April 12 – 19, 2024
Westlake seniors will be traveling to the Dominican Republic to serve local children. This is the culminating discipleship experience for Westlake students.
You can partner with the Class of 2024 by praying for them and/or giving financially toward the cost of their trip. Your support is a huge encouragement to these students, who will be stepping out of their comfort zones and offering the love of Christ through hands-on ministry opportunities.
Our prayer is that through this trip, God will use our students in ministry, and that they would also grow in their faith and be changed through the experience of serving others.
Donations to Westlake Christian Academy are tax-deductible. In the event that this trip is cancelled, donations will be used toward a similar purpose.
Mission Trip Updates
April 19, 2024 | Gratitude | By Ellen
Today is officially our final day in the Dominican Republic. It is currently 6:43 AM as I’m writing this, and we just finished our senior sunrise. The sky was absolutely amazing showcasing practically every color in existence!
There isn’t much to be said that hasn’t been mentioned already. This trip has been absolutely wonderful and departing for home is bittersweet. We’ve all grown so much spiritually and were able to serve with everything we can. (Also, it’s been awesome being able to share our experiences with you all!)
While I’m overwhelmed with emotions, there isn’t one more prominent than gratitude. I just want to thank everyone who was able to come on the trip for making it so amazing. Thank you to Mr. Hidalgo, Mrs. Funk, and Mr. Flemming for making this happen and guiding us through it. Thank you to all the Freedom staff who were so generous to us in their hospitality, and provided so many opportunities and activities for us. Finally, thank you to God for protecting us, guiding us, using us as light, and for loving us so dearly.
As this is our last post, let me share some of the wisdom I’ve learned from this trip:
Our lives are precious and filled with purpose. We are so blessed with so many opportunities from sports and extracurriculars to just having an openly Christian community. As our time on earth continues, let us all use it for good and to make the most of it, being disciples of Christ and a light onto the whole world.
Please pray for safe travels back ♡
April 18, 2024 | Jesus’s Three Retreats | By Connor
Our trip is almost over already; the time here has flown by way too fast. Throughout the week we have been able to tutor individual kids in English for around four hours. Each class period with a kid is 45 minutes long, and we do multiple activities with them. On our first day tutoring, we were just to introduce ourselves and the kids to a version of Apples to Apples with picture cards instead of words. We went through each upper-class, fifth through tenth grade, teaching them how to play for the rest of the week.
The following days we were given three objectives to accomplish with each student. The first was to go through a set of question cards about where we live. This served as an ice breaker and gave insight into the differences in our cultures. The second game tried to accomplish familiarity with homonyms. We were given cards with two words that sounded similar but had different meanings. The kids would then have to try to figure out which word fit in the provided example.
The final game was Apples to Apples, which we had taught them on the first day. For the first through fourth grade classes we had different stations outside in which we would rotate. These activities would vary each day but would have the purpose of using basic English words and teamwork skills. Some of these activities would be matching cards, building blocks, or even throwing footballs to each other.
The lead English teacher, Jacob, planned all of the activities that the kids partook in. The four hours doesn’t seem like much in comparison to the 18,000 hours they will have with Freedom. However, with many other groups volunteering and giving the kids the opportunity to practice their English, much more can be achieved.
While not working with kids and construction, we have planned activities with the missionaries. Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday we were assigned a time to be in the multi-use area for a teaching. These teachings were done by Scott, Freedom’s President, and were about Jesus’s three retreats. These teachings have been very impactful in my life because it showed me more of Jesus’ humanity.
Scott explained that each of these retreats were from temptations that Jesus faced. We went over the well-known story of how Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and he pointed out we don’t focus on the last verse saying that Satan went away until an opportune time. Scott took this point and applied it to what we know happened to Jesus. Each of the situations before Jesus’s retreats involved an “easy way out.”
The first was when people from surrounding towns wanted to see miracles, the second after the feeding of the 5,000, and third from the Garden of Gethsemane. The most significant to me was his analysis of his retreat after the 5,000. In Mark, it explains that after teaching the people, they were planning on forcing Jesus to become king. This may not seem like a big deal because we know that he is king, but this would have meant that he would have avoided the cross. With the people already wanting him as king he wouldn’t have had to follow God’s will. However, Jesus retreated to align himself with God’s will through prayer.
