Looking Back

As I look back on these past 4 year, I can't even believe all that I have been through and the experiences that have led me to where I am today. For those that have no idea what is next, I will be traveling out to Atlanta Georgia to work with a Latin American community doing after school tutoring, summer camps and odds and ends regarding community development. Mainly concentrating on the specific community just outside of Atlanta.

It is hard to believe that in just over one week, I will be walking across the stage to receive my diploma and that next day I will be moving out of my house and preparing for the next chapter in my life. I look back on the years spent here in Maryville, and I can't believe it is all over. It seems like just yesterday I was moving in, or going to play flamingo football on the practice fields. Traveling to Alabama freshman and sophomore year for the D2 national championship, just to be disappointed two years in a row. Going to Puerto Rico the summer after my freshman year to invest in a group of young men on the beach. Leading 8 different high school youth groups on mission trips throughout the summer. Working with 3 of the most unique women on this planet, arguing with them at times, but for the most part getting along.

I remember working for the Men's Basketball Program my sophomore, junior and senior years. Each one with a different dynamic, I can't believe I will not be sitting on the bench of another Bearcat game, or sitting in on the pregame and halftime speeches.

I remember the puppy my roommate and I had for roughly 6 months, Hailey. She was something else, but above all, she was a companion for me during what was without a doubt one of my most difficult semesters.

I remember spending a summer doing dirty jobs with one of my best friends Caleb at Youthfront. Cutting grass for 8 hours straight, or killing mice and snakes. Maybe even unclogging toilets. If there was a job that you didn't want to do, Caleb and I did it. But above all I remember the community that surrounded me that summer. How many great friends I met and the incredible amount of people that supported me through such a difficult summer.

I remember going to St. Louis with my cousin for the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Nearly getting lost on the subway and eventually getting lost downtown. I remember going to Cardinals games with him and heckling the outfielders of the opposing teams until they had no choice but to acknowledge us sitting in the stands.

I remember going to Lawrence for New Years and losing all of my friends in the freezing cold weather. Going to Jimmie Johns and then Buffalo Wild Wings at 2:00 AM, only to get lost again on our way home. I remember going to the Missouri vs Kansas game in Allen Fieldhouse, and unfortunately, to this day it is still the best sports atmosphere I have ever experienced.

I remember going to Missouri football games with the family and tailgating for an absurd amount of hours before and after the game.

I remember being a part of a team with the soccer club. I remember playing indoor and outdoor with them, and feeling like a part of a team, not some recreational club.

I remember going to South Padre, and having the time of my life with some of my best friends.

I remember taking the scooter out on scoot rides for hours at a time. Honking at everyone who gave us weird looks, which as a matter of fact, was everyone.

I remember spending the most incredible summer of my entire life in the Dominican Republic. (You can read more about that on previous blogs). I remember getting to know all of the orphans there, and truly experiencing and understanding what poverty looks like. I remember meeting so many interns and seeing their hearts for this world, and learning for myself what it meant to have compassion for those around us. I remember opening my eyes to the world of opportunity that a simple education can bring someone. I remember meeting Graystone Church, which truly had an impact on me they will never understand. Giving me all sorts of food and different things to help me get through the summer. Offering me a job to do something I would absolutely love to do.

I remember becoming great friends, and no longer just mere brothers with my brother. I remember sitting at dinner with my dad in Puerto Rico, and listening to him tell me how proud he was of me. I remember my dad's retirement party and not only realizing what an incredible father he was, but the incredible servant he was to his country, and to his co-workers. I remember going to the firing range with him and him telling me what a great shot I was. You don't forget words such as those very easily. But I also remember receiving a phone call on January 29th, 2009 that forever changed my life. I miss you dad. I know that this upcoming Saturday you would be extremely proud of me.

Perdido

I am reading a book for one of my classes today, and I came across this in the book. I thought it very interesting. The book deals with the poverty levels in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Specifically those that live in the Favelas in the outskirts of Rio. It has a lot of different aspects to the book, some great, some not so great. But this specific story I thought necessary to share, and especially since I haven't written on here lately.

