last days

In about one hour our internet and lights are being cut off so we wanted to post one last blog before we head home to become Seattliets again.

We're making it through the awkward week but not without tears and sadness for the people we leave behind. Our staff threw us a good-bye party on Wednesday complete with our favorite foods,  a little dancing, and some touching words of how God was a work while we were here. I have added some pictures below. As part of a game they made Scott dance with the shortest person at the office (shockingly it wasn't me) and they made me imitate 3 people on staff (something I like to do often). They invited some of the kids from our special education programs to come and say thank you which was really special for me.

We have spent the rest of this week hanging out with new made friends from chruch, saying good-bye to old friends, and of course packing. On Monday we leave Barahona early and head to the east coast for a short vacation before we head home. We can't wait to see you all soon and share more stories about life down here.

the awkward week

We have finally arrived at our very last week living in Barahona. I have decided to call this week "the awkward week". It is the in between stage of leaving something old and arriving at something new. 

This is the week when on Monday you see someone and don't know whether to say "good-bye" or "see you soon," because Friday might sneak up, and you may or may not have seen them again. So you say an awkward "Well, I hope to see you later but if not..."  You give them a hug but don't want to be too serious about it because you just might see them again in a couple days and have to go through the good-bye all over again.

This is the week when half of our stuff is packed in suitcases, half is in boxes and half is out still being used. When on Thursday we will be eating our cereal out of styrofoam bowls because everything is finally in boxes. When on Monday, we will leave our house and it will be empty and we will close the door for the last time.

It is the week of "lasts."  Our last chinola juice. Our last drive to the beach. The last time our friends will stop by to play games until late in the night. Our last time to eat chicken, rice and beans (halleluja!). The last time I will get whistled at by the Macho men. Our last time to go to the villages and hug the most beautiful kids ever.

This is the week when we don't know whether to show our smiles in excitement for going home or hold back tears saying good-bye. So we do both. And some people will understand our awkwardness because they know what it means to leave. And others will wonder if we are really truly sad to leave or doubt if we really want to go home cause they have never left.

So here we go...with awkward hugs and good-byes because who really knows how to say good-bye to a people who have loved you and have taken you in. 

I guess the great part of all of this is that "los que dicen adios nuca vuelven" - "those who say good-bye never return."  So maybe we won't have to say good-bye after all. Just a hug and a "see you later" will do just fine.

K&M

VIP

 

(from left to right - Candi, Kelly, Manuela)

Meet Manuela! She has become one of our best friends down here. All of you who have come down and stayed at our house know her and LOVE her cooking. She is in our home just about everyday and has become a part of our family. She and Scott have found a special bond with each other as they are constantly trying to one up each other with pranks. Manuela is hilarious. Sometimes she purposely locks us out of the house. Sometimes we find ourselves getting water poured down our backs. And sometimes at lunch instead of a fork we'd have a gigantic serving spoon as our utensil. She constantly makes us laugh and brings joys to our home. She is always singing and after several attempts finally figured out how to open iTunes and play music so loud that the neighbor can't help but sing along too. She was our friend but also like a mother figure to us constantly correcting our grammar and telling us which neighborhoods we couldn't go into at night. I remember one time I was leaving the house to catch a concho (a motorcycle taxi) and she walked the 6 blocks with me just to make sure I chose a good driver.

We love you Manuela!

homebound

Álo!

Well, after a long absence, Kelly and I are entering back into blogging.  We've missed you!!  I wanted to post a letter today that many of you are likely receiving in the mail today - maybe tomorrow - maybe sometime after that.  I expect that over the next couple of weeks we'll have much more to say, but for now, enjoy an electronic copy of the snail mail that is on the way:

---------------------------------

Saludo!

Greetings from the Dominican Republic!  The weather is changing here.  We can feel it.  It’s not the midday heat; it’s the rooster’s sun and the evening air that signals Spring and her faithful friend Summer are arriving.  And it’s the kids too.  They’re restless – looking towards the freedom of vacation and yet still aware of the days of learning at hand.  It’s marked by the new growth and in the change of fruit.  The Platáno trees planted in March have reached out of the earth and have begun to climb towards maturity.  The Mangos have started to appear sparingly in the markets – eaten while still green as we can’t wait for the impending moment when they have come fully into season.  Everywhere we look, creation is moving towards a change of seasons.

It is out of the paradox of “already not yet” that Kelly and I have passed our days here in this beautiful culture – but it’s with fresh awareness of change that we write to you.  The season of life that brought us to the Dominican is whispering its goodbyes and urging us onto that which is next.  Even as we are trying to pace ourselves to stretch our days, time seems to be moving with hastening speed. 

