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)