Three people traveling together came to a river and asked the boatman to take them across. He readily agreed, and when they were on their way the first passenger, a lawyer, asked him if he was familiar with Brazillian law. When the boatman humbly admitted that he was not, the lawyer replied, "then you are perdido (doomed, lost)- without that knowledge, you can be nothing." The second asked the same about mathematics, and on hearing the boatman knew nothing of this, repeated, "then you are perdido- without the knowledge of math, you are nothing." The third, a school teacher, said, "Surely you know how to read and write." "No," said the boatman. The schoolteacher replied, "Then you are perdido."

Suddenly a huge tidal wave came up the river and tipped over the canoe. The boatman turned to his passengers in concern" and seeing them being swept along downstream yelled out, "Do you know how to swim?" "No," they said; "We never learned." "Then you are perdido," he replied.

The thought behind this story is that so many people, especially children living in poverty do not believe that they can bring anything to the table in this life. They see what conditions they live in, and they also see what conditions those in drug gangs are living in, as well as the American standards on television and on the internet. This story though clearly illustrates that one can be something. All the children need is to believe in themselves, which is very difficult to do when your family lives on less than $2 a day and both your parents are unemployed. (If they're still alive).

I guess I write this to keep all of my readers aware that there is a world outside of our bubbles in the United States. Children and people are all over this world suffering to make ends meet, or find their next meal. So many kids have no self confidence, and no drive to make a better life for themselves. I encourage you all to pray for this world. That someone, somewhere would begin to help in anyway possible. And for those that are currently out there on the front lines doing whatever it is that they can do. Pray that they have strength and endurance to continue to do what it is they're doing.

No Matter Where You Are

So I have been back for a little while and since I've been back from the Dominican, I have been to West Virginia, Washington DC, Kansas, Missouri, and Atlanta, GA. Along with driving from MO to WVA in a car. I have been a world traveler this summer, and I hope to keep it up. I have been real busy, and I apologize for waiting so long to get this up.

After being home and going to numerous doctor appointments and playing rounds of golf and everything else I've done since being home, I've began to get back into the swing of things here in America. But as I've had time to think about everything and realize that there is a whole world out there that needs people like me and you out there to help. Maybe not there right next to them, but in a way that they will never forget. Financially, through donations, through one week stints anywhere in the world. You all can help, even if you are a college student like myself with hardly anything to give financially. God has gifted each of us with something that we can contribute to this world that he has created.

So sitting here on my couch watching my flatscreen, I want to call you all to action. I understand my last blog did the same thing, but now I have resources that you can use to do so. Akele and I (one of my best friends from Jaibon) have started up a Hero Team. This is a team that will go to help out the orphanage in Jaibon. Anything you donate through our fund will go to them and support their daily needs, and continue to make their life better there. Here is the link (http://www.orphanage-outreach.org/hero/) Search the Mendrala/Parnell fund, and then it is very easy from there. You can donate online with a card, or I can find out a way for you to get the money in via check. If you have questions with any of this, please email me at Jmendrala@gmail.com.

Also, I have partnered with World Vision which is an organization that helps prevent poverty all over the world. I have decided to sponsor a child in Columbia named Jesus, and I would encourage all of you to do the same. At the very least, I would encourage you all to check out their site and their literature. Here is their website, www.worldvision.org

Also, last but not least, I have finally POSTED PICTURES!!! There are on a website, and here it is... The last link, I promise! http://josephmendrala.shutterfly.com/

I hope that you all feel something in your heart. Before going to the orphanage outreach page to donate, take a look at my pictures, and look at the joy in those boys and girls' faces. They all have a huge place in my heart and I hope that you can see that as well. Orphanage Outreach has changed my life, and has altered my outlook on what life looks like. I hope that you all have seen that through my blog, and though talking with me. I truly feel that God has called us all to be responsible for our neighbors here on earth. Whether they live 20 yards from us, or 2000 miles, we are all inhabitants of this earth, and are all deserving of a full life. I pray that you all can help support Orphanage Outreach or World Vision. Both are incredible organizations that are doing all they can to help this planet.

