Jef, Ivan and I woke up with a full day of activities planned. We were to travel to Samana, about 3 hours North on the island, and explore a large waterfall called El Limon. We arrived to find out that because it had been raining for the past few days, that it was unadvisable to walk because of deep mud and water in places and we would need to take horses. When they saw me, they began to discuss amongst themselves that it would be best that I ride the mule (not to be confused with a donkey-my mistake) because I was so small. I laughed thinking they were joking.
A few minutes later, I saw a mule being led my way. The joyful young man working there told me to get on. He reassured me that she was very calm and loved being ridden. So I got on, the guys got on their horses, and we went off. The sights were unreal and the guy leading me told me that regardless of how many times a day he sees the view- it never gets old. About half an hour later, we arrived at the waterfall. It was breathtaking- to say the least. I stood in awe of the creativity of Our Creator and was thankful to see the work of His hands. We swam and laughed and had little fish nibble at our feet for a while. On our way back, the guy leading me asked if he could play some music. He started to play an English worship song. "There is power, in the name of Jesus..." I smiled and asked him if he understood the song. He then played the same song in Spanish and sang along. I asked him if he attended a church. His face lit up and he told me about four months ago, he accepted Jesus. Two weeks prior he had been baptized in his church. He began to share with me about his family and their disapproval of his new way of life. He used to spend all his nights in the streets and was involved in drug trafficing. He told me that they believed church was a "waste of time" and "just a bunch of fairy tales". He told me he dreams of running a youth program in his church because he believes its crucial to reach teens. They open their church every night for worship, prayer, and fellowship because they believe that people so often are simply searching for a safe place. We talked about the Dominican church, the global church, and about hearing God's voice. My heart was so encouraged by his fresh excitement about what Christ is doing in his life. I was blessed to be able to speak over His influence in his family and pray with him- that God would use him in mighty ways, fulfill dreams, and continue to give him boldness in his faith.
As we drove away, Esther 4:14 came to my heart. "Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.." I am so grateful for a God who gives us opportunities to talk and share about him. Not only with total strangers- but with the ones we love. I often look back and see the times I missed it, when I could have and should have spoken up- but He reminds me in those moments of His grace.
Grace on grace on grace.
Thank you Jesus for undeserved grace, for divine appointments, and for awesome mule-riding-waterfall-finding adventures. You're too good to me.
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