11 more days...

Hey there everyone!! Well, it is towards the end of my journey here in South Africa! Can you believe it! I have been here for three months and now only eleven days till I fly to Florida! I still can’t believe how the time has flown by and I am so thankful to have been able to be here for this time in my life!

We are currently back at Shikwaru Game Farm where we started our trip here in ZA. We have been here since Cape Town and will continue to be here until we leave for Florida in 11 days! We haven’t been doing much school ministry because of the students taking their final exams over the last three weeks, but we have been doing things around the game farm and research and small schools here and there!

On Sunday of this last week we went to a Lion park, and I HELD A BABAY LION! I am hoping you get the pictures of the blog and a few weeks back I got to pet a cheetah! I tell you, the animals here are STUNNING and so is the scenery! I have to say; I miss home and all of you very very much! I am so looking forward to being able to come home and share what God has been showing me over these last few months. I am ready to be home, but we still have a little time left so I am really trying to push through and make the best of it! It gets harder as days go by because I think to myself “I can’t wait to get home” and then “What am I going to do when I get home, I am going to miss South Africa SO MUCH”. I have had very mixed emotions about it but I am so looking forward to coming back home!!!

Well, I am going to head off now, I have to do some things around here. I miss you all and love you so much! I am looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you VERY VERY SOON! I will miss you on Thanksgiving Have a great one and get a big tree mom and dad!! I miss you all and I will talk to you soon!

Domi

Me and a BABY LION!!! Oh My GOSH!

Me at the Moyo in Cape Town

AMAZING huh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOMI!!!!!

So as most of you know... since you are on Dom's 'Africa Blog Site', Domi is spending her 22nd Birthday in Cape Town, Africa. Since we knew that she wasn't going to be here, we decided to take advantage of the fact that she has taken a MILLION and one pictures of herself and spent the weekend creating the perfect Birthday Extravaganza for her.. of course with special guest appearance of Dom herself :) Here is a little montage for all to see, and hopefully Dom too, of what we did and where she went to celebrate her birthday.

Places include: Hometown Buffet, Ross, Choir, College Sunday School, Plaza 4 Movie Theaters, Bethel Kitchen.. and of course Lugo Home :)

Now a message for Domi: HAPPPPPPPPY BIRTTHDAY!!! We wanted you to feel as much love as you possibly could on your special day.. so Becca, Jon and I organized the perfect plan for your birthday celebration. Our minds went crazy for all these fun things.. and man did we get some good laughs out of it!! I want you to know that today is your day.. in Africa and at Home :) We will be celebrating all day for you!!! We love you and miss you and hope your day is filled with excitement, laughter, adventure and trucks full of love.
-Teens

One more month...

(If you can turn up your volume and enjoy the mini slide-show we created for Domi!!!)

LUCKY #4 (this is her fourth message and her lucky number)

Dom's Blog Times:
Hello my faithful followers of my blog!! I hope you are all doing well and thank you so much for keeping up with my events and praying for me!! I can honestly feel your prayers and appreciate them so much.. You have no idea!
Since I wrote last, not much has happened… We are not in a different country, Lesotho. Lesotho is quite an interesting place to be honest, a lot different than Mossel Bay. It’s full of poverty and not that nice. This is exactly what I was expecting for a Book of Hope missions trip☺ Its been interesting. We have been doing these really long (and when I say long, I mean LONG) surveys in schools. We go into schools and give them questionnaires about their lives. We have to read the questions to them, and half of the time they don’t understand and the whole survey is about two hours long, so needless to say, its been interesting!
Here is a bit of a story too… We were driving to a school that was about 4 hours away. We drove through a really dangerous mountain area, and it was really really steep. While we were driving I was really nervous, cause I don’t like heights… AT ALL (something I got from YOU Dad!). Anyways, we were driving down the mountain and our car started to smell. We all got worried and we stopped on the side of the road (we were on our way to the school and our appointment was at 1pm, and it was 12:50). When we stopped, we found out that the clutch was burnt out… We were in the middle of NOWHERE on a mountain and it started raining and thunder and wind… You couldn’t come up with a better story. It was Insane!
Our leader Daneli walked ahead to the school, it was awesome that the school was so close! She returned with the principle who brought a truck and pulled our car to the school with us it is! It was hilarious! We got to the school and gave the survey and ended up having to stay the night in this mountain country!! There were huts and animals everywhere and it was AWESOME! All six of us girls had to sleep in two beds, which was really funny! And God really provided for us… A place to stay, food to eat and kids to hang out with while we waited for the car to get fixed the next day!! Haha! It was classic!
Other than that event, our schedule has been pretty chill this last week. We were supposed to leave Lesotho today (Saturday October 11th), but we may be here for another week or so to finish the surveys! I can’t believe that it is October already!! I didn’t think this trip was going to go by this fast, and I hope it continues to go by fast because I can’t wait to come home and see all of you!! Thank you for those who have written me... I LOVE getting letters and emails and I print them out and read them until I can check them again.. SO THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH!! I love you all!
God is still teaching me a lot of things… I can be pretty stubborn sometimes but he is breaking through the walls that I try to hold up and He is tearing them down. Slowly but surely, and through a lot of stretching, He is showing me who He is, and showing me how beautiful I am in Him. I am seeking Him in such an intimate way, and although it is a DAILY walk (which is not always easy), I am being grown! This trip is really a great opportunity for me… We have a great team, and I am getting really close with them all. We are like a family now... Or trying to be… Hahaha!
I can definitely say that I am looking forward to being home and spending time with my family and friends. I miss you all so much and I can’t believe it has already been half of my trip.. I have a feeling that the rest of my trip will go by extremely fast and I am looking forward to it! A LOT! I miss you all and I will be talking with you as soon as I can!! Keep me in your prayers and I will keep you in mine!! Love you and Talk with you soon!

