incredibly humbled that people put their faith and trust in me to care for their loved ones. During our time off I also read a book for the first time in months, and I gave my pups summer haircuts!
This past week we had our first summer team, a small but mighty youth team from Roanoke, Virginia who did VBS. It was a great start to the summer! It’s always fun to be around the VBS teams as they prepare, and then I joined the team Wednesday with Brantley and Braegan. Riley (pictured below on my left) arrived last weekend as well. She came 2 years ago with her church, and again with ONU last month, and she is joining us for the summer. I am thankful for the help and positivity she brings to the team for the next few weeks!
Last week I also donated blood at our clinic. For those that don’t know, here in the DR blood banks are not very common and patients are responsible for finding people to donate blood when they are in need. As I’m sure you can imagine, that can be very scary for someone in an emergent situation! Solid Rock is working with the clinic to donate blood so that there is actually blood in the blood bank. I was the 14th unit donated by an American in the past 2 months, and I was shocked to hear that these were the only units of donated blood in the blood bank. So, if you are coming on a trip and are interested in donating blood while you’re here, please let us know!
Over the past few weeks, I have really been soaking up what time I have left with the Bucher’s before they move to the states. They truly have become like family to me over the past 2 years and I am going to miss doing daily life with them. Change can be hard, but it can also lead to so much good. I can’t think of anyone better than Jeff and Kamanda to take over as directors of SRI! And their upcoming move makes way for Hector to step into the director of operations role here in San Juan. I met Hector on my first trip in 2015 and I am excited to work more closely with him moving forward. So while I am sad to think about life here without the Bucher family, I am also excited to see what God has in store for the ministry through these changes.
Prayer requests
⁃ For the Bucher family as they transition to life back in the states
⁃ For Hector as he continues to learn and fully step into his new leadership role
⁃ For our team here in-country as we navigate the changes together
⁃ Upcoming summer teams
⁃ Health and rest
⁃ Spanish
