Adventures of the Dominican Republic: A trip to remember...

It's a little bit hard to convey the excitement and anticipation leading up to this week but all the hype was for good reason and we were not disappointed.

Mike has been making preparations for the IWU Men's Soccer team to come to the Dominican for almost 6 months now. It seemed like the week would never get here and now all of a sudden it is over and they are on the plane back to the "real world." We forgot how exhausting the college age is, even though we were just there not too long ago. But we also forgot what an awesome energy they bring whenever we are blessed to work with them.

The soccer team started their week off right away with clinics in Los Perez. Just like other Dominican-style activities dealing with soccer, almost nobody on our list showed up. But we quickly found replacements as a group of 20 American men seem to draw a crowd. Soccer isn't a very popular sport in the Dominican Republic, which I think is one of the reasons we were drawn to this type of ministry here. A great opportunity to give kids who don't play the other popular sports of baseball, baseketball and volleyball could have another chance at becoming skilled at a sport. We found quickly that the kids (and young adults) who showed up had a natural ability to run, kick and play soccer. Obviously, they weren't the next Landon Donovan or David Beckham, at least not yet! It was such a different experience for the IWU guys as the Dominican children could not get enough of their personal attention and technical lessons. It was mentioned that in the states, the kids at their camps only want to play games rather than learn the disciplines of soccer.

Along with the clinics that the guys hosted, they also played three competitive "friendly's" against Dominican teams. Their first was against a Haitian team that one of our pastors, Romano, coaches. The IWU guys quickly showed their skills as they beat the team 4-1. The second game was against a club-select team from La Vega. This team was matched much closer to the IWU guys and ended up beating the Americans 2-1. The third game they played against was the Dominican U-25 National team at one of their stadiums in San Cristobal. It was obvious after the first few minutes of the game that the National team was definitely here to give the boys a run for their money. This team was very quick and had significantly more skill than the other two teams they played. After a goal in the first half against the Americans, it was back and forth throughout the rest of the game ending in a 1-0 loss to the Dominican National team. The guys played incredibly well and we even had some fellow missionaries from the Santo Domingo area come and support our team. There was a good 600 fans that showed up to support their team and a group of about 30 to cheer on the Americans. It was so fun just to be in that environment and to watch the Christ-like attitudes of the IWU guys shine through on the field, even when things weren't going their way.

The trip ended with a great final "debriefing" where, I believe, the guys became a closer team than they were when they arrived here in the DR. These guys and their transparency really impacted not only the Domincans they worked with, but also our American staff. When we were tired and weary, they gave us so much energy just watching their interactions with those around them. Many guys stepped out of their comfort zones this week and gave their testimonies in front of complete strangers, as well as trying their hats at whatever Spanish they could pick up. For Mike, it was a chance to get reconnected with friends that he has missed so much and for me, it was an opportunity to watch my husband take a leadership role that he was born to take. This definitely was a trip to remember...