Dominican Republic 2018

Day 4: Dominican Republic afternoon

“Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

Psalm 96:2-3

Pasitos de Jesus: a girls orphanage home where lives are restored, love is found, and dreams are made.

Read the story of how the orphanage started before you continue reading this blog: https://scoreintl.org/children/charina-encarnacion/

Pasitos de Jesus doesn’t kick girls out when the turn 18, but instead helps them get through school and reach their dreams. Tonight, we toured this incredible place. We were shown the bedrooms, the media room, the counseling room, and the common areas. There are about 50 girls in the house right now. 50! Also, we got to meet and talk with the founder, Dalma. Dalma has taught and shown these girls the power and love of Jesus in a way that has quite literally changed their lives. If you go to the website, you can read these girls’ stories and why they have ended up in the orphanage – grab your tissues.

https://scoreintl.org/?post_type=child&related=248

But these are the girls that we got to play with today. While they all had abusive parents and horrific situations at a young age, they recognize their opportunity for a new life and have found complete joy in Jesus. They taught more to us than we could ever teach them.

We played with jump rope, drew with chalk, and painted nails for a while until it was time to gather for their presentation. They had songs and dances to show us about how they find their identity in who God says they are. It’s safe to say that there weren’t many dry eyes from us Americanos. After, we gave them each some play-doh and had them form a heart. Bailey, Elison, Autumn, and Alicia talked about how all of our hearts are different, but are all formed for a unique purpose by God. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

Not many words can describe our short time at Pasitos de Jesus, but we are going back on Monday so maybe I’ll have some more words for you then. Until then, we remain in awe of the work of God and are thankful that these girls are safe.

Prayer: that the Holy Spirit continues to move on our team and that our hearts be tender to what God is telling us in our own lives.

p.s. congrats men’s basketball on the win against UCLA!