This summary of his sermons doesn’t give it justice, however what it showed me still stands. Jesus’ love for us exceeded the temptations of making his life easier even though his human nature would have been appeased. Scott, through the Holy Spirit, showed me how much more Jesus gave up in order for God’s plan to be complete.
We still have one and a half days left and a lot can happen in that time. Pray for guidance in our last day and our departure from Freedom.
April 17, 2024 | Day 5 | By Natasha
We enjoyed another breakfast made by our favorite chef, Domingo, and followed that with a daily devotion with our class led by Mr. Hidalgo. Then, we split up into our two tutoring classrooms to continue helping the fifth through eighth graders with their English. It’s been incredible to see how much our relationships with them have grown in just three days. They went from quiet and apprehensive to talkative and happy to see us each morning. Some of us have special handshakes or inside jokes with the kids, and we’re already getting sad at the thought of having to say goodbye.
After lunch, I left the tutoring group and headed to my first day of construction. Ryan (the construction lead) instructed Spencer, Connor, Mr. Hidalgo, and I to move a lot of boxes from one room to another, using pallets and a pallet lift. The only note he added was to set aside any boxes the mice had chewed through. Easy enough. It was going fine until we reached the second or third pallet and a mouse jumped out from between the boxes. Then another… and another.
We carried on with common mouse sightings until we reached one of the further pallets and uncovered a party of cockroaches. Dominican cockroaches. I don’t know if that’s an actual breed or not, but they’re easily the length of your thumb, if not larger. At that point, I stayed just outside of the doorway so I wouldn’t have to look at them, but the grind never stopped. I even joked to Connor that the only thing that would fully take me out at that point would be spiders. It was a silly thing to say at the time, so I was laughing. Until I wasn’t.
Maybe 30 minutes later, Spencer handed me a box, and I grabbed it, turning to give it to Connor. I was all smiles until I heard Connor say the word “spider.” I instantly dropped the box onto the pallet and backed away (if you couldn’t tell yet, I’m deathly afraid of spiders). I watched from a distance as Connor grabbed a stick and killed it.
Needless to say, I wasn’t too much help after that, but we were almost done anyway. We (they) cleaned up, and the work day was over. My classmates and I played a couple games until a yummy dinner of barbecue chicken sandwiches. We followed that with an expedition to the roof and some more games before an activity night planned by the missionaries. There, we played Spikeball, made coffee, and participated in a corn hole competition. It was very chill and a fun way to get to know more of the missionaries and Grace Community Church team members. After the activity night ended, a group of us played Uno until curfew.
All in all, it was a very memorable day. We’re so thankful for each moment God has given us here and appreciate of all of your support. I hope this reaches you all well. See you soon
April 16, 2024 | Day 4, Part 2 | By Brittany
What another beautiful day at Freedom International School. This week has been such a blessing, especially a blessing today to have the opportunity to be able to see how God is using us as vessels of Him.
This morning, I had the opportunity along with some other members of our team to watch a daily routine that the entire country of the Dominican Republic does. Every morning at 8 a.m., the Dominican Republic stops wherever they are at, whether they would be walking to a store or making their way to their car, and they turn to the flag and sing the national anthem. Seeing the kids all stand together and hearing the littlest of kids to the biggest kids was a powerful experience; they were unified. The DR is the only country that has the Bible and the word God on their flag. The Bible on the flag is open to John 8:32.
After the national anthem, I had the privilege to welcome the kids as they came to school. Something that I really noticed today is the impact of a wave and a smile. As the kids came in and saw our smiles and waves, their faces lit up and many ran over and gave us a big hug, even though we had never seen each other before.
Today, we did English tutoring individually with a small group of kids or one on one. We tutored today by playing different word games, asking questions, and playing Apples to Apples for grades 5th through 10th grade. Having the opportunity to get to know these kids individually really showed how there are big cultural differences between us, but also we are not that different from one another. We all have our own dreams, goals, feelings, and families.
