In 2011, my pastor just came to church after the former one died a few months back. The first mission he wanted to do was travel with the youth to the Dominican Republic. For those who do not know, the Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. It's known for its beaches, resorts and golfing. Its terrain comprises rainforest, savannah, and highlands, including Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain. The capital city Santo Domingo has Spanish landmarks like the Gothic Catedral Primada de America dating back 5 centuries in its Zona Colonial district. Traveling there was such an honor because I learned to not to take life for granted. Let me explain.

The first night, we arrived we stayed at this really nice hotel at a really nice place. You can see the town and how beautiful it was. We were living the life when we got there. Got in the pool, played on the computers, went to sleep on the nice beds under the air condition. It was amazing! Next day we went to a nice church and my pastor preached a nice sermon as well with translations in Spanish, It was amazing to see the best of both worlds in Spanish and English. Those two days were amazing, but Monday was approaching and we had to go the next stop that Monday night.

Monday night we rode down to our next location; it was touching to see how we went from a rich and nice area to a very poor urban environment. We arrived at the home and it was very different from the hotel. It was a home now that people stay in as the hotel. It was mostly screened in, so you might as well have slept outside. Water bugs all over the place, it was touching, that I almost cried. The next day we went to a church, but not for worship, for fixing the roof. I again saw life as it was. Normally, here in America, we have these machines to fix within a half hour, We went this roof, ourselves with sand and water, then carried it up to the next person to put it on the roof and smooth it out. It took us all day, that when we came back for worship service it still was not done. My point is that after working hard at fixing the roof, we have it easy where we pay people to do things for us within minutes, while its days a village and days to get the job done there. I learned to be even more grateful for the things I have because it can be taken away in a heartbeat.

Finally, we went to the resort for the final three nights. We went to the resort and had a great time, but funny how we stayed in style for the first few nights, went to the poor area for a few days, then back in style again a couple days before we left again. Even staying at the resort, it still made me realize that we had it too good. We had an amazing journey and ate amazing food. It was an amazing eight days.

In conclusion, we learned a lot. Never take anything for granted because it can be all gone tomorrow. Think about everything you have in life, then remember about those who wish they had. Go across the country and look for it for yourself, help them and keep praying for them. It was an amazing trip to the Dominican republic, I hope to one day go back and give my time again, because I am blessed with things getting handed to me, sometimes I want to give back to the community. If I am young and can say these things, I believe you can too.