Hero Team

Well, I'm back in the United States, and I have been back for a total of about 48 hours. I can't believe I'm not in the Dominican Republic right now doing camp and hanging out with those kids. I miss them all so incredibly much. I can't believe that I have access to hot showers and any kind of food I want. It's all a bit bittersweet. Well, I promised you a more intriguing blog this week, and I've been trying to process and think through everything that I want to say. So though it may be long, I hope that you will enjoy reading it, and that it will hopefully call you to action, or at least get your mind working.

First, we'll talk about this week. It was a great week at camp, I thought it was going to be a hard week because of it being my last week, but it actually ended up being a great week. We had the most amount of volunteers all summer long (102) and so we had three different teams. I ended up leading one of the teams out to a place called Hatillo Palmas during the morning, and to numerous locations during the afternoons. It was a great experience being there. It was the first time we had done camp there this summer, so the kids were excited to see us, even though they were small in numbers. On the second day, we had a young man by the name of Ivan come to camp and he was 17 years old. He was handicapped and was in a wheelchair. He had a huge smile on his face because he was there learning English and able to draw pictures. As the group hung out with him more and more, we realized that there was something unique about his chair, it had no seat. It had fallen apart, so that he was sitting on the medal frame. The church group then decided to come back the next day with some temporary repair solutions for him. They had brought coat hangars, duct tape, old drawstring bags as well as a unused tent flap to try and completely fix up Ivan's chair. It was amazing to see the team come together to make this boy an incredible chair built from extremely random parts. In all of my time down there, I'm not sure if I have ever seen so much joy in a face. He was so thrilled that when he got into his chair, he went as absolutely as fast as he could and did his own version of a fish tail.
Also this week we got the chance to visit a Haitian batay that was funded by the Dominican government. This place was full of Haitians that were allowed to be in the country because of the work they were doing. I will tell you all what, this was a place that I truly will never forget in my entire life. People were living out of aluminum shacks and cardboard. People walked around without clothes on, not because they wanted to, because they did not have clothes to put on their backs. You had to watch your step to make sure you didn't step in human waste among many other things. It was truly heartbreaking. To see people living in a position like this, and knowing that God has created all of us equal to them, because he loves us all equally. There is nothing that I can have or do that will make me better than any of the people living in that community. Nothing. And God loves us all the same and has chosen to bless me ridiculously with an incredible family and house among so many more things. But he has also blessed those people as well. Just because their standard of living is not what my standard of living is does not mean that their life sucks. I believe it actually means that my life sucks. That sometimes I believe that I need this certain thing or possession in order to be happy. How selfish and materialistic. These people truly are some of the poorest people on this planet, and yet they still greet you with a smile and want to play basketball or soccer with you. The kids would cling to my side left and right because they knew I would give them affection. I wish there was more I could do for this community, but I honestly do not know where I would start. They need a clean water supply. Their current water supply is believed to be a canal that supplies water for their bananas and probably has the pesticides from the banana fields from it inside the water, along with piles and piles of trash that fill the banks of the canal. This is their drinking water! The biggest thing that I believe anyone could do for that community though would just to be living there with them, and experience life with them and come alongside them in order to help make their standard of life better. To help teach and learn the process of getting clean water to avoid diseases, or anything like that. Not to come in and build a huge latrine and this and that, and leave. That does nothing to help them out but give them clean water. They did not help themselves, and in turn cannot learn life skills to help continue to make their life better. I believe the thing to do would be to experience life with them, and show them the love and hope that God gives each and every one of us. I understand that I may be contradicting myself here in this paragraph, but if you are confused or would like to talk to me more about what I mean, please email me (Jmendrala@gmail.com)

