Deeper into darkness......Bringing in the light!

well, i guess this time around i'd like to introduce you all to some new people, and yet another project i'm taking a part in here in the Dominican Republic. a couple weeks ago, God separately laid on my heart and the hearts of a few others, a burden for the large number of prostitutes in the Dominican, specifically in Jarabacoa. prostitution is a huge problem here, but there is almost nothing being done to help, almost in the entire country. researching, we found only one site where prostitutes are given aid, in Santo Domingo, the capital. how sad! the plight of these women is truly heartbreaking, and we hope to create a safe haven for those who have been affected by a life of ill use. here in the photo is the group of people we're working with - all except me are teachers at Escuela Caribe, another school farther up in the mountain for troubled teens. we're calling the operation ACISRD - Alianza en Contra de la Industrial Sexual en la Republica Dominiana. what a mouthful! but it means Alliance Against the Sexual Industry in the D.R. now, obviously we're starting completely from scratch, and none of us really know much about it, so at this point we have been doing research, a few people have been speaking with the prostitutes that are around, and the rest of us are trying to network with other places and people that know more about what we are trying to accomplish.

truthfully, even after living here for almost 9 months now, i still find some of customs and 'what's normal' here shocking. i don't wish to go into detail, but the reality is taht this is a very sexual culture, and it's very messed up. when we got right down to the point, incest and child prostitution is very normal in the most poverty stricken families, and if anyone's still a virgin by the time they're 15, something is 'wrong'. how heartbreaking, to know what many of the children that we work with here at school go home to lives like this! it does make me so thankful for places like the Ark, where some children are safe, and also the hard work that Christian families here have to do to keep their families afloat in such a culture.

so, as we move on and look forward, our final goal is to eventually have a safehouse for these women, where they can come for medical care, food, a place to stay, someone to help them if they want to get out, and most importantly, the good news that they were created for more than this, and are loved by Jesus more than they could imagine. what a wonderful message of hope for broken hearts! so, we would like to within a few months, open a sort of night-care program for the children of these prostitutes - sometimes when their mother goes out to 'work', the children just have to come with her, because there isn't a safe place to go. our strategy is to start with the children, in order to knock at the door of the mother's heart - some of these women are very hardened by their experience, and it will take much loving patience to reach them. please pray for us as we move forward in this! if you're interested in knowing more, you can always email me, and i'll send you the packet of info/research we've made - spanglishgirl87@gmail.com
thanks for all your prayers, and i hope you have a blessed week!! here is a website of another amazing ministry for prostitutes in caraballo, where you can actively begin helping if God so moves you! www.latienda.moonfruit.com these women make beautiful things and sell them through stateside contacts, giving them a work to do outside of prostitution. you can find out more there.

Semana Santa

Happy Easter everyone!! (maybe a little late) well, this past week was called 'semana santa' or 'holy week'. we had it off school, and so aside from a small project i was working on, we decided to take the opportunity to see somewhere besides jarabacoa! all of us younger interns took a trip to cabarete, the north coast beach for the first weekend, and then went tuesday through thursday to climb pico duarte, the highest mountain in the carribean!! wow, what a lot of fun. i also got to go to constanza and see the other kids alive ark up there, and meet some other missionaries who work in the capital. the beach was nice and relaxing, a good time to refresh. it was fun being out on the north coast - as we were standing there on the beach, jonathan said "well, when i come up here, i like to look at the ocean and say 'look, there's home, way over there'" and it's true! fun to think about, so i was thinking of all of you. : )

Then, climbing Pico Duarte was amazing - what an adventure!! we spend a day climbing up to peak camp (made it in only 8 hours!!!), then went all the way up the peak on wednesday, and climbed back down on thursday. quick trip, but powerful and amazing. God has put so much beauty in this country, it never ceases to amaze me! not to mention so diverse, i can't believe i got to see white sandy beaches one day, and rich green peaks the next; all covered in a perfectly turquoise blue sky. !que bellissima!

easter was good, though not very specially marked. because of problems differentiating between catholicism (which has a very violent and non-christian background) and christianity, the christian church shies away from having a huge easter celebration - because the catholic church does. anyways, long story short, church was basically the same, and it was somewhat odd to have such a little to-do, but we ended up having a missionary dinner together at josie's house, so it was a special easter afterall. so interesting learning about the things that make other cultures tick!

last but not least, constanza was fun too. needless to say, i was exhausted after climbing a mountain the day before, but i made it through on a little sleep, and enjoyed it overall. oh, and a hilarious little happening: i met a former soccer player from the venezuelan futbol team! (frank armani, for any soccer buffs) it was pretty exciting, just cause how many times do you meet professional soccer players walking around? he's part of a soccer ministry in the capital now, and his team was in constanza for semana santa as well. good times!

well, needless to say, i was really excited to get back to teaching the kids this week. it's great to be around them again. also, the trautwiens will be coming home today after a month and a half of raising support in the states. pray for their safe return and good transition back into life in the DR!! alright here i go, signing off after this particularly long entry. God bless!

~allison