My favorite part of the amazing week in the Dominican Republic was discovering that their culture is one fiercely rooted in music and worship.
Our little Waynesburg crew played Mafia, an exciting strategy game best played with big groups of people, in the upper assembly room each night. As we laughed with one another, powerful spurts of music would often blast into the night air from the surrounding houses. Friends and family could be heard singing and laughing from faraway distances.
There was rarely a moment when music was not playing somewhere nearby.
As a result of this discovery, the church services were the most impactful part for me throughout the week. Each attended service sparked an inspiration to reflect on the emotions that were flowing throughout the room and from my heart.
The first service we visited was the Mountain Top Church. We traveled across a beautiful landscape to reach our destination.
The cement building where we worshipped was openly designed and sun-casted, which invited a sense of fresh air as we lifted our voices. Before the singing properly began, the women at the front of the room would speak and shout with their hands lifted to the sky. Although they were praying in Spanish, a language I am slowly becoming familiar with, to this day, I have little idea what they were saying.
After several minutes of prayer, the band jumped into action, and we began to sing. Worshipping in the Dominican Republic is significantly different than singing in America. Their voices were not low or quiet. They sang at the top of their lungs, and the sound reverberated through my body and pulled every bit of passion that I could muster. As we sang together, I could barely hear my own voice.
By the time we finished singing, my throat was raw and tears threatened to spill onto my flushed face. It was my first time experiencing a Dominican church service, and I felt transformed.
The second church service I attended was directly in the town.
The people of the second church were incredibly welcoming. Unlike most spaces, the building was air-conditioned. While the cool air glided across our faces, many locals approached our group and voiced friendly hellos.
This service developed very similarly to the first one; the men and women prayed with a passion I had never witnessed before that week. As we sang, there was no space in which sound did not occupy.
Very rarely did music not fill the room we worshipped in. The only moments where a soft melody did not play in the background were when the woman gave that night’s message and when sophomore political science major Lluvia Suarez gave her unbelievably inspiring testimony.
Suarez’s impassioned story about her struggles with mental health and her journey to find her faith in God settled in my heart in a way no testimony has done before. A local woman also felt very touched by her testimony and an incredible bond was formed right before our eyes. A seed had grown into a breathtaking flower.
Many bonds were established in the Dominican Republic that will remain in our hearts for the rest of our lives. The cattle truck rides and group meals will forever be cherished as a week full of adventure and service.
On the plane ride back to the United States, I was fortunate enough to have a window seat overlooking the vast sea. As I glanced out at the cotton candy clouds coming closer on our descent, the sun was beginning to set across the distant horizon. My ears were popping, and the plane’s cabin was dark.
As the clouds began to consume the body of the plane and the deep purple and orange rays shone in the dimming evening, the moment felt like a dream. God made this trip, this sunset and this moment possible. He taught me how to live in the moment and to plant seeds wherever I venture.
Wherever you are in life, whatever struggles or situations you are enduring, I encourage you to take a leap of faith. I was very nervous going into the trip, but God cast my worries aside and showed me wondrous things and introduced me to incredible people.
I encourage you to open your heart, your mind and your soul and go on a mission trip or visit that family or friend you know is struggling right now. Share the gospel and plant that seed, for it will completely change your life.
