Happy New (school) Year!

As this new school year is about to begin, here are a few highlights from last year. Along with a few ways you can get involved this year!

One of my favorite parts of this second year at Doulos has been the growing and continued relationships with students at school. It was fun to watch relationships with students grow in various different ways. One way that relationships were growing was in the classroom. Getting to teach students a second time around not only made teaching more effective, but it made it more fun too.

Beyond that, Emily and I got to share our marriage and our life together with students by teaching a devotional class together. Two days a week Emily would join me in class as we talked to students about different topics from the Bible. It was really fun to share our different strengths together.

Here I am celebrating the craziness of Doulos’ math madness week by doing and obstacle course with Oliver.

Without a doubt one of our favorite parts and richest blessings was our community. We often had a chance to share fun things like meals, games, and movies. As well as help each other out in times of loss, transition and change.

Here we are enjoying some time off with friends, at Spirit Mountain, a coffee farm that supports Doulos.

Among the other highlights was “campaigners” (Bible study) with a group of high school boys. Every other Tuesday I had the great joy (with the help of my co-leader/friend Tim) of having 3-5 boys over for a time of hanging out and sharing. Our time was usually comprised of eating some burnt hotdogs, sharing stories from the week, making fun of each other some, and a time of reading and discussion.

Certainly the most challenging part of this year was the death of one of our students, Gabriel. Gabriel was fun-loving student who brought smiles and laughs to all of his peers. I had the great privilege of getting to know Gabriel through many laughs in class, crazy dance moves and singing songs together at Young Life, serving together at WyldLife Camp (a camp for middle school students), and times of hanging out over ice cream. Please continue to keep Gabriel’s family and the other students in your thoughts and prayers.

This is Gabriel playing around as usual, celebrating alternative energy which he was learning about in class.

Thank you for all of your continued love and support for me, for Emily, and for our students and friends in the Dominican Republic, without you everything we do we truly be impossible.

This is a picture from the “Vida Joven” (Young Life) Dominican Republic summer camps.

Finally, Emily and I have decided to continue working here for another wonderful year. In order to continue to live and serve here in the Dominican Republic we need your help. I have been richly blessed by the generous giving of other so much so, that much of money for this year is already taken care of! However, in order to meet my budget for this year I will need to raise $3,000. I would love if you would consider joining me in prayer and/or financial support this year.

If you are interested in giving you can do so through our website http://doulosdiscovery.org/support/donate/ be sure to fill in “Brad Holehan” in the box.

Thanks so much!

-Brad

a 60 year old man in a graphic tee & red pants

normal - [nor-mal]
spanish for "normal".

What is normal anyway?

I'm realizing more and more throughout my time here that there are some things that I've forgotten aren't normal.
Like seeing 60 year old men hanging out at a corner store wearing an Aeropostale graphic tee and bright red pants.

Wait, what? Yeah, that's not normal.
Or is it?

I'm no longer sure. After living in the Dominican Republic for nearly four years, I feel like my barometer of normality is off. I find myself not even thinking twice about things that would turn heads for a regular Chicago suburbanite and good Midwestern girl.

This horse is being towed by a man on a motorcycle
on the shoulder of a major highway.

Driving.
- There are more motorcycles than cars.
- Traffic lights and laws seem to just be suggestions.
- In our little town there are often horses on the streets and motorcycles on the sidewalks.
- The back of a motorcycle can carry anything from a hundred loaves of bread to a washing machine.

There are palm trees everywhere.
And I don't even notice anymore. Yes, this might be normal for some of those southern states, but this girl is used to snow banks and pine trees during the winter months. Now, I see palm trees everywhere I look, and when I think about, that's just strange.

Apparel.
- 60 year old men who wear Aeropostale graphic tees and bright red pants.Yes, this happens. All of the time. And not just red pants either- purple, yellow, green, royal blue… you name it, they wear it.
- Wearing jeans in 95 degree weather (and feeling super chilly when it's 70 degrees out).
- High heels: whenever women get dressed up, high heels are a must. (A little difficult for this girl who has worn high heels 3 times in her life!)

Around the house.
- Turning on the stove or oven by turning on the gas and lighting a match (no electric starters here, folks).
- Flipping a switch to turn on the hot water heater before hopping into the shower.
- No power for the majority of the work day, most of the time. The city power goes out about 3-5 days per week for about 4-7 hours a day. 

