Wednesday, April 30, 2014

La Limpieza


"La limpieza" is the worst the best thing to happen to our school. 

Imagine a circus. Imagine a circus full of elementary and middle school aged children. Imagine those children with buckets of water, towels, brooms, mops, and hoses. Imagine all of this happening with very little adult supervision. If you’re imaging what I’m imagining, you have a mental picture that only begins to describe the madness that is our quarterly “Limpieza de la Escuela” or “School Cleaning Day.” Once every few months, all our kids and their families are invited to return to school in the afternoon to help us clean our classrooms. This isn’t just the typical sweep, mop, wipe desks cleaning that the classes get every day when the kids leave. This is a complete “move every piece of furniture outside, scrub every inch of every desk and every wall and every window and every fan and every cabinet, cut the grass and rake the leaves and trim the bushes, scrub every chair in the cafeteria” cleaning. It is a big job.

Our kids love cleaning day because it is basically water-games day. We put just about as much water on the floors, walls, and furniture as we do on the kids. There are no rules, there’s very little supervision in each classroom, and they all leave soaking wet. There is a lot of yelling, slipping, sliding, screaming, and fighting. If you know me at all, you know that (although it involves cleaning) this is basically my worst nightmare. Today, 20 minutes in, I decided that I was done and was ready to head back to my house early. Our school coordinator caught me and asked if I could be in charge of the 2nd grade classroom. I looked inside and there was no one in there, so I internally decided that I would just clean the whole classroom by myself, my way, and call it a day. I walked in and started scrubbing desks, mumbling under my breath the whole time. No, this was not my proudest missionary moment (or Jesus-follower moment in general).

Then two things happened.

First, God convicted me and said “Kristin, I didn’t ask you to come to Monte Plata so that every day would be full of work that you find valuable, productive, and Kingdom-building. I asked you to come to Monte Plata to be with me, to follow me, and to joyfully engage in what I’m doing here. And today, I’m scrubbing desks.” Then he added “So suck it up and shut up.” This not-so-gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit changed my scowl into a smile as I began praying for the students who sit in each one of those desks and chose to consciously thank Him for an opportunity to serve the least of these in seemingly the least of ways. How often do I miss out on the intended joy of serving because I'm not satisfied with the way in which I'm being asked to serve?

Second, our kids’ families started showing up. It wasn’t just their parents. Their grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, big brothers and sisters, and cousins all started flooding into the school. And let me tell you something – these people can CLEAN! A team of over ten grandmothers started working on the chairs in the cafeteria. A group of eight dads, uncles, and big brothers started raking, trimming, and cutting the grass, bushes, and flowers. I think one of my favorite moments of life here in Monte Plata thus far was looking out the window today and seeing one of our first graders and his dad raking leaves together in front of our school playground. Three moms came into the 2nd grade classroom with me and got to work on the walls, the windows, the cabinets, the floors, the desks, and the shelves. Dozens and dozens of kind-hearted, servant-minded Dominican adults chose to spend their afternoon cleaning and scrubbing with us. Our school is sparkling now. But the fact that we have a clean school is not what has changed the “limpieza” from one of my most dreaded events to one of my most eagerly anticipated.

I love the “limpieza.” I love it because for one day every few months, our students’ families feel like they can come to our school campus with something to offer. For once, they are the experts. For once, they are the leaders. For once, they are able to proudly give instead of humbly receive. 
The mom who can’t read what the chalkboard says can lovingly and thankfully clean it anyway. 
The uncle who can’t count the desks can scrub them until they shine nonetheless. 
The dad who can’t help his third grade son with his homework can work next to him and teach him what it means to lend a helping hand. 
The grandmother who never made it past the first grade can sweep and mop the eighth grade classroom  with a smile on her face and a song on her lips. 
The aunt who hasn’t had a job in a year can work and feel productive outside of her home for the first time in months. 
The families who rely on God (through our school kitchen) to provide the only meals that their children eat each week can come together and joyfully offer a gift of gratitude for all the ways in which the Lord supplies for our needs here. 

