Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton College women's soccer team departed for the Dominican Republic on Tuesday for an eight-day sports ministry trip in partnership with GO Ministries. The team will be conducting three clinics, competing with two matches on the trip and work projects.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Please check back to this web page throughout the week of the trip for updates from Thunder women's soccer players.
Update #1 - Submitted on May 14 ---
Update #2 - Submitted on May 14 ---
Update #3 - Submitted on May 16 ---
Update #4 - Submitted on May 17 ---
Update #5 - Submitted on May 18 ---
Update #6 - Submitted on May 19 ---
Update #7 - Submitted on May 19 ---
Update #8 - Submitted on May 20
Day 8 – Lily Lindquist & Maddie Grinstead
Today was our last day in the Dominican Republic. We woke up for our last breakfast in the church, and then had some time to pack up. We spent some free time playing games; we had girls playing Banana Grams and Euchre! This was some sweet time spent together before we head in different ways for the summer.
Before loading up on the bus, we met one last time with Kelsey. We got to debrief the trip and talk about discipleship beyond this week, as well as pray over the ministry.
After arriving to the airport, we got through security smoothly and arrived back to the USA 25 minutes early! #bless. Our layover in New Jersey was filled with even more card games, and indulging in American food once again. It was a late night, but we were thankful for safe travels back and sweet moments together!
Day 7 – Mia Blair & Liz Clawson
¡Hola! We can't believe our trip is coming to an end already! After gathering together to reflect on the trip and all we learned last night, we were able to spend the morning bonding with one another and growing our relationships as sisters in Christ.
After waking up and eating breakfast, some of us snorkeled in the ocean, others played sand volleyball on the beach, and others enjoyed the pool. We genuinely appreciated the chance to experience deeper fellowship with one another! This week we've learned a lot about making disciples and the importance of intentional, quality time in fostering relationships, so it was sweet to spend so much time with one another in such a beautiful setting. Also, several of us were grateful for the coffee station and drank multiple cups!
Then we packed up, checked out, took a quick trip to the gift shop to buy souvenirs, and ate lunch together. The 2 hour bus ride back to Santiago was very quiet as everybody was sleeping! Our driver Narcisso got us back to Iglesia Cristiana Central safe and sound.
Many of us enjoyed an afternoon siesta and celebrated by taking a nap. Others walked to the colmado (little store) to grab some Dominican snacks! Throughout the week we have enjoyed buying chips, sweets, juice, and Coke. After we walked back, we conducted a quick review of our favorite snacks we bought. Then the GO store was open and we bought some merch to remind us of our time on the island. A couple friends talked with Albania, the woman who runs the GO store, and heard a little bit of her story. We learned about her role with GO and had the chance on Sunday to hear her sing at church! She has two little boys that played with some of our teammates for a little while which was so sweet.
After a fun morning and restful afternoon, we went back to the field where we played futsal. We were so happy for another chance to play together as a team in the Dominican under the lights! What a blessing! We won both games.
It has been beautiful to see how sport, especially soccer, can help cross language barriers and connect people. Love of sport allows people from all over the world to relate to one another and have a blast.
This trip has continually reminded of the universal church. As God's people we must strive to grow the kingdom, invest in relationships, and disciple others. The church is meant to be something we can all participate in together as we seek to glorify God.
After our final games, we came back to the church and enjoyed some amazing tacos! The cooks have been wonderful, and we're so grateful for all of the yummy meals they've prepared for us each day!
Day 6 – Julia Tallungan & Lauren Walmer
Feliz Domingo a todos! Today we woke up and had breakfast and got to have devotions outside which was a nice way to start our Sunday. After devotions we all put on our Sunday best and attended the Central worship service. It was all in Spanish, but with the help of translation devices we were able to hear the sermon on 1 Corinthians. The most moving part for most of the team was the worship music. Even though we are many different tongues and nations, we all worship the same God.
After church, we grabbed our overnight bags and headed to the resort. Then the team was able to settle into our rooms. We enjoyed the water activities and meal times together. We ended our night in reflection out on the beach. We were able to hear reflections from each player on the team. We shared our experiences, expectations, surprises, what we learned about ourselves, and how we saw God moving this week. It was a beautiful moment and a joy to see from different perspectives. The ways God can work both exceeding our expectations and laying the ground work for others has been a blessing for the whole team. We celebrate God's faithfulness and provisions for Go Ministries and the building blocks we were able to help with this week. All the Glory to God!
Day 5 – Written by Fionna Davis & Abi Edwards
Today is Saturday May 17th, our fifth day in the DR. We woke up a bit before 8 a.m. and had breakfast which was omelets and fruit. This was probably one of our favorite breakfast's yet. We then gathered for devotional time, and generally discussed how God uses our suffering in order to minister to others and deepen our faith in Him.
Shortly after, we headed to Otto for our field day with the GO Ministry kids. Here, we played a variety of sports and games like volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, jump roping and chalk drawing. Lot's of the kids' personal favorites was baseball. After playing for about a couple hours it was time to say our goodbyes to them. Kids jumped up and hugged us goodbye, and it was a bittersweet feeling waving to them through the window as they followed waving back along the streets. Once we got back to the church, we had lunch. After, we got packed up to head to our game.