Noise.
I think this might be one of the biggest ones. Right now, if I really listen, I can hear the following sounds:
- roosters crowing
- dogs barking
- loud motorcycles on the street
- the neighbors blaring Latin music
- men working: yelling at one another in Spanish and the clunking of machinery
But again, I hardly notice it anymore. If you've ever talked with me on Skype, you know what I mean. My mom is constantly pointing out the squawking chickens, noisy neighborhood kids, the never-ceasing barking of dogs, and I just smile and say, "oh, really? I hadn't noticed."

And there's so, so much more. 
What's your normal?
Or even better, where are you seeing a new normal in your life?


(written by Emily)

bright orange extension cords & the Advent season

luz - [looz]
spanish for "light".

The bright orange extension cord strung between Sara's house and ours.

So, our good friend Sara moved in next door last week, and we love it. Pictured above, you can see our house (on the left) and her house (on the right); there's about six feet between the two. There has already been a number of conversations between our guest bedroom and Sara's kitchen windows, and talk of a tin-can phone.

As you can also see pictured above, we lent Sara a bit of electricity last week. The electric company was being a bit slow and difficult (not that surprising), and so, we threw an extension cord from one window to another, and there was light in Sara's apartment.

Here in the DR, light- electricity- isn't one of those 'for-sure' things that you can count on. It can go out at any moment, with no warning, and with no clue as to when it will come back. You can flip a switch, open the refrigerator, turn on your water heater (you have to turn them on and wait 20 minutes to take a hot shower), and not know if the light will go on, the food will be cooling or the water will start to warm. It's just one of those things that happens when you live in a developing country.

The common Dominican thing to say when the electricity goes out is “se fue la luz” which literally translates to “the light left”. And when it comes back on Dominicans exclaim “llegó la luz” or “the light arrived”. I’ve been in Dominican neighborhoods that erupt into applause when the electricity comes back on.

Light. It’s something so simple and yet it has the power to change so much. I never realized how much I depend on electricity until one night about 6 months into living in the DR, the lights went out in my apartment at 7:00pm. My computer was dead so I couldn’t work or watch a movie. It was so dark that the candle I lit didn’t even give enough light to read by. I didn’t know what to do, so I simply climbed in bed and waited in anticipation for the electricity to come back on. It wasn’t until the middle of the night, when I was fast asleep, that every single light in my apartment turned back on. You never know when those lights are going to show up.

The apostle John writes in his gospel:
    “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the
      world.” (John 1.9)

The advent season is the beginning of the Church's calendar year. It begins the fourth Sunday before December 25 and ends on Christmas day. Advent is a time about waiting, hoping, preparing, coming. It's about an excitement building in anticipation of the Word becoming flesh; of a baby being born; of the arrival of the Messiah, the Christ; of what we've all been waiting for.

During this season we wait for this Light, the Light that is going to show up soon. We wait in anticipation and hope for the lights to come back on. We hope that we won't need that extension cord draped between our houses anymore. We prepare for the day when the true Light will come into this world again. We wait and we hope.

We wait to say in excitement and with applause:
¡Llegó la luz!
The electricity has been turned on so we can take down the bright orange extension cord.
The true Light has come into this world!

This post is based on a blog post from my advent series two years ago. With a few additions.
(Written by Emily)

being revolutionary: servant leadership.

doulos - δοῦλος - [doo'-los]
Greek for "servant".
in spanish:
sirviente - [seer-ve-en’-tay]

Part of Doulos' beautiful campus. Brad's classroom is in the building on the left.

A little over a week ago Brad and I were at a gathering of parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members at Doulos Discovery School (where Brad is the high school math teacher and where part of our Young Life ministry is), and these are some things we overheard:

"Cuando entramos la puerta de Doulos, 

no importa la raza, ni color, ni idioma, ni estatus social; somos una familia."

"When we enter the gate at Doulos, 

it doesn't matter our race, color, language, social status; we are family."

 - a mother of 4 Doulos students

"We are the only school where we have to beg the children to go home; 

to tell them: vayan a su casa." 

- the principal of Doulos

"It's not just a school; it's a counter-cultural movement."

"The effects of what happens here will ripple through eternity."

This place is truly special. It has its faults- of course- but I believe that Doulos really is doing incredible things to change this community. Their vision is to "educate and equip servant leaders through Christian discipleship and expeditionary learning to impact the Dominican Republic". This is where "doulos" comes in: servant leaders; leaders who serve others instead of themselves: what a revolutionary thought. It's such a blessing to witness and to be a part of.

Check out the video below to hear about the educational systems, government and culture of the Dominican Republic and how Doulos is working to make a difference in this country. (It's beautifully illustrated by one of Doulos' students!)

(written by Emily)

motorcycle diaries: denzel the moto

moto - [mo’-to]
spanish for "motorcycle".

