Sun Burnt for Jesus

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-28T11:28:00.002-04:00

A lot of us here in the Delaware Valley seem to be little disappointed that the Hurricane wasn't more violent and terrifying. And some seem a little angry at the media for the "fear-mongering" to keep us safe. Instead of complaining, we should be thankful that the full effect of the storm didn't hit us like it did our friends in the southern states or our brothers and sisters in the Bahamas.

I spoke with Raoul this morning about the effects the hurricane had on Grand Bahama Island. When the storm reached this third-world country, there were fears that it would smash directly into Freeport, which would pretty much be the final deathblow for a country on life support right now. It appears that God's hand steered the storm off of its anticipated course towards the east, sparing a direct hit. They didn't go fully unscathed - a lot of water damage, roofs torn off, etc. But by