The game was about an hour drive through the mountains. Driving through the mountains provided us with a different perspective of the country. The scenery around us was beautiful. We got to the field, and it was such a surreal experience to play where we did. We won our game and came back to the church to gather for dinner. After dinner the team took a trip to the store where we were able to get snacks and ice cream for the rest of our trip. Once we returned it was time for bed as we have church in the morning.
Day 4 – Written by Annika Lindquist & Marissa Davis
Hola toda! Today we had another full day. This morning we had breakfast and devotionals. We had great conversation about the spiritual gifts that God has uniquely given to each of us.
After this, we went back to the construction site for our last day of work on the bunkhouse. There were several different groups working on mixing cement, cleaning gutters, and moving dirt. Then it was time for lunch and siesta. We shortened our siesta time today to walk to the local ice cream shop. After our sweet treat, we walked to GO medical clinic and learned about the medical branch of GO ministries.
The rain caused us to rush back to the church to load the bus and head to the LDC for the second day of the soccer clinic. Day two of the clinic was filled with competitions, prizes, and ended with a devotional shared by Liz Clawson. To wrap up the day, we headed to the soccer field to play one of the local teams. They gave us some great competition and we were able to walk away with a 2-0 victory with goals from Mia Blair and Liz Clawson. It was such an amazing opportunity to play soccer with girls from another culture and learn from them.
Big shoutout to Kelsey and Brett Miller for leading us throughout the week! They have provided amazing opportunities for us to learn and grow as both players and people.
Day 3 – Written by Lucie Parrish & Eleanor Mounts (Submitted on May 16)
Welcome back!! We hope you've had fun following along thus far! On day three, we woke up at 8 AM for a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and fresh fruit and then did our daily devotional. After that, we headed to the bunkhouse to continue our work project from Wednesday. We spent the morning moving cinder blocks, cleaning gutters, making cement, and more! After that we had lunch and a much-needed siesta. There were lot of activities to do during this time -- people took naps, made friendship bracelets, and took trips to the calmado down the street. The calmado was a hit, and we stocked up on snacks, candy, and Coca-Cola.
After siesta, we loaded up and drove to the GO LDC (Leadership Development Complex) where we walked around and learned more about their facilities, history, programs, and vision for the future. The facilities were beautiful -- they had baseball fields, volleyball and basketball courts, and two beautiful turf fields for soccer! It was incredible to hear about the ways that God has grown the ministry at GO and especially the way that athletic opportunities for girls have developed over recent years. It was drizzling outside, but we adjusted our plan for the clinic and got everything set up under a pavilion. We played lots of fun games with the kids and did some ball skills and competitions. The relay races in particular were a big hit (winners win... iykyk)!
Mia shared a devotional to wrap up the clinic, and then we started traveling towards the site of our 5v5 tournament. Along the way, we stopped at a grant tree that was 1,000 years old. Coach denied our claims that he was alive to plant it. We then played our tournament at a super cool outdoor complex called Real Food Park and had an awesome night of games under the lights! The green team from Wheaton took the win!! We wrapped up our night with a late dinner around 10:30, showered, and went to bed because we were all tired after a big day.
God is so good and it was an awesome day of working, connecting with kids, and getting to play soccer! So excited for the rest of the week!
Day 2 – Written by Lucie Parrish & Eleanor Mounts (Submitted on May 14)
Today was a packed day! We started our day at Iglesia Christiana Central - our home base for the week (yes, all 22 of us girls slept in one room). After a breakfast and devotional, we walked over to a GO employee's house where we worked on helping to renovate a bunk house for other mission teams who will come to visit the DR. After working for a few hours, we went back to the church for some lunch and a siesta. During the siesta, many friendship bracelets were made… a staple of this trip so far.
In the afternoon, we headed to another GO location to help out with a clinic for around 100 local kids. We got to hear from some local GO leaders whose lives was transformed by GO and the introduction of the gospel that met them where they were at. The laughs and smiles were many, despite our broken Spanish.
In this exhausting yet rewarding day we saw how faithful God is in his working. God does not work at 90 miles an hour, but 3 miles per hour. Most of the time we are moving so fast from thing to thing that we forget to slow down and just watch God's mercies. Being confined by language teaches us that we cannot always have the words to say. God is working in the Dominican and has been before we even got here. Being here for only a week allows us to be able to sit back and have a front row seat to how God is working through local leaders here in the DR.
Day 1 – Written by Danie Nishiyama & Emily Setran (Submitted on May 14)
We left for the airport on Tuesday morning around 2:15 a.m. and unfortunately figured out that O'Hare check in didn't open until 4😭we then hopped on our first flight to Newark, NJ and everyone slept the whole time 😴.
We had a two-hour layover in Newark, so we all got sustenance for our next flight to Santiago. We arrived in Santiago around 3 p.m. and made it through customs, got our luggage, and got picked up by Brett, a GO Ministries leader.
We drove to the church where we are staying at and got a snack and settled into our room (we were all really excited to discover that we get to all sleep in the same room together). Brett then took us on a walk around the neighborhood where we are staying. We then had dinner, which was delicious rice and chicken and fresh fruit. After dinner, we had free time where we made friendship bracelets and played games as a team. We didn't make it very long because we were all very tired from our long day and went to bed at 8:30 p.m.🥳🥳
