rachael & raquel: parte dos

líder - [lee’-der]
spanish for "leader".

(Rachael- second from the left, her awesome sister Rebekah- second from the right, three amazing Santiago Young Life leaders- Beth, Audrey and Angie, and me at my wedding! The two high school sisters, Rachael and Rebekah, provided the beautiful music at the ceremony.)

I shared Raquel's thoughts on Young Life in the last post. Here is what my friend Rachael wrote:

"Young Life was definitely one of the biggest highlights of my high school years. I would leave club or campaigners every Monday night feeling unexplainably happy. I realized it was because God's joy was present at every gathering. I think the thing I loved most was how each leader was so invested in my life and the lives of my friends. They all went out of their way to be there for me, care for me, listen to me, and most of all be an example to me of how a godly woman lives life serving, praising, and loving her Creator. Looking back now, I am so grateful that my leaders not only loved and poured into me, but they also encouraged me to be a leader and role model for those around me and those younger than me. I not only viewed Young Life club and campaigners as a place to be filled, but also a place to reach out to others. God really used Young Life leaders to draw me closer to him and grow in spiritual maturity, and for that I will always be grateful."

Here's a shout out to all of the incredible Young Life volunteer leaders in the Dominican Republic who I have the privilege of working with, and who share life with middle school and high school students every day. They are truly a wonderful group of people with an amazing love for teenagers and for God. And they are seriously making a difference in the lives of the kids they serve. Just ask Rachael.


Fun Facts
- There are currently 9 adult volunteer leaders, 5 student volunteer leaders, and 1 part-time staff person for Young Life and WyldLife in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.
- There are over 200 volunteer leaders for Young Life (English-speaking ministry) and Vida Joven (Spanish-speaking ministry) in the Dominican Republic.
- There are over 45,500 Young Life volunteer leaders and over 3,000 full-time Young Life staff worldwide.

(written by Emily)

rachael & raquel: parte uno

familia - [fah-mee'-le-ah]
spanish for "family".

Last week I got to spend two whole days with these awesome chicas. When I met Rachael and Raquel, only a few days after moving here three years ago, they were high school girls beginning their sophomore year here in the DR. Now, they are young women, high school graduates with plans of attending colleges in the States.

(Raquel, Rachael and me hiking a waterfall last week.)

I recently asked them if they'd be willing to write a little something about what Young Life meant to them during their high school career so that I could share it with all of you. Here is my friend Raquel's response:

"I remember always looking forward to attend Young Life. It was a place where I was taught to always love others and be obvious about my faith in Christ. In fact, Young Life wasn’t a place. It was family. It IS family. It is only with family that I will be myself to a point where I am positive that no matter what I do or say I will always be loved. This is how I felt with the Young Life crew.

At Young Life I could always count on anyone for anything which taught me to always put others before myself, just like our leaders had done with me.

Just thinking about Young Life makes me feel an incomparable joy. It was only at Young Life where it was proven that being a Christian isn’t boring, where our leaders not only taught us, but encouraged us to be leaders everywhere we went to, where our leaders would come up with the craziest, coolest and most fun activities with the pursuit of getting other teens to come to Young Life and hear about Jesus.

If one of our leaders' purposes was to have those who were Christian keep developing a more intimate relationship with Christ, then they can be sure that they accomplished their goal with me."

I've had the opportunity over the past three years to spend lots of time with these two and others. To be with them in the ups and downs of all of our lives. We have shared an incredible amount of laughter, and also our fair share of tears. Like Raquel wrote so beautifully, we have become a family. Young Life kids and Young Life leaders; friends; sisters in Christ.

(written by Emily)

our new life together

vida - [vee’-dah]

spanish for "life".

It's been almost two months since the wedding day, and I'd say that we're both loving married life. We make dinner together every night, play lots of Monopoly Deal, read Harry Potter out loud to each other, decorate our new apartment, and now are starting up a blog together. We have game nights with friends, go on moto rides together, hang out and just talk. Being married is lots of fun if you ask me.

(on a hot air balloon ride on our honeymoon!)

Of course, there are some challenges. After all, two becoming one isn't the easiest thing to do. There have been a few disagreements and learning moments in the past seven weeks. All those little details of your life, all of a sudden, have to combine with someone else's details. It gets a little messy sometimes.

Frederick Buechner has a few things to say about this. Buechner is my favorite author, hands down. He is a theologian who writes beautifully about God and the every day world. He writes the following about marriage:

"They say they will love, comfort, honor each other to the end of their days. They say they will cherish each other and be faithful to each other always. They say they will do these things not just when they feel like it, but even- for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health- when they don't feel like it at all. In other words, the vows they make at a marriage could hardly be more extravagant. They give away their freedom. They take on themselves each other's burdens. They bind their lives together in ways that are even more painful to unbind emotionally, humanly, than they are to unbind legally.... They both still have their lives apart as well as a life together. They both still have their separate ways to find. But a marriage made in heaven is one where a man and a woman become more richly themselves together than the chances are either of them could ever have managed to become alone. When Jesus changed the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, perhaps it was a way of saying more or less the same thing." 

- Frederick Buechner in Beyond Words, "Marriage"

Life together. Every day I am learning more and more what this looks like. Two months ago I made these promises to this incredible man; I gave him my life, my freedom; I vowed to take on his burdens. But I love that, through it all, I am becoming more myself. I can feel it. I am a better person because of Brad. I feel more confident, more beautiful, better at my job, and so much more.

In the same way, years ago, both Brad and I gave our life to another Someone. And our lives haven't been the same since. While we love our jobs and where we live, we wouldn't be here unless we had given up our lives, our freedoms, and traded them in for something better: Jesus. Because of Him, we are becoming more and more ourselves every day. It's this amazing process of life and love. It can get messy, but it's worth it. Like He says, "Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it" (Matthew 16.25). 

Keep checking back to this blog for more stories about our life and about our love for each other, for the country of the Dominican Republic, for the students we serve, for our friends and family, but mostly for our great God who is at the center of all life and who is Love.

(written by Emily)