Well, I told you I had a lot to say, so that last paragraph was definitely not the end of it.
After being gone for 3 months, you learn a lot about yourself and about who you are and where you want your life to go. This is no exception for me. I came into the summer thinking I wanted to pursue a career right out of college into the government or law enforcement. Boy has my thinking been flipped, turned and re-routed. This summer was an absolutely incredible and life changing summer for me, to say the least. To try and sum up all of my experiences and lessons learned and how my life has been impacted into one blog is just not possible, but I will try and give you a short version of it.
I have learned what I believe is a true and more defined definition of love. What Christ's love looks like to us, and how his love is equal among every human on this earth, as well as how his love has no bounds. I have seen the joy on kids faces just when they see that I am wearing a t-shirt that says "Orphanage-Outreach". I don't even have to open my mouth for them to get excited. I've seen kids be thrilled just to be able to play basketball with me, or to have me read them a book, or to have me watch them play basketball. You name it, the people and children of the Dominican Republic have successfully impacted my life forever. To see the orphans that I spent all summer with so happy and so content with life, after being abandoned or even left to die. How their life seems so much more complete than my own, and yet I have everything that I could ever dream of having in my own life. Opportunities for me are never ending, and yet time and time again I find myself saying that life is so hard, or that I don't have enough things, when there are children all over this world that have a flat basketball and are more than content with playing with it all day long. I have experienced relationships with people from the States down there that will truly be life long relationships. I could name them all by name, but I'm sure I would leave someone out, and I do not want to do that. But being able to be lifted up by friends when I was down on myself in Jaibon or staying up until nearly 2 am sometimes just talking about life or drawing out maps of the United States. The people there that I connected with, leaders, interns and volunteers was incredible. This blog would definitely not even be close to being complete without mentioning Graystone. That place has been incredible to me and I am sure they will continue to have an incredible impact on my life. I am just so thankful for everyone that I encountered this summer, and I hope that I had even just a one-hundredth of an impact on them that they all had on me.

Now on to the part that I am the most nervous about writing. Being down in the Dominican Republic, you see a whole bunch of need that goes unaddressed daily. Like the people I have mentioned throughout my blogs, the country is in need, and it is not one of the worst-off countries in the world. Poverty is an issue that is effecting over 2 billion people on this earth. Just over that amount of people live on less that $2 a day. That number is absolutely crazy when I compare it to my own lifestyle. Even after being back for 2 days, it makes me sick. A cup of coffee at Starbucks costs more than what someone in the world could use to survive for an entire day. I am so thankful for everyone that has come alongside me this summer in supporting me through donations or prayer or just simple thoughts here and there. I would not have made it this summer without you. I would like to call you all to action though if you are still reading this incredibly long message. I have decided to take on what Orphanage-Outreach calls the "Hero Team" with one of the interns I met down there. We have set a simple goal of getting $250 raised a year for one of the orphanages that OO partners with. Akele and I hope to absolutely shatter than goal, and I hope that you would consider helping us out with this goal. Now understand that the kids at these orphanages that OO partners with are very well off inconsideration, but compare what I have explained about their lifestyle to your own. I know that I am in college, and I may not have a whole lot of money to give, but I plan on giving absolutely everything that I can to help eliminate the issue of world poverty. Donating to Orphanage-Outreach with Akele and I will help to give orphans in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua a better life for themselves, and it will also help the orphans learn life skills so that they can grow up to be men and women of God, and knowledgeable men and women so that they can help their own communities get out of the spider web they are in that is called poverty. I encourage you to support some sort of mission field. If you are already involved in supporting an organization or child or something along the line, then that is awesome! Keep up the good work, and maybe consider giving more, or adopting another kid to support monthly. I plan on doing a lot of research for another organization that I can donate to that will help eliminate the issue that is on hand here in our world. I posted my email above, and Akele and I would be absolutely thrilled to hear that you want to help out with our Hero Team. If you would like any more information about it, please email me. I would love to tell you more stories and anything else you would like to hear, or answer any questions you may have.
If you're still reading this, then I must give you props. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to listen and read. I told you I would have a lot of thought to put down, and I am leaving out a whole lot that may come tomorrow, or later this week.
Thank you again to all of you who have continued to support me. I am eternally grateful.

