I am currently on the plane, headed back to the Dominican Republic, I have spent the last 3.5 weeks stateside visiting family and friends. My time in the states flew by, and I enjoyed every minute of my time with my family and friends.

I flew into Peoria and was there for four days before I traveled to Indianapolis to spend time with Noah, one of my best friends from high school, and his wife Chloe. You may remember me talking about their wedding a year ago in August. I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend with them; though it wasn’t long enough, it was definitely needed. We explored Indy a bit and ate at one of my favorite pizza restaurants while in town. Following my time with the Rodmans, I then traveled to Joe and Shannon’s house for the evening. The following day Joe and I got up and traveled to Roanoke, Virginia. While in Roanoke, we attended a celebration service for missions at Second Presbyterian Church. We were invited to spend time at a friend’s lake house on Saturday. It was a fun-packed weekend, and we traveled back to Indy after the service Sunday. I then spent a few days working and hanging out with Joe and Shannon, and their family. Since I spent almost two months living with them during the pandemic, I always enjoy that time with them! Their kids are getting so big.

Following my time in Virginia and Indiana, I spent the rest of my time with family and friends in Peoria. I spent a lot of time watching Quinn play golf. It’s his senior year, and he is having a great season. It was so fun to watch him play. I spent lots of time with my mom and dad, going out to eat, walking the dogs, helping my grandma move into a new house, and just spending time together. Cole traveled back home this past weekend since he left for college the Sunday after I got home. We were all under the same roof for one night before he left. So this past weekend was awesome to all be together for a few nights. It felt good to hangout with my family. We laughed a lot, had a few of our favorite dinners, and of course watched Quinn golf! I thank God for the time I was able to spend at home.

One evening I attended a meeting at Northwoods Community Church for their November mission trip. I enjoyed getting to meet their team and talking with them. I am so thankful for the partnership that Northwoods and Solid Rock have. If you ever have an interest in serving in the Dominican Republic, please reach out, and I can get you connected with team leaders for Northwoods DR trips.

What’s next? We have a pretty busy fall, with lots of teams to keep us busy. I look forward to hosting a few surgical teams in the coming weeks. We have only hosted one surgical group since the pandemic started in March of 2020. I can’t wait to see what God does during these weeks.

On September 25th I will officially be done with school! Though I have every assignment done for the next two weeks, I won’t be done until then. I can’t believe I am saying this, but I am almost done. Its hard to believe that I started this in October of 2018, and moved to the DR less than a year later. There were times when it was very hard to juggle school and work full time. I am thankful for the opportunity to pursue education online, so I could work with Solid Rock during that time. When God called me to do online education so I could be available to Him, I wasn’t sure what He had in mind, but I am so happy that I listened to that calling. My calculated GPA is 3.82, and I will be graduating with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Christian Studies, with an emphasis on Global Ministry.

Prayer requests:
The school (2 weeks left!!)
Visa – Unfortunately, I could not get my visa while in the states, and I am still waiting for approval. I will keep you updated as I hope to get this done soon!
Fall teams – God to bring patients to the clinic that need surgery.

While in the states, Sarah watched Osa, I enjoyed daily updates from her.

Below are a few photos from my time in the states.