asian sensation

Belize

Hello from Belize…we have made it to the final week of our trip! When we arrived here we were awed by the beauty of this country. There are tropical jungles covering the myan mountains and turquoise oceans lining white sandy beaches.  Even the bush has a rough and dignified beauty.

We were picked up by Pastor Ron from the airport; he is a true New Yorker…accent and everything.  Once we fit all of our luggage into the back of his pickup truck we were off to Blackman Eddy, which is a village about 1.5hours away from the airport.

When we arrived we immediately knew that this would be the perfect end to our trip! We were excited to discover working showers WITH HOT WATER, English speaking people and wonderful American food is served at the compound! We were also thrilled to discover the motto that the team has been living by for the past several weeks: “work hard, but play harder." 

The team does work very hard. They have spent many a day painting houses, building, washing cars. or doing anything else that Pastor Ron needs help with, but in return he makes sure that they have tons of fun during their time off. Hearing their stories makes us just a little jealous. They have seen myan ruins,  gone to sink holes and caves, been cliff jumping, tubing and even slid down waterfalls.

We are excited to start our work here and are believing that we will get our best footage yet. We have had 3 previous teams to practice on now we are going to pull out all of the stops.

Team Awesome Amazing Americas is ready to rock Belize’s face off!!!

 

goodbye yet again...

Our team has had an amazing time in the Dominican Republic. We have been blessed to meet the other team and the kids at the Home. They were all so sweet and we feel blessed to have met them. We are keeping all of you in our prayers and cannot wait to see you again at debriefing!

For those of you praying, please keep us in your prayers as we leave for Belize and the last leg of our trip.

Prayer points:
1. finishing strong
2. health
3. spiritual awareness
4. peaceful relationships

Thank you all so much!
Team Awesome Amazing Americas out!

free days

While at a ministry site the teams from ORU work hard, but occassionally there is a free day where they are allowed to go out have just have fun. These free days are few and far between, but when they come around let me assure you that ORU students know how to have fun.

While in Dominican we had most of saturday and all of Sunday free. The time was spent walking around the city and exploring. It was fun to see all of the historic sites .We were able to see the monument that was erected for the founding of the city and Christopher Columbus’ house.

We also found a street that is famous for having tourist shops and spent several hours shopping for souveniers. We found loads of treasures that we bought for ourselves, friends or family members.

We made a pit stop to buy fresh frozen yogurt and then ended the day buying juice at our favorite local restaurant. It was amazing to just relax and have fellowship together and helped to rejuvinate us for the week to come!

Refreshed and blessed….Team Awesome Amazing Americas out!

when in India...

Hello from the Asian Sensation!  We made it safely from India to China and then from China to Japan, where we are hanging out with the team in Tokyo.  Life has been really good, and our time in China (while short) was amazing and full.  Tammy and Kevin Schneider were visiting the team at the same time as we were, so it was quite the ORU party :)  The amazing people at New Life took us around the facility and showed us their factory, foster home, and school.  Last Tuesday, we were treated to a visit to the Great Wall - which was pretty epic.

But a little bit of catching up is in order, considering that China blocks Blogger and we haven't gotten to update.  First off, here's some important lessons we learned in India:

• If random men offer to assist you with your luggage, they aren't being friendly - they are just looking for some rupees.  Decline firmly or be willing to fork over the cash.
• People will stop you on the street and ask if their kid can take a picture with you.
• If ever you are offered a ride in a rickshaw by an Indian man named "Bob," the answer is always yes.  Just bee sure to have some extra time allotted, as he will want to take you around half of India.  Also, he will probably want to take you home to meet his wife and 3 children - just be stern, call him James Bond, and all will be fine.
• If you use the bathroom on a train, it goes straight onto the tracks outside.  Therefore - never walk on the tracks.
• Also, while on trains: if you're leaning out the train and feel moisture, it's probably not water.
• Always ride in a vehicle with tinted windows, otherwise you will gain unwanted attention from Indian men and beggars.
• When you see a sign that says "TO LET," it's not "TOILET" misspelled.  This will save major disappointment in an emergency.
• "TO LET" means "for rent."
• When asked if you want another portion of rice, it doesn't matter what you say.  They give it to you anyways.
• Green chili peppers will make yo9u cry.
• Any public place can become a public bathroom.
• If you shake the hand of a child, or take their picture, be prepared to do the same for about 500 more children - who will mob you.
• Everybody in India eats with their hands.  Some people shouldn't.

Dominican singers

During our travels we have experienced many climates, people, and events but this week we encountered something completely new. While preparing for church the older kids at the home came to us and asked if we would like to go with them to a concert. Of course we were up for it, I mean who doesn’t like concerts?

We left the home as one huge group, walked a little, then separated into cabs. We of course were the fun car and had a dance party in the back of the cab. When we were dropped off we found ourselves in front of a very loud bar….we thought, “hmm this is interesting. I am not sure this is oru approved.” luckily…it was not our final destination.

We continued on our quest through several blocks of neighborhood, walked by the YMCA then through a dark wooded park. Then we saw the spotlights and knew that we had reached our glorious destination. We entered and immediately ran to our seats. Everyone was so excited!

The concert itself was comprised of several Christain artists from the Dominican Republic. It was a great time of fellowship, worship and dancing. We did not leave until 1:30 a.m. which was very late for us because we have typically been going to bed at like 10 p.m.

Having a blast…..Team Awesome Amazing Americas out!

days gone by...

Team Dominican Republic has 8 members, 1 boy and 7 girls. They are basically three separate missions teams that were combined into one.

Three of their members work at a hospital here called Cure International. They have been observing surgeries, helping patients and doing any other odd jobs that need to be done around the hospital.

The remaining four girls work at a school called Biblo in the mornings. Most of the kids at the home go to this school. They have been teaching English and helping teachers in the classrooms. In the afternoons they come back to the home, eat lunch, play with the kids and teach additional English classes to the kids that wish to learn more.

The sole boy of the group also stays at a separate location. Many times, he comes to the home in the morning and works in the office doing accounting work for World Vision.

In the mornings each various group separates and they are not together again until around 4:00 p.m. Their evenings generally consist of church or playing with the children.

It has been interesting to try to get all of the footage that we need. We pretty much decided on a divide and conquer tactic. The boys got the footage of the hospital and we both separately went to the school to get interviews and shoot. We have been very busy during our time in the Dominican Republic.

More to come….Team Awesome Amazing Americas out!