A few months ago, Emily and I moved into our new place; an awesome little house called a "casita". Our new place is about a 10-15 minute walk from school so naturally I was left with 2 options: get up extra early and make the walk or get to work in STYLE.

For much of the summer I had talked to Emily about getting a moto, which is the most common form of transportation in our city of Jarabacoa, but had never really totally decided. 

That was until our good friend Keith came over to hang out one day. Keith said he had decided to buy a moto for this year and was going to look tomorrow. That was all the catalyst I needed. The next day Keith and I were riding around town on our new shiny motos "Denzel" my beautiful Zongshen moto (shown below) and "Will Smith" Keith's Krypton moto.

Since that day, relaxing weekend moto rides have become one of Emily and my favorite activities. It is a great way to "get away" for an hour and explore our beautiful surroundings.

(written by Brad)

loving our neighbor?

vecino - [vay-thee’-no]
spanish for "neighbor".

Who is our neighbor? And how are we supposed to love them?

These questions seem easy to answer for any seasoned Christian who has probably heard countless sermons and stories on the parable of the Good Samaritan. Everyone is our neighbor and we are supposed to love them all with all that we've got.
But here's another question: What if one of our neighbors isn't loving our other neighbor? What do we do then? We can keep on loving both neighbors, but how do we reconcile the other two to each other?
And then, what if the one neighbor is a whole nation and the other neighbor is an entire people group?

One island. Two nations. Lots of turmoil.

The Dominican Republic has been in the news lately. If you haven't heard, there has been much talk around a recent Dominican supreme court decision about the status of Haitians in the DR. It's no secret that there is, and has been throughout the island's history, much racism against Haitians here. (For a good article on this, click here.) As I understand it, this new law calls into question the Dominican citizenship of the sons and daughters of Haitian 'migrant' workers- going back to 1929. It means that people who consider the DR to be home are being disowned by the country, affecting their national identity and their access to public education and healthcare:

"The nation’s top court has declared that the children of undocumented Haitian migrants — even those born on Dominican soil decades ago — are no longer entitled to citizenship, throwing into doubt the status of tens of thousands of people here who have never known any other national identity." - from the New York Times

"Last week the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that the children of undocumented migrants who have been in the Dominican Republic and registered as Dominicans as far back as 1929, cannot have Dominican nationality as their parents are considered to be 'in transit.'" - from the United Nations News

It's a complicated situation, I'm sure. Brad and I have spent hours talking about it- what to think, how to react, how to engage others in the conversation- we're at a loss. We know the answer is 'love', but what does that look like? What does it look like to discuss with our Dominican friends about the decisions of their government? How do we talk to our students about all of it? And how do we do all of this in a country and culture where we are guests, also foreigners, and want to be sensitive and not simply impose our own beliefs as the 'know-it-all Americans'?

We're not sure. And we're still searching for, thinking about, praying about, engaging in conversations about the answer. Until then, I've been reading and meditating on the following verses:

"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." - Leviticus 19.33-34

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" - Luke 10.27



(written by Emily)

things I'm thankful for today

1. cool mornings with a mountain view from the balcony, my kindle and a cup of cafe.

2. an inverter at our house which allows us to have power through a back-up battery even when the entire city doesn't have electricity.
3. skype, facetime, google chat, facebook... and all other forms of technology that make it possible for me to love friends and family in all parts of the world. just today I have connected with people in Nigeria, Bolivia, North Carolina, and Chicago. what a blessing.
4. delicious, fresh produce that I buy from my veggie guy at the market. yes, I have a veggie guy.

5. the amazing people we work with who are way more than just coworkers; they are incredibly dear friends.

6. our subscription to NHL gamecenter live so that we can occasionally watch our beloved Chicago Blackhawks all the way from the Caribbean.
7. our spacious front porch (that also doubles as our dining room and triples as my office) where we play games and host friends for dinner and cook on our giant grill.
8. the mountains that preside majestically over our town that remind me of God's beauty every single day.
9. afternoon thunderstorms that cool off Jarabacoa, making it almost feel like a chilly fall night.

10. my trusty green Toyota Rav4 that gets me places safely, even though it likes to drink up the gas that is over $6.50/gallon.
11. barbecue chicken pizza delivered to our front door on a motorcycle in 20 minutes.
12. my sweet, sweet husband who loves me so well and is just so much fun to be around.
13. for the awesome YL staff, volunteer leaders and kids who make my job so, so enjoyable.

14. for the women in my Wednesday night Bible study and our honest conversations.
15. for my every day needs that are met: clean water to drink, food to eat, a roof over my head, and love of friends and family and God.


(written by Emily)