The bus ride back to camp was different today ... there were tears, joyful laughter, and a reflective silence that is rare but necessary in our lives.
Last night, the project coordinator, Nate, and I decided that we would not start painting the outside of the church ... mainly because of the cost and knowing that what we didn't finish wouldn't get finished until next summer. Instead we held our plans for the day loosely knowing that God would provide some sweet moments that were necessary and ordained by Him.
When we showed up at the church this morning, we didn't know what to expect from our day. Jamie had taken Chuck, Connor, Luke, Peter, and Stephen to All Saints Camp ... and 5 minutes after they left, the church wanted us to finish the cement columns we were working on earlier! So we said that would have to wait and we would run VBS first .... which we found to be more difficult because there were over 50 women above us in the church sanctuary singing and dancing and a jackhammer ramming in to the side of the building. Through all the distractions, Therone did a great job telling the kids how to grow in their faith. He even taught them a new song and we all learned a new phrase: "Bene swa letenel" (Praise the Lord in Croele). Our craft was making bracelets with all the colors from the wordless gospel. It was so awesome to watch the kids run around with their bracelets on!
In the afternoon, we finished the cement columns in less than an hour (go team!)! Jamie also took Steph and Sean to All Saints Camp. That gave our team plenty of time to have "see you later" conversations and say what they needed to say. We ended with singing a couple more songs with all the kids and praying over Pastor Exante and New Haitian Mission Baptist Church.
The stories from All Saints are moving and heart wrenching. Reading the Bible to a woman blind from her disease ... singing "How Great Thou Art" with Arthur and Vincent on their front porch ... watching Miss Moxie hand you the Bible to read to her as her mouth moved along with every word you read ... seeing Tim and Felicia a year into running All Saints and how they've grown ... truly an amazing time over there. We are so grateful we were able to get students over there to visit with the residents.
The stories from the church are filled with hope and joy and heartache ... watching girls being raised in the Bahamas while their mom is in Haiti ... watching Bahamian girls pick on a Haitian girl for being Haitian ... listening to kids singing worship songs when they think no one is around ... hearing kids tell you stories from the Bible ...
An absolutely amazing week.
Thank you for your prayers! Tomorrow will be a day to debrief and relax before rushing back into life back home. The thunder and lightening righ tnow is so loud it is setting off car alarms ... I love the storms here!
Good night.
Leanne,
ReplyDeleteGrateful for your posts and pictures from the first two days. Thanks to you, Jamie, Therone, Ken, Chuck and Eileen for your selfless leadership and example. You all are such an amazing blessing. Praying as you all depart today and that this wouldn't be just a mission experience, but a life changing one. You all are loved and appreciated. Looking forward to hearing more that God has done upon your return!