Also, we got the opportunity today to eat lunch with the kids. Eating lunch with the kids had a bigger impact than I could have imagined. In the afternoon, our tutoring for 1st through 4th grade students consisted of various games while speaking to them in English. These games were parachute, puzzles, building blocks, racing cars, and reading books. During one of my rotations with the first graders, one of the first graders that I sat by during lunch one day had come over to me. This kiddo gave me a card with hearts and a picture of one person reaching down and helping the other person up. I find this card extra special because of what was drawn on it. There was one friend helping the other friend up. I think that is a big part of why God has us working with these kids, the same kids, throughout the whole week. We have the opportunity to become friends that those kids can reach out to for help. We are those friends who are there for them to extend God’s grace and God’s love. When looking these kids in their eyes, I see a longing for hope. I am thankful for the work Freedom is doing for them and for the opportunity they are letting our team join in on the mission.
April 16, 2024 | Day 4, Part 1 | By Will
Hey Westlake friends and family, our first full day of service at Freedom is officially in the books. It is truly a joyous thing to partake in such a fruitful part of God’s handiwork, which is not only benefitting the students but teaching us valuable lessons of humility.
Tutoring the first half of the day yet again went surprisingly well, with most of the students actively engaging in the activities and pushing their English abilities. Many even freely admitted that they enjoy school and the more technical subjects.
On that note, one thing that I believe greatly shapes the work ethic of the students is how Freedom serves as an authority figure in these children’s lives. They not only equip and encourage the students to do their work, but beyond education a primary goal is to discipline them in a level of selflessness and morality that would not be observable in their own communities. An approach like this not only makes things peaceful in the short term but sets the kids up for long term success in whatever they pursue.
For the second half of the day, a few of us participated in construction duties, but jobs in that area are more limited since we are working with another group, Grace Fellowship Church of Ohio. They generously decided to divvy up some of their construction jobs to those interested in trying out the manual labor side of things. Everything at Freedom has been built from the ground up, and compared to most places in the Dominican, the school seems to be extremely well built with higher standards of engineering and infrastructure.
An important task we are working on this week is fixing the septic leach pit which has not been draining properly for a couple of weeks now. With that, we have been preparing for a concrete pour by laying a gravel base and cutting the rebar that will be used for the reinforcing mesh. That project only lasted so long however, and we ended up moving some materials around for future projects. (For insurance purposes, let’s just say we would never actually move heavy pieces of 4” PVC onto the school roof by hoisting them upward a story at a time from balcony to balcony.)
To finish out the workday, the missionaries wanted to play another game of soccer, and feeling ambitious we decided to try Westlake versus everyone. We played well together as a team, and in the end, it was not a harrowing defeat. A notable highlight was when Natasha on defense took one of their power players, Scott, down to the ground and stole the ball from him. Good work!
Beyond just the overview of the day…It feels as if many words could be used to describe my time at Freedom, but the stark reality remains that nothing I say will be able to adequately describe what Freedom is and where it has been. From the one room church this ministry started at in 2008 to the stories of the faithful missionaries who have heartily obeyed the Lord’s calling on their lives for over a decade, there is so much here to learn, and one day all will be made known in eternal freedom.
April 15, 2024 | Day 3, Part 2 | By Grace
After tutoring and lunch in the morning, at 12:30, we loaded up on the school bus and went for a tour of the batey* villages. Many of the kids at the school live in these villages, so it was a way for us to connect the kids we are meeting to where they actually come from. It was really interesting and eye opening to see where the kids live.
We ended up stopping in a little village called Lima, which was the place that Freedom school first got started in a little church. It was very cool to see how much they have grown in the past few years. It really is amazing to see the work they are doing and the futures they are trying to provide for the kids. We were able to get out and walk around this village. We saw some of the locals, plenty of ducks, chicken, dogs, and just lots of other animals roaming around. We even had two little kids come up to us and say hi! After we walked around, we got back on the bus and headed back to the school.
We got back around 3:00 and a few of us took naps and we got some good rest in. When we woke up around 4:15 we headed outside to play soccer! I was really excited for this, and it ended up being a lot of fun. Red team won (my team), but it was a close game ending at 3-2. It was really fun; we got to play with a lot of the missionaries and their kids. Right after the game was finished we headed over to dinner at 5:30.
It was a cookout style dinner tonight with burgers, chicken, hotdogs, chips, fruit, and more. We even got ice cream after! But this meal was especially cool because we got to meet a lot of the missionaries and missionary kids. We got to hear lots of stories and learn how many of the families ended up here at Freedom. It was an awesome time, and it was really nice to meet all of the families here and see how they’re working and how God’s working through them.