Domi<3

::Smiles::

This was back from Mossel Bay.. forgot to send it :)

what a color difference... and I thought I was brown

This is where we stayed when our car broke down

me with more kids

Me and Char at KFC!!!

One of the many villages we drove to in the middle of nowhere!

Blog Times...

Well, well, well…Where to even begin. This may not be too long because I am in a little bit of a hurry, plus I am writing this on the last day we are in Mossel Bay, so it may not be too detailed… This last week in Mossel Bay has been pretty awesome. We have done a lot of afternoon work with kids. Not too much book distribution, but more of interacting with them, playing games with them, loving on them and just spending time with them. Mossel Bay is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It rivals Hawaii for me. It’s a little cold right now, but we are staying on the beach. Grandma, I know you would love it here and we should come back sometime☺ So we have had a pretty amazing experience here and in a way, I don’t really want to leave this place. But we have to move on and move forward in ministry…
I have been incredibly stretched and tested these last few weeks, God has really been stretching me. I must say that God has been showing me things about myself that I never thought he would. He has been truly showing me the things I need to lay down at his alter, but me being human, I run back to pick them up… Don’t we all do that sometimes? God has been moving and it’s been a struggle, but I am believing and hoping that God will move and have his way with me.
I attached some fun pictures of Knysna, Mossel Bay, our girls, me making pasta for the team, and a few of just me…. Oh, don’t forget Sean, he is the only guy on the team besides Ryan… Bless him, the poor guy has to endure 6 girls ALL THE TIME!! One thing I can say for this trip is the team is really cool. We are literally a family. We have grown close, and we bicker and we laugh and we spend every moment together. I don’t even do that at home with my own family, so to do it here with people I have never met has been quite an experience. But it has been a lot of fun and I feel like we were strategically placed together. Such a God thing.
We leave tomorrow morning for “Lasootoo”… That’s not how you spell it I can guarantee you that, but its how it sounds☺ While we are there we will be doing research with kids to see how the Book of Hope has really impacted their lives, and what we can do differently to have a better impact. We won’t be doing any schools or book distributions throughout that time, because a lot of the schools are taking their final exams… So we are heading there tomorrow morning and the drive is about 8-10 hours from Mossel Bay. We will be there for about a week or so, and then we had planned to go to Richards Bay, but those plans fell through. I’m not worried about it though, I know God will figure something out for us to do. So, I will keep you guys posted on where we will go after that.
This trip has been pretty crazy so far. It’s not at all what I though it would be. I thought huts, crazy food, and tribal churches. But every place we have stayed has been nice, especially here. My gosh - it is AMAZING!! I am sad to leave Mossel Bay, but I am looking forward to moving around, because I know it makes the time go by faster… which I hope the next two months will. I was just thinking how crazy it has been that I have been here for a month already. We are in our fifth week! I remember sitting with my parents thinking… THREE MONTHS IS TOO LONG!!! And now look, we are almost half way done. I am just hoping the next few months go by as quickly as this first one did. And I still can’t believe I am here. God has really given me strength and courage to actually go through with this journey. I never thought it possible!
I just want to say thank you… to all of you that have been praying for me, supporting me and encouraging me. Your words have meant SO MUCH to me and I truly value everything you all have done. I miss you all so very much and I can’t wait to see you and tell you about the journey I have been on. There is so much more to come too! I can’t believe it! I hope things are great in all of your lives. I pray for you, and think about you all so often…
Some shouts out… To my girls, Becca, Katie, Mette, Cimmanon, Christine, Rachel P, Ashley, Jessica, Tina, Candice, and Loni… I love you girls and miss you so much. I can’t wait to get home and spend time with you. I hope you are all doing well and I pray for you and think about you all the time!!
My family- all of you, I miss you and love you so very, very much. I think about you and look at your pictures all the time and hope you are doing well… Keep me in your prayers and I will keep you in mine… Can’t wait to talk to you soon!