We were talking today, just Kelly and I, stealing a moment together alone – and she said to me, “isn’t it interesting; kids were what we knew before we came down here, but it was adults that God has used to change us – to teach us the most about ourselves.  It’s as if He said, you may know kids, but do you know you, and do you know me?  Watch as I use a culture and a people that you don’t know to teach you more about who I have created you to be.”  We have indeed fallen in love with kids down here – Luisito, Danielito, Yilenny, Maciel, Negrito, Algenny, Franklin and the list goes on.  But it has been the friends that we’ve made that have been the biggest part of our lives, and whom have had the biggest impact on us – Manuela, Renzo, ElBin, Edwin, Daisey, David, Julio and Maritza, our whole interpreter crew and our amazing neighbors, among many others.

And so we find ourselves embracing the children and our friends with greater sentiment – laughing a little louder, relaxing a little more into relationships with an easiness that time brings, discovering new joys, clinging to last moments.  We have found ourselves repeating Dominican phrases that we long to have as part of our lives: “Give time to time”, “If God wills it”, “Where two can eat, three can eat”, “Con paciencia y calma, el burro se sube la palma”.

In just under two months, Kelly and I will get on a plane bound for Seattle.  We will have said to our friends down here that we will see them later (because “los que dicen Adios, nunca vuelven”) and will weep for love of them, and dance with joy to be with you again.  Our plan is to arrive in Seattle the first week of June, celebrate the birth of my niece and my nephew-in-friend, and settle in a bit before heading to Colorado for a weeklong debriefing at the same campus that provided us with 5 weeks of preparation before coming here. It is exciting and nerve-wracking and wonderful and sad and every other emotion too.  There is a grieving and a celebrating that is happening in our home right now as we prepare for the change of seasons.

We wondered about what we will miss the most down here and made a list of things that is far from all inclusive and in no specific order:
1.    Two hours together at lunch every day.
2.    Warm weather year round.
3.    A relationally centered culture that knows how to tell a good story.
4.    The joy of simple living.
5.    The romance of adventure.
6.    Our dear companions that have loved us and protected us and brought us into their community.
7.    The beautiful children who have come to believe that there is a bigness of life that awaits them.

We are so looking forward to sharing with you in the months and years ahead, all that has happened to us.  For now though, as we transition we’d like to ask you to pray about a few specific things:
1.    Pray for job opportunities.  Kelly has begun looking for an elementary school teaching position and I have begun applying for various community based leadership positions (such as with the YMCA, etc.)  Pray that God would already begin preparing our potential employers to receive us and that we would be sensitive to His leading.
2.    Transition and all of its details – housing, phone contracts, health insurance, living arrangements, etc.  More than the details though, pray that we would be aware of our emotions and that we would turn them over to God.
3.    That God would open a door for us to specifically apply our experiences from down here to life in Seattle.  That we would never forget the faces we have come to love or the lessons that we have learned.

Kelly and I could not be more thankful for the financial support that you have given that has allowed us to have this unique and wonderful experience.  Each month we have this soul encouraging moment when we receive the statement of donations – it isn’t the dollars (though those are encouraging) – it’s seeing your names.  You can’t imagine what an amazing group of people you are.  We often find ourselves saying, “How did we get so blessed to have such Rockstars surrounding us?”  Thank you for your constant support.  To that end, we would like to ask you consider staying onboard with us through our transition.  COTN has approved our transition plan and is in support of us staying on support for a couple of months after returning to Seattle.  If you’re able and willing, we would like to ask you to continue your financial support through the end of September to help us make the transition back to the states and into full-time jobs.  As we do, we will keep you updated on our progress and let you know if our situation changes.

When we left Seattle, we left feeling blessed, excited and pretty nervous.  As we begin to leave Barahona, we again find ourselves feeling blessed, excited and pretty nervous.  But we have a God who is much bigger than our circumstances and we look forward with great anticipation to see how He will lead.  Stay tuned on our blog (www.skhampton.blogspot.com) for updates on our transition and we’ll see you soon!

 Blessed and Grateful,
M&K

for 2 days straight

Untitled from Scott Hampton on Vimeo.

Someone give these guys a massage! For 2 days straight they tossed shovelful after shovelful of dirt onto the roof of this house. I'm no genius but I could think of other ways they could get all that dirt up there with little supplies needed. You should see them mix all the cememt by hand to put the cement blocks together. I feel sorry for their backs. I applaud the construction men in this country because out of any profession they work the hardest.

Glad I'm in Education,
K(&M)