Jaqi Cox

Month 4: October ‘23

Pico Duarte

This month my homeroom class, 10th grade, had their outdoor education trip. Each year at Doulos, the 10th grade hikes Pico Duarte- which is the biggest mountain in the Caribbean. This hike was 5 days, and over 60km long- and let me tell you- its no joke. This mountain is like nothing I had experienced in good ole flat South Carolina.

So with that, proud of my kids is an understatement- because every single kid we brought made it to the top of the mountain (see the photos below). These kids had to push past mental and physical barriers. They had to push past the weight of their backpacks, the feeling of the blisters on their feet as they walked up rocks, the pressure of their classmates to be the “best” and do the hike the “fastest.”

So needless to say, these kids experienced perseverance first hand through a ton of sweat, lots of tears, and even blood. (okay the blood was me- I fell down so many times and cut up my leg lol).

But it is a trip unlike anything that I have experienced with kids because of how hard we pushed them- and the coolest part was seeing their attitudes change. By the end they were so proud of each other, they cared for each other, they were so thankful to be living in the moment with their classmates (even if that meant they didn’t have cell phones or indoor plumbing) and it was an amazing moment of growth for them.

It is hard to put into words what this trip meant to them, but watching high schoolers care about something bigger than themselves is pretty incredible.

Chapel

This month I also got to give a message during chapel. I decided to talk about what it looks like to have a relationship with Jesus.

Because heres the thing- we can look outside, see creation and know that there has to be a God. Matter and energy cannot create itself from nothing- that is a scientific impossibility. Nonliving matter does not become living matter spontaneously. So apart from God nothing would exist…

Now if there is a God, who created everything and everyone, it would probably make sense that He created it all with a purpose right? So if He did create everything, and there is a purpose behind it- He would have to communicate that to us, right? So what about the Bible…

Sure we can look at the Bible as an old book written by “old men”- but remember who we are talking about- This is the God who spoke the world into being, defeated sin and death, died and rose again to over 500 witnesses- surely it is in the realm of possibility that He can also create a book, and use these “old men” to write stuff down how He intended so that He can communicate His purpose for our lives to us…

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NASB95) "16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

And for what? Why do all these things?

Easy, because He wants a relationship with every single person on this earth. A relationship where we walk with Him, talk to Him, spend time with Him….etc

That relationship is what eternal life is…

John 17:3 (NASB95) "3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

I could go on… and in fact I did