Right after dinner some of us seniors went up on the roof to look for the sunset, which sadly wasn’t really there, but it was still fun. We had a quick meeting with everyone just to debrief the day and talk about everything. At 7:00 the girls headed in to their room. We got to shower off the mud from the soccer game and ended up just playing some uno and games the rest of the night.
*A batey village is a community where migrant sugar cane workers live.
April 15, 2024 | Day 3, Part 1 | By Ryan
Today we had breakfast at 6:30 in the morning. We had Johnny Cakes and eggs for breakfast. Johnny Cakes are warm cinnamon dough with sugar sprinkled on top. After that, we went into time for prayer and devotions. During devotions, the students arrived at school and had their breakfast at the school.
After we finished devotions, we went to learn how to tutor the kids. For the tutoring, we used games such as Apples to Apples Picture Edition to teach the kids new words in English. To play the game, we asked them questions in English and told them new words. This was for grades 5-10. For grades 1-4, we did outdoor activities such as jump roping while counting, saying the ABCs, or chanting rhymes in English.
This was a powerful way to serve since we had the opportunity to share our language with them as a gift. We found that a lot of the kids knew significantly more English than expected. This showed us that our tutoring will end up playing a small piece in a bigger plan to impact their lives with the ability to interact in English.
Another factor that I loved is that we found out we can make friends and share reality and communicate massive things with others. The students came from very different lives and there was a big language barrier. But even though this existed, we could still communicate who enjoys what and other things through the game. We even managed to laugh over the same things and knew what was funny even though we understand different languages. This made an impression on us how we can serve anyone, anywhere, whenever, through God’s creation, which is always stronger.
During lunch we were allowed to eat with the students. Those who did discovered that the students are very friendly and will try to talk to us, even if we can’t directly talk in the same language. When I sat by one kid he pointed at my bracelet. After a while I realized he wanted to try it on and give it back to me. He found out that it was a stretchy bracelet and thought it was really cool. I find it very interesting how much can be understood whether or not the same language is spoken. I believe this is possible since God gives us the ability to reason and understand reality.
April 14, 2024 | Church, Beach, & Orientation | By Josh
We all got to sleep in compared to yesterday and slept until about 7:45 this morning. It felt nice because of our very long day yesterday. We attended breakfast at 8am and had pancakes, eggs, sausage, and cereal. All of the food has been great so far, and there has always been plenty for all of us.
At about 9am we met to go do a devotion as a team (the 11 of us students and the three chaperones). While it was a short time together, we had a powerful session together going through Mark 1. At 10am, we had church in the center of the school campus, at the same place we usually meet and eat all of our meals.
We had worship and a message led by Scott (a missionary) for our church service. It was great to worship with him, as well as hear his teachings on Mark. Right after church, we had a campus tour from Scott and got to hear about the history of Freedom Christian School. It was cool to see how far the school has come and how much has been built since it was started 13 years ago. Freedom’s first class was a preschool class that still has a lot of the same students who are now in 10th grade.
After learning about the history of the school, it was lunch time. There was bread, sweet beef, watermelon, and pasta salad. After lunch, everyone got ready to go to the beach. When everyone was ready, we rode the bus to the beach that was about 30 minutes away.
When we arrived at the beach, we were instantly swarmed by local venders trying to sell us things. Over the next couple hours at the beach they did not leave our area of towels. A lot of people from our group got to barter with them and get souvenirs for themselves and friends and family. In addition, we also got to use our Spanish to talk with them. I personally was able to get six bracelets for a total of $15. The price they were asking for those was $35. I saved a total of $20! The stuff they had was actually really nice and they were also really nice people.
We also went swimming in the ocean and some people were able to collect seashells and coral. The water was a great temperature and was nice to swim in. However, we had to be careful not to go out too far because there was a chance we could step on sea urchins and big rocks. After a total of two hours at the beach we headed back to the school.
Then we got washed up and headed to dinner. Dinner was rice, chicken, and pineapple, another delicious meal. Then we had a little bit of free time before we headed over for orientation at 7pm. Orientation consisted of the missionaries telling us how our week was going to look, including details on working with the kids and doing construction. At about 8pm, when orientation ended, we had some free time. We played some basketball, ping pong, and the card game “spoons”. Lastly, Derek and I each curled a two-pound weight 750 times right before we headed back to shower and get ready for bed. Overall, it was a beautiful, warm, nice, and relaxing day before the long days of work coming up.
