We left Virginia at about 6:00 am on a freezing cold day in January and landed in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic that afternoon at a blazing 80 degrees. The minute we made it onto that bus with Henry we knew this place was part of our lives and future.

We spent the next week serving with Dio and Pathway Dominicana . I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t know what to expect. While I tend to be the more spontaneous and adventurous of the two of us I still like a schedule and a plan. We were truly on island time with others making all the plans in a place where the primary language was Spanish- of which neither of us spoke.

We spent the next week building benches, painting the Sunday school rooms, cleaning up around the church, hosting a men’s dinner, delivering food to shut-ins, and visiting with several local communities learning their needs.

It was hot, exhausting, dirty, and fun.