"La limpieza" is the worst the best thing to happen to our school. I praise God for changing my selfish, fleshly eyes and ears into vessels through which He shows me more of His great love and His grand plan to redeem a lost and broken humanity. 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Pasamos por el Fuego


After a day of cleaning and scrubbing to erase the mark and scent of the fire from my house, the theme of “fire” was fresh in my mind as I planned the lesson for Clase Biblica this week. Our group has been a bit smaller lately and 14 girls (plus two little sisters and two other teachers) came to class today. I started the lesson by talking about the fire in our house and what the house looked like when I returned home on Monday. Kaina and Lali (from Casa Monte Plata) also chimed in and described the house as “un disastre” (a disaster) since they helped us clean yesterday after school. The girls were laughing as they described all the male teachers and staff members from school putting out the fire on Friday during class. I still wish someone had recorded a video!

I told the girls that God used the fire to guide me towards stories and verses about fire in the Bible. We read in Daniel 3 about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery (7x more fiery than normal) furnace because they refused to worship anyone but the One True God. I asked the girls to imagine what those young men were thinking when they stood on the precipice, looking down towards the flaming furnace. “Ok God….now would be a good time to rescue us!” Can you even begin to fathom what thoughts were racing through their heads as the guards hurled them down towards the blazing inferno? “Any time now, Lord!”

But God didn’t extinguish the fire. God didn’t put out the flames.

He did, however, stand in the fire with them.

And He did bring them out on the other side.

So often in life we are called to walk through fires. Sometimes the fires are put in our path by God. Sometimes we start our own fires of sin or are forced to face a fire as a consequence of a bad decision. But sometimes lightning strikes unexpectedly and suddenly we are standing in front of a fire that we didn’t ask for and don’t necessarily deserve.  My girls made a list of those metaphorical fires that we have to walk through: broken friendships, hunger, loneliness, sickness and disease, anger, fighting, death, divorce, fear, poverty.

The fires we walk through
I told my girls that we often wish that God would simply “put out the fires.” But I really think we need to change our prayers – not that God would extinguish the flames, but that He would teach us how to trust Him more as we walk through the flames with Him. God is calling me not to stare at the fire, but to stare directly at Him as He leads me through it.  Fires are an opportunity to look at God more closely, get to know Him better, and trust Him further.  

The Bible is full of references to God’s presence in the fire. He does not leave us to walk through the difficulties of life on our own.

Exodus 13:21 – And the Lord went before them (the Israelites leaving captivity in Egypt)…by night in a pillar of fire to give them light…
God in the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:24 – The Lord your God is a consuming fire…
God in the fire.

1 Kings 18:38-39 – Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the offering…And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God…”
God in the fire.

The girls and I ended our time together by etching Psalm 66:12 in scratch-art paper. We talked about how the smoke of a fire (represented by the black surface of the paper) sometimes obscures our view of all the Lord is doing for us in the midst of the trial. But when we look for God, we will always find Him right there with us, walking through the fire, guiding us with His love, giving us His peace, and shining through the smoke with His hope.

We went through fire…yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.
-Psalm 66:12

We etched this promise into our scratch-art paper and I told the girls that this verse doesn’t just apply to those of us who have already come out of a fire. It applies before and during the fire as well.

I see the fire that I am going to walk through, and I trust that you will bring me out.

I am walking through the fire right now, and I trust that you are bringing me out.

One of the teachers who helps with our Bible study received a phone call during class to tell her that her grandmother had been taken to the hospital. We stopped and prayed before she left that God would give her His peace as He leads her through this fire. Five girls stayed behind after class and asked me to pray for specific fires that they are walking through in their homes and with their families. I pray this afternoon that God uses our lesson to encourage and strengthen some of you who are reading right now. If you’re looking at a fire, standing in the middle of one, or finally coming out on the other side, find peace in the promise that our God is walking through the flames with you. 


Working on our projects
Working on our projects
Our "fire" snacks - red and orange soda and nacho cheese doritos :)