Saturday, April 13, 2024 | On Campus | By Jack
Hey Westlake! I am writing to you from the Freedom Campus in the Dominican Republic. After arriving on campus, we were shown to our rooms and unloaded our things. Scott, a missionary from Freedom, gave us the basic ground rules and told us that the group we would be sharing the dorms with and working with would be arriving around 6:00, the same time as dinner.
After we got settled in, we explored the grounds and looked for something to do. We found a playground that had a four square court and a nine square area close by. We played nine square as a class with Mr. Flemming, Mr. Hidalgo, and Mrs. Funk. We had tons of fun, and it was good to be doing something as a class after many hours of traveling.
While we were playing nine square, one of the missionary’s kids came up to introduce herself and told us about a litter of puppies that belonged to the guard dog. She led us over to them, and we got to spend some time playing with the puppies. They were only one month old, but they could walk around. They kept chewing on our shoes and shoe strings, while also consistently wrestling with one another to get more pets from us. We left the puppies around 5:40 and headed over to get ready for dinner.
At dinner, we met the other group and introduced ourselves to them. Dinner was taco soup, which was a sort of bean chili with rice and tortilla chips. It was absolutely delicious! We all gratefully ate till we were stuffed. During this time the hostess, Abby, greeted us and gave an orientation about what to expect for the upcoming week.
We are all very excited for the upcoming ministry work that we will be involved in and are ready to help serve this school. After we learned some more about what would happen, we were shown how to clean up dinner. At Freedom, the volunteer groups help out with the after dinner cleanup. This was a fun experience that was new to a number of us.
Afterwards, we headed to the gym on campus to check it out and buy some snacks. While at the gym, some of us had a competition to see who could bench the most weight. Josh won by benching a total of 155 pounds! It was so fun to have some friendly competition and hang out as a class. Once we were done in the gym, we made our way back outside for some pickle ball games. We played a variation that we created similar to king of the court in basketball. It was very fun and everyone seemed to enjoy having fun together. By that point it was late, and we all agreed we should head to bed to rest for tomorrow.
As always, keep us in your prayers (we prayed for you too) as we try to serve to the best of our ability here at this wonderful school. Hope you enjoyed our blog updates. We’ll keep you posted on what happens each day. God bless!
Saturday, April 13, 2024 | Traveling | By Spencer
Good evening from Freedom Christian School in the Dominican Republic. After many hours of traveling, we have arrived at our final destination. However, getting to this point proved to be a difficult task.
Saturday morning, we all arrived at Westlake at 3:30am to load up onto the bus and head to the airport. There was a short delay finalizing some paperwork, but before we knew it we were on our way to O’Hare with the roads virtually empty.
Arriving at the airport was a rush and stressful for some people, as we were closer than expected to missing our flight. After a brief jog through the terminal, we arrived at the gate. We were last to board. Before we knew it, we were off into a cool Chicago morning headed south to Atlanta, where we made a quick pit stop for breakfast.
After roaming the airport in Atlanta trying to find short food lines, we were off again, this time on our second and final flight of the day to Santo Domingo, the capital city. Two and a half hours later, touchdown. There was much excitement, as this was the very first time a lot of people in our class have traveled outside the United States.
Then, some challenges approached us. We learned that two bags were left behind in Atlanta by the airline, one of which was the team bag carrying some of the gifts we were bringing to the school in the DR. We pray that these arrive promptly, as they contain many items to give to the school. After more than a hour of trying to work out the bags, our guide from the school met us and took us to the Freedom campus on a school bus. Seeing a land we’ve never been to before just from the roads themselves was a surreal experience for everyone. Finally, after traveling for over 11 hours, we arrived on campus.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
The class started their journey early this morning. They are on their way to the Dominican Republic!
Friday, April 12, 2024 | Final Preparations
Seniors are making final preparations for their trip! Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible, through prayers, financial support, and encouragement.
At the end of the school day, secondary students gathered to send off the seniors with a time of prayer. It was encouraging to hear so many students praying for their friends.
Thursday, April 11, 2024 | Friendship Bracelets
Today, the seniors visited elementary classrooms to invite younger students to pray for the seniors during their trip. The seniors also provided supplies to make cards and friendship bracelets for children in the Dominican Republic. Third Grade and Pre-K made bracelets during their book buddy time today.