I am the only one who has gotten in!!

I made Pasta Fagioli for dinner


Me and my stupid boot

Me and Sean

Me and some Kiddies

Me on our hike

Me in Knysna

Ministry Time!!


Our Girls in Knysna


The Girls


The Orphanage Kids!!! AMAZING!!

::UPDATE::

Me in Oudtshoorn

Me doing a ministry skit

Giving her testimony

Passing out Booklets to the children

Just me...

with the children

Me in Mossel Bay

View from my window of Mossel Bay

Hello all!!

Thank you so much for checking on my blog to see what has been happening with me and my journey in South Africa…. So far things have been going really well! There have been a lot of fun times and stretching times tooJ

This last Friday (9/12) we left the game farm and headed out on our journey to Mossel Bay. We drove for about eight hours and then stopped in a city called “Bloemfentein”. We stayed at a family’s home (what a great family!) and woke up early the next day to drive another eight hours. On our way we saw some pretty amazing things; baboons (Ryan almost hit one), a HUGE tortoise and AMAZING mountains. Words cannot even describe how amazingly beautiful the mountains (that we drove through) were… They were breathtaking. God gave us a little miracle. Our car was on E for quite some time, and there was absolutely no gas station around. He provided though and got us through… Like He always doesJ! We made it to Oudtshoorn, which is where we attended our first church service, and went to our first schools… It was really amazing. Our team has been bonding really well, and we are looking forward to continuing on to Mossel bay. We will be leaving this town and heading to “Mossel Bay” on Thursday (it’s only about forty five minutes away).

Well, we have made it to Mossel Bay!! It is truly an amazingly beautiful place! We drove through what looked like Switzerland because of the green mountains and huge hills! It was funny because while we were driving what looked like a regular “redwood” type forest in California was full of monkeys on the side of the road!! It was something I have never seen before! It was really amazing and the drive was quite an adventure!

When we arrived at the home where we will be staying in Mossel Bay – well, I was in shock. It is one of the most breathtaking places I have EVER been to in my life. I encourage everyone to look up the city of Mossel Bay online so you can see what I am talking about. We all feel like we are vacationing. It’s really amazing! We are staying in a really large house, and when I say large its large! The coolest part is, we are literally on the beach. I am sleeping in a room with my friend Charlee and we are on the second floor and we have a patio (the only one out of the 4 or 5 rooms). When we wake up, we overlook the beach. The coolest thing is that there are whales here!! It is unbelievable. I thought Vernon (the guy we are staying with) was joking when he told us a bout it, but we have seen about 5 or 6. They are about 100 feet away from shore, which is ridiculously close. Don’t worry, I will get plenty of pictures!

The trip is going by really fast (so far J). I can’t believe this last Wednesday was three weeks. We are almost in our fourth! Time for me is flying by, but I hear from our leaders that the second month can be the hardest, so keep me in your prayers! God has really been working out some things in my life. It has been difficult, and trying, and trust me, I know I am not even close to where I know I will be, but it is a process. I’m continually dying to myself, and truly trying to relinquish everything to God, which as most of you know isn’t easy… All I can say, is this is such a growing experience, and I am hoping and believing that through this journey, God will reveal himself to me in such a different way… I am anxious to see what he does to me, in me and through me. Some days are harder than others, but in all honesty, South Africa is amazing in so many different ways. Culturally it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

We will be in Mossel Bay until October 2nd, then we will be heading off to Richards Bay (and it’s another long drive and from what I hear not the nicest place we will be going to, so keep us in your prayers). I am looking forward to being in Mossel Bay for the next week or so because it is seriously one of the most amazing places I have ever been!

Thus far everything has been smooth sailing. Some minor set backs, but nothing major. All has been great!! I will continue to write when I can and post this on Saturday (hopefully)… Keep me in your prayers and I will continue to keep you in mine!! Talk to you soon! Miss you all and can’t wait to talk to you again soon!

