Hi Pulpit Rock! I’m Alden, one of the interns for the summer. I got to go on the trip to the Dominican Republic last week, and it was so amazing. It was my first time going to another country, so it presented a lot of exciting new experiences—and a few less exciting ones. We spent the first few days at a Young Life (Vida Joven) camp in the mountains called Pico Escondido, learning about the camp and helping with projects they wanted done. The next few days we spent down in Santo Domingo, learning about the work that Vida Joven is doing there and meeting the amazing people involved.
There’s a lot to choose from, but I’d say the ‘best’ part was definitely the people we got to meet. Everyone on the trip got to see old friends and/or make new ones, and even though there were some language barriers, people had learned either enough Spanish or enough English to connect. On top of making new friends, meeting so many people who are strong Christians in every sense of the word was inspiring and uplifting.
Those connections were also where I saw God at work. The entire trip, there was a real sense of connection both within the team and with the people we got to see. It helped broaden (at least for me) the view of God’s community and helped us learn from and about what Young Life is doing in the Dominican Republic.
Yes, I have been living in Florida, but the most challenging part for me was the heat. I know that’s not a super deep, soul-searching answer, but man—it was really hot. I only got a few hours of sleep most of the nights in Santo Domingo, since it was much hotter than our nights up in the mountains at Pico Escondido.
Finally, I was super grateful to be doing this trip with such an awesome group of students. They all did great connecting with people in the DR, and I know that because I got to see it and receive it. I hadn’t met any of the students on this trip until 4 AM in the Denver airport! But they were so friendly and kind right off the bat, and they were the same way with the people we met in the DR. Here are just a few examples: playing football (come on, you know what I mean by that) with a little boy named Eliam at Pico Escondido, stealing each other’s phones for goofy selfies, talking about our favorite musicians around lunch with the volunteers in Santo Domingo, and learning to be okay with the less precise schedule that the DR has—and taking that opportunity to spend time with people (or to rest).