Goodbye Dominican Republic

So this is my last week here in the Dominican Republic. It has been an incredible journey so far, and I'm very sad to leave this place, but I am very ready to be home.
This past week was a very good week for me. We did two different camps, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Also, on Tuesday this week, I was able to go out with Nathan, one of the leaders here and do some translating for him while he picked up supplies for the work projects we will be doing this week. It was great to get out and see more of the country. This place is absolutely gorgeous, I already know that the beaches are gorgeous, but people don't really know about the green that is here. Green everywhere with mountains everywhere as well. It is breath taking. Something else I noticed while I was out was that there are a whole bunch of men and people that were just sitting around doing absolutely nothing outside stores and restaurants. It wasn't because they were bored either, it was because these people simply do not have jobs.
This week was great though. Camp was a whole lot of fun, and I got to hang out with the boys here a whole lot. Monday night they were all being typical teenage boys, and one of them farted fairly loudly. That made it for an entertaining night because they all just ran with that joke, and of course, included me in it. It's been absolutely great getting to know these boys better. They all love to bother me, fight me, do whatever they can to get my attention, and though it can be draining, I love it. These kids are all very bright, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for them in the future. Most of them are extremely eager to learn English and to go to school. Some of them are dying to go to the United States and do something with their lives. It's incredible to see the initiative they have here. With poverty and everything else all around them, and to be abandonded by family members it's incredible to see all the initiative they have and their drive. Incredible young men. This week we were supposed to go to the beach again on Thursday, but as you may have guessed where I am going with this, it rained Wednesday night and we were unable to go again. So we had another great day with the boys, and it was a blast. We played all sorts of games with them and just had a blast.
I also got to go back to Monte Cristi and visit the orphanage over there for the first time since I've been in Jaibon. It was an incredible experience. When I got off the bus and walked over to the basketball court, my buddy Domingo came running from the other side of the court and jumped into my arms. Right behind him was my other best buddy Moncho. It was great to see them and all the little kids there. They all wanted to hang all over me, and it was as if I had never left. It's incredible to see the impact that we all had over there.
Well, I don't have a whole lot of time left, but be expecting a much longer and much more in depth blog next week when I have more time to think of it and everything else. Can't wait to see all of you, and thank you so much for the support you have provided.

When It Rains, It Pours

Well I am currently writing this and listening to the World Cup finals at the same time. It feels good to be listening to the game, although I'll be honest. I would love to be in my basement with a huge pizza and a cream soda watching this game.
But I'm here, and I absolutely love this place, and would choose this place over watching a world cup any day. This week was a challenge. Many things were placed in front of me that were overwhelming, and disheartening. But I managed to fight through it all, and fight through the homesickness, and keep going. This week was a short week, we were supposed to go to the beach with the boys on Thursday but it rained and rained and rained all week long. So the director of the orphanage said that we couldn't go this week, but maybe another week in the future.
We did camp in the afternoons this week at a church 15 minutes down the road, and in the mornings we hung out with the kids from the orphanage. It was a fairly good week besides some other issues that are best to leave out. Camp was great, and it was incredible to see the faces of the kids when they saw our bus pullling up. They would scream and yell and get their friends and wave and you name it, they did it. It was a lot of fun, and the pastor was a woman that had a passion for the kids. After each day of camp, she would invite us to her little house and buy us sodas and her kids would look for lemonsillas for us. (Lemonsillas are a little fruit that look like eyeballs, and they're delicious). It was a great camp, and I got to meet some great people from that little community. Then on Thursday we decided to put on an incredible day for the boys, since they had been looking forward to the beach all year long. We played capture the flag in the morning, and then a hide and seek and my version of sumo wrestling in the afternoon. We took pillows and wrapped them around the kids and just let them go at it in a ring full of used mattresses. It was a blast, and then we watched Tarzan that night.
Then on Friday we went to Cabarete, which is supposedly the nicest beach on the island. It didn't disappoint us. It was an incredible beach, and we got to eat at a sports bar and watch Sportscenter. This just after Lebron had announced that he was deciding on going to Miami. (Which I think was a terrible decision) So there was a lot to watch and comment on. Needless to say, without watching TV for 10 weeks, I was glued.
2 weeks left though, and I'm starting to get anxious. Starting to make plans for when I go home, and what my first meal will be, and if I'll be able to sleep inside with air conditioning since I've gone nearly 3 months without. I'm very thankful for the people that are here with me now though, the community that I have with some of these interns is unlike anything I've experienced since my days at YouthFront, and it makes me miss those people a lot. But it's been great to get to know these people here, and to experience life in the Dominican with them.
Can't wait to see all of you, and I especially can't wait to play some golf and white water raft in West Virginia. Also, Atlanta has been on my heart a lot lately. I am feeling more and more peaceful about that opportunity, and more and more excited.
Hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you all very much.