Dominique

Oh my goodness - this is Gina - Dominique called today and I was able to conference Jon in! It was so exciting to hear her voice on the phone. She sounded great!!! We haven't actually spoken with her since August 31 so this was a real treat - she said to tell everyone she really appreciates your prayers (she can really sense them) and support! She misses EVERYONE very much but is having a wonderful time. They leave the game farm tomorrow morning early and head out in ministry. Bless each one of you for your love and concern for her. God is doing a great work in and through her.

Hello family and friends!! I am so sorry it has taken about a week to update my blog but we have been really busy and Internet access is about once a week or so… So far the trip has been AMAZING! South Africa is truly a breathtaking place..

We are staying at a game lodge called “Shikwaru”… if you look it up online you might be able to see what t looks like, but I cant guarantee it. We have been here for about a week now, and needless to say; there have been some pretty wild things going on. We have taken two game drives, and on those drives we have seen; Giraffes (about 6), wildebeests, impalas, kudu’s, zebras, warthogs, beautiful birds, baboons, and little white monkeys. It was incredible… I hope the pictures I sent my mom will make it onto the blog…

Since we have been here, we have been training. A lot of our time has been spent on teachings about God and who He really is to us individually, as a team, and as a world. We have yet to go to schools, or actually minister yet. The plan from the beginning was to stay at the lodge and train in dramas, evangelism, and learn more about each other and build team unity. We have also been learning about the culture of South Africa. It has been fun, and until about two or three days ago, we were sailing through. I then realized that we weren’t going to be staying at this lodge for three months, and ministry is soon up ahead!! Excitement and nervousness (and many more emotions) all fled into me… I can say that God is really going to stretch and grow me and He truly already has been! I have been learning so many things. God is FAITHFUL, His mercy is what gets me through a day, He wants 100% of me (nothing less), He wants me to see myself as HE sees me, He wants to truly break me and make me new… I believe that this trip holds a lot of situations that will cause me to be tested and tried, and in that, I will grow stronger in my faith and in GOD…

A few fun things about our trip…
*We have had to eat HUGE dead worms (I did not do this… shock)
*We had to put dry impala poop in our mouths and spit it as far as we could… (I did this instead of the worms…)
*We had to take more impala poop (I know, twisted huh!) and throw it at other team members who had a cone on their head and try and knock t off…
*I got to eat French fries and potato skins when we went to town. “Mokoponi” (the towns name).
*Ryan Moore (my leader), Matt Woody and Ben Woody are all here… All from BETHEL!!! *The farm (game farm we are staying at) has four dogs that I feel God has blessed me with and one looks just like Gianna… His name is “Brownie”…
*We have had AMAZING food!! Becky Young has been cooking for us three meals a day and they are all INCREDIBLE!!
*It is truly beautiful here… The game farm is unbelievable…

Grandma: we will have to come back to stay here. SOON!

I truly miss everyone at home... Thank you guys so much for your prayers and support and encouragement. It really means a lot to me to know that I have family and friends like you backing me up 100% at home… I am truly blessed to have ALL OF YOU!! I am having a great time… I was sick one day and slept until about 2pm, but was fine after rest.

I am getting anxious to get out and do ministry and I cant believe I have been gone for two weeks already!! Time has really flown by and I am hoping (God Please!!) that it continues to do so!!

Thank you all so much for all you have done and keep me in your prayers!! I can’t wait to email you again soon and let you know more of what is going on and how God is moving in my life and the people of South Africa…By the way, the next place we are supposed to go (keep in mind, this might change) is called Mossel (pronounced muscle) Bay. I may have butchered that spelling, but oh well. So you can search and see where that is and see where I am going. I know we will be moving a lot, and I will try to keep you updated in all I am doing!!

Love you all!!

Dom
Domi Lugo

GAMING RESERVE

Hey Everyone..

we got an email from Dom saying that she is having a BLAST. She is loving all the people she has met so far and looking forward to the ones she will be meeting over the next few months.

She is currently at a Gaming Reserve http://www.shikwarugamelodge.co.za/Home.asp check it out!!! She will be heading out on Friday and off to the next adventure.

The night before we leave!!

Ok guys... The time is near.. We leave tomorrow at 1:20... I cant believe the time is actually here... There is so much going on right now i feel like three hundred emotions are going at once... My whole team is anxious to get there... I am getting nervous, and excited, and well.... EXCITED!! These last few days in Florida have been really great. Our team is really coming together and all these kids are AWESOME!!! So here is the list of us...

Lexi aka Principessa... 18 from Rockland CA... Kyle and Marcia Bethkes church!! :)
Sean aka Sedona.... 18 From Gilbert AZ
Catie aka Ebony... 18 From Pheonix AZ
My Roomate... Tamara... 18 from Norco / La area
Charlee aka Missy M....17 from Fort Lauderdale Florida
Then me!!! and you all know me!!

