Friday was beach day for the group at Caberete! But for us, more importantly, we were meeting our girl that we sponsor through Compassion! We started sponsoring Darianny two years ago, and purposely chose her because she was from the Dominican Republic, and in between Rilyn and Ella’s ages. We knew that one day, we wanted to go on a family mission trip through our church to the DR, and then, maybe we would be able to meet her! It was hard to believe that nearly two years later, our decision was coming to fruition! I contacted Compassion 2 months prior to our visit to set up the arrangements, and Darianny was driven 3 hours from her village to Caberete, a resort beach, on Friday morning. This is the photo we prayed over/stared at on our fridge for the past 2 years:
And this is Darianny meeting Rilyn and Ella Friday morning:
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| big smiles! |
After talking with Darianny, through the translator Compassion gave us, we learned that she wants to be a fashion model when she grows up! She was very excited when one of the gifts we brought her was some stylish new sunglasses! Look at her strutting her stuff!
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| future model! |
This was Darianny’s first time at the beach, and the first time out of her village! The joy on her face never left all day!
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| joy |
She LOVED the ocean! She never wanted to get out!
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| me and my girls! |
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| Darianny asked how salt got into the ocean 🙂 |
After a yummy lunch of pizza, we took the girls to a bead shop where they each got to make a necklace! We learned that this was Darianny’s first time in a gift shop too!
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| new handmade necklaces! |
We got ice cream afterwards of course!
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| Darianny got watermelon flavor ice cream! |
What a special experience to meet her! It was the perfect ending to our trip! We hope that when we come back in a few years that we can visit Darianny again, this time in her village!
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| our family with Darianny |
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| goodbye hugs |
The last hour we had at the beach after Darianny left was spent relaxing and soaking in the sun!
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| rilyn |
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| Thanks Dominican for the life changing memories! |
“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:17-18
Thank you to Makarios, to all our friends and family who generously donated money to our trip, and those who donated supplies for the students of Makarios so they can receive new clothes, shoes, underwear, and school supplies on their first day of school in September! God bless you all!
*to read day 7, click here. To see my photography blog pictures of the DR, click here*
the paquettes 