I CAN!!!

First of all, sorry for the late update. Our Friday evening activities didn’t end until after midnight and I was way too tired to type this. Just to give you a weather update, the Tropical Storm never materialized in our area. We were pretty worried in the morning with a lot of heavy rain until around 9:30, but then the clouds broke and we had plenty of sunshine to finish the job. We had to modify the lunch distribution since Karen, Raoul’s wife came down with a bug and was out of commission. (thank goodness our nurse/angel Carrie was there to help out) So Clare, Kim, and Lissy took care of cooking the hot dogs for the village kids. An awesome ending to an awesome week.

Each year we come, our team is a diverse cast with a unique set of God-given gifts. Many of these gifts have yet to be realized until they arrive. This trip challenges the team in a variety of ways, which forces each member to dig deep while they are here. Some come with a preconceived notion of what they can do, which can sometimes be limited. Others come with an open mind, willing to take on any task that comes their way.

And each year we have a verse for the week that is used to focus us on what we are here for. This year is was Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things though God who strengthens me.” The key words in this passage are “I can.” Each time we met in the morning or at night, or at random times during the day, someone would shout out “I CAN!” and the rest of team would finish the verse. And for some reason we always do it three times.

Usually there are a few, “I don’t know how’s,” “I can’t do it’s,” and “I don’t want to do that’s.” Not once this week were those words uttered. There were, “I’ll try that,” “Show me how,” and “Sure, let’s do it!!” This verse filled our hearts from the first time we spoke them in Woodside Sunday morning, and led this team to do remarkable things.

We were assigned to a home of two beautiful people – Forbes and Lynette. What makes them so special are what they do for others. Lynette has her own ministry, God’s Hand Extended, which only she and her husband run. Each paycheck, they squeeze as much out of it as possible for themselves, and then provide for others in their area. They buy groceries for widows and families who can’t provide. They sit and spend time with those who have no families. They pick up people for various appointments, and also grow their own vegetables that they share with their neighbors.

Our job this week was to clean up their backyard, and create an environment that would allow them to grow more crops exponentially. Not only did we build 12 raised garden beds, but we assembled and raised two nurseries that he can germinate and grow vegetables until they are ready to be planted. We also painted their home and shed, patched and fixed their roof, and painted their neighbors home. And we also played, sang, and laughed with a lot of kids.

But that’s only part of our trip, the part we usually share with our friends and family members when we’re not real comfortable with our faith. This year, we promise to share about how we were also moved by the Holy Spirit. That’s the part of the trip that will stay with us. You see, the structures will begin to crumble, and the gardens will eventually dry up, but what will remain is the relationships with each other, the villagers, and Jesus Christ, our savior.

Each day we also had a verse of the day. On Friday, it was Hebrews 12:12, “ Therefore strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.” This verse was written to inspire the Jewish converts of Christianity to stay strong when under persecution when they were debating on whether to return to Judaism.

Many of us have felt and will feel persecuted by our friends and family members for taking this trip, and we usually just give the business side of the story. And yes, we work our tails off to help rebuild people’s homes. But more importantly we take this trip to rebuild lives – the people we help on the island and our own. Many villagers we come in contact with are praying for something, someone to come into their lives that can help, and we are the answer to their prayers. Many of us are taking this trip as a journey to find an answer to a faith question, or to reconnect with God. And I can say with conviction that we are all coming home with a stronger faith then when we left.

So we all have made a promise that when asked, “How was the trip?” or “What did you do?” our first answer won’t be about the work we completed, but will be about how Christ moved us this week, how we witnessed His glory, His grace, His power, and His majesty, in the people we met, in each other, and in the awesome island we visited. And when that hesitation starts to creep in and we begin to fall back into that uncomfortable feeling of sharing about our faith experience, I know we will strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees, because we know that we can do all things through God who will strengthen us.