Welcome to Jaibon

Well, I have officially made the move over to the other orphanage, and have an entire week here under my belt. It has been great to get to know the kids here as well as get to know the new interns.
This week we split into two teams, one with some experienced interns that have been here a while with the church group that came down here and then another group of all interns. It was a whole lot of fun, my group went to a small church just down the road and put on camp there in the morning, and then in the afternoon, the camp was so big that we had to combine both groups and all go out to a town that was 30 minutes away from the orphanage that we are at now. It was an incredible week, as I've already pointed out. The afternoon camp is what absolutely blew me away. I took on the role as getting the kids riled up and ready for camp, and it was like I was somewhat of a celebrity there. Everyday when I would get off the bus, the kids would scream. It was a very humbling experience, because though I may be the one being crazy, and doing all the songs with them and everything else... The camp is what they're so excited about and the people here that do all the stations, (English, Bible, Rec, Art) are absolutely what make these camps run. The afternoon was so much fun, and I feel like the kids really learned a whole lot about the Bible and a whole lot of English. The craziest thing about it all was that there were at least 300 kids there by the end of the week, which is an absurd amount for our camps. We're used to dealing with from 50-100 kids a week.
Also this week, I have been blessed with some awesome new interns that have arrived. 2 guys from Kentucky and another from Alabama have made the transition to the new orphanage a lot easier than it would have been. Also getting closer with those who came over from Monte Cristi with me, this week truly has been awesome. On Friday we went to Santiago, which is where I fly in and out of, and we just explored the city. It was awesome, we got to eat Pizza Hut, which is a rarity, and we also got to do a little shopping. To end the day, we went to where Leonidis Trujillo, the Dominican dictator from 1924 to the mid 60's, had his statue. Obviously, after he was assasinated, the statue was town down and now there in an angel in his place, but to be up there and to experience such history was awesome.
I hope if you are reading this that you can take some time to think about what life is like down here. I know I don't complain about anything, or try not to... But think about the lives of these orphans in this orphanage or about the lives of the kids that I encounter on a day to day basis. These kids come from absolutely broken homes, and they virtually have no hope. But thanks to all of you that have supported me with prayers, thoughts and even money I am able to be here to have an influence in the lives of these children. I was talking with one of the boys here at the orphanage who is 13 years old. He asked me about my family and my dad and everything else, and then he openly began to talk about his family. His mother murdered his father while he was yet to be born. He was then born in prison, and then given to what would be social services. Then they found a care taker for him until he was 6 years old, and he has been here in Jaibon ever since. That is the kind of brokenness that is in this world. It is not only in the Dominican Republic, it is everywhere. I noticed the other day at the afternoon camp that every single student in my group, (80 young men) had on a t-shirt from the United States. These were not shirts that these kids could have bought at the mall. These kids are too poor to be able to go out and buy their own shirts. They are wearing hand me downs from me and you. From other Americans out there. I hope that can paint a picture of the poverty that is everywhere. It may not be where you are, but realize that it is here. It is everywhere, and it is not that difficult to help end that poverty. To be able to give out hope to these kids. Hope to them is just knowing that they have a future. To know that someone out there cares for them. I thank you all for supporting me, because by supporting me in the Dominican Republic, you are helping influence the lives of hundreds of children. Not because I am some awesome individual, but because Christ has the ability to shine his love through people like me and the other interns and volunteers down here. Christs love has the power to penetrate the toughest of hearts, and to influence anyone, anywhere. I am so thankful of this opportunity that I have, and I truly hope that you can take some time to truly think about what is going on outside of the United States, or wherever you may be. There is hopelessness, there is brokenness, there is poverty, but there is also the hope of Christ that overcomes all of those I just listed.
Pray for those that are down here, or all over the world. If you don't want to pray, think about them. Think about how you can help them out. However that may be.
I can not wait to get home and share more with those that would want to hear. I miss everyone back home very much, and I only have 3 weeks here left, and it gets tougher each day, because I keep longing to be home, but at the same time I don't want to leave this beautiful country.