Thats our team, and Ryan Moore is my leader from our home Church... Our other leader is Daneli, my Dominican Sister:) AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ts getting so exciting!! Thank you all so much for your support and prayers and amazing encouragement!! I love you all so much and I am going to miss you all like crazy... Thank you so so so so so much for everything. Pray for our flights which are... Florida to Detroit, Detroit to Amsterdam (7hours) then Amsterdam to Africa (10 hours)... It will be a long two days or so... I love you all so much and will miss you... Did i say that already?? Ok, Im signing off... I will write as soon as i possibly can.. We will be on a gaming reserve for the first two weeks which is AWESOME!!! We will be hanging out with all kinds of wild animals, and doig more team training... SO hopefully i will write to you soon.. Love you all!!! Love Dom

So i arrived in florida on wednesday at around five o clock. . . I was so tired and hungry! The weather was hot and humid. . . SHOCK CAUSE ITS FLORIDA! :-) I got to meet four of the five people on my team and i am the oldest! :) besides my leaders which are great too! So wednesday was great. We got to eat dinner with Randy and Becky Young who are amazing. After dinner we got to take communion together as a team and pray together which was really cool. It was a great day. I had a hard time sleeping cause of the time difference but it was a good day! Thursday . . . So we woke up and did devotions, had breakfast and studied one of our books! After lunch we had another study session with Randy about missions. It was amazing. :) later last night we had mexican Food at Jens house. Dessert
was AMAZING:-) When we got to the hotel we played some cards and went to sleep. Friday. . . Today we had devotions and we did a study on spiritual warfare- after that we had orientation then lunch. We just got done with free time at a local park and now we are going to get ice cream:) i will write again soon! Dom

OK OK OK.. Just before i leave... A few words to my family...

Mom...

  

I cant even begin to tell you how amazing you truly are.  I have learned so much from you and count it a true blessing to have you as my mom.  Your love for Jesus shines bright and encourages me daily.  Thank you for all that you do and you have done for me.  Your love support and encouragement have truly meant the world to me.  Tank you for supporting me on this journey and giving me an extra push to fly:)  I couldn't have done this without you.  You are my best friend and I will miss you constantly.  I love you so much and appreciate who you are and what you have done for me.

Dad....

 

Where do i even begin with you!! You are such an amazing dad, friend and man of God.  Thank you for believing in me throughout this whole thing and telling me that I can do it even in times when i felt like i couldn't.  Thank you for always making me laugh when my heart hurt and encouraging me when things seemed to heavy for me to carry... You helped carry them for me.  I love you with all of my heart and I will miss you... TONS...  When i miss you i will just look down at my feet!!

Jbug...

Jack, words can begin to describe my love for you.. I am so proud of who you have become and what you are doing with your life now.  Thank you for believing in me and pushing me to do what is right, even if you seem really mean in the process ;/... Its your job and you do it WELL... What's the secret dude..... Any tips.... Ya got any tips fah meh?? Thank you for always making me laugh and bringing a smile to my face.  You are amazing and Christine is truly a lucky woman to have you as your future husband... I love you brother and I will miss you a lot... 

Christine...

My beautiful sister-in-law... You make me speechless... Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your encouragement.  My eyes filled with tears the day I got home from Mexico and saw what you had done for me... My eyes filled with tears tonight when I read the card you wrote to me with the dove.  You are an amazing woman and i am thrilled to have you as a part of our Lugo family..  There isn't another woman i would choose to fill your shoes.  I am going to miss you so much while I am gone, but know that I love you and will be thinking of you always!! Thank you for all you have done for me!

Becca...

My true sister... I love you.. I am proud of the woman you are becoming in God.  I know this is going to be hard for me and you, but I believe that in this time we will grow so much.  You are more than my best friend, you are my sister and a big part of my heart.  Not a day goes by when i dont think of what an amazing blessing you are in my life.  I am so lucky to have you as my sister.. .  I mean, you wrote me 96 cards.. That was so amazing Meems, I cant even begin to tell you how awesome that is!!  You mean the world to me and believe i will be counting the days until i see you again.  My heart will be with you always and I love you so much B!! 

Gma Blanche...

You sexy sexy lady... Where would i be without you... You are my hero... I know that we have a very special bond and it means the world to me.  Thank you for all of your support on my journey Blanch.  You mean so very much to me and The only thing I would bring if I had more room would be YOU!! Your heart for missions has inspired me and i got my passion for adventure and life  from you!! SO thanks alot!! Look what you got me into:)  I love you Grandma, thank you for all your support, encouragment and prayers... Ill miss you!

Going away party... Thank you all for coming!! <3