Greetings from the island!
Things are underway and going well, not without some usual distractions and diversions that always seem to accompany a mission, but nothing that surprises God and prevents Him from doing what He wants to do here. Yes, it’s HOT! Yes, the insects enjoy us! Yes, the technology didn’t initially work as planned! And Yes, we are all still talking about what God is doing anyway!
We have a WIDE age range of children joining us at the Emmanuel Baptist Church VBS – the youngest, a toddler of just 18 months, all the way to the oldest, a few 14-year-old boys. God has designed our team perfectly to engage them all, whether it’s throwing a football, playing a little Chess, making some slime, or holding and hugging when their arms reach out. (We made sure to let them turn some of our team into robots yesterday, just to break the ice.) For those of you who have served the community of McLean’s Town before us, you will be encouraged to hear that some of the kids remember you and are asking for you by name. It’s beautiful to know we are a part of a bigger work here than just what’s happening this week alone.
The frame for the St. Matthew’s Baptist Church garden was successfully built today, and the soil was expertly laid down. 😉  A special shout-out goes to Gardo Gomez for his incredible use of some handy-style skills. By the time we returned from VBS yesterday, he had sketched out a garden design and made a construction plan for the lumber. The men set the foundation early this morning before breakfast, and the rest of the team joined them once it was time to tear into the bags of dirt. We’re not sure we’ve ever been dirtier, so once we were finished, we walked straight into the ocean…clothes, hats, shoes and all!
Soon, we will be shuttled over to host our second day of VBS. Please pray for us to connect with these children. We worked out all our logistical issues yesterday and are looking forward to being more available and present in our conversations and interactions today. Pray that our teaching, singing, playing and all activities are a window through which our new friends will see how much God loves them, and that because He loves them, they can trust Him.
You can continue to pray for our team as well. Ask God to continue to bless us with unity and deepen our call to servanthood, even to one another. We are getting along so well and enjoying each other’s encouragement and sharpening. During our morning time together, we asked each other for one word they would want God to bring to today. Here are a few: joy, peacefulness, serenity, service, fun and everything good. Yeah, we know. That’s two words.
Here’s to everything good,
Your Family Mission Team 2017
