Back in Paradise

hello dearest friends -
wow, hard to believe that i am back here again, after a lovely little visit to the states. for those of you who don't know, i went back to wheaton from may 24th to june 5th, mostly for my brother's graduation and the ensuing parties. it was a great vacation, and i really enjoyed seeing those of you that i was fortunate enough to run into!
so here i am, back in the 'land of eternal spring' - or summer, as it really is now. the temperatures sure have skyrocketed! it is so good to be back with the kids, my friends, the other teachers, missionaries, etc.......it's a wonderful group of people here, i feel so privileged to pass a little more time with them. of course, now we're adding all the summer interns to that number, so aaron the team leader is here, as well as lindsey - and many more on the way! add the 20 teams that w here that they might like to sponsor, and watching the relationships grow. i always he're hosting this summer, and you can imagine we've all been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. but i sure love it, meeting new people, introducing them to kidsope that i can help every person love this ministry as much as i do : ) we also have a huge, island-wide sponsorship goal of adding 500 sponsors to our numbers this summer, 200 of which is our responsibility in jarabacoa!!!! so as always, any help that can be recruited would be exceptionally appreciated - just email me if you know anyone interested! (spanglishgirl87@gmail.com) the most recent team here had a chance to meet their sponsored preschool twins at their house yesterday, as well as their mother. as always, that is such a special encounter to be part of, the place where people see that the children they send money to are real people, with lives and families, and beautiful smiles! pictures and letters are wonderful, but there's something about seeing that really sends it home.
then yesterday, we had the last day of school fair, which was super enjoyable - we had clothing 'sales' of all donated clothes for the families, snacks, games run by the team, my own little face-painting booth, and the funny fatman that aaron and i painted for photos. also lots of prize drawings for blenders and fruit baskets, that part was really fun. : ) so, as the summer rolls along, i'll try and keep you all updated, and i thank you again for helping me be here. may the Lord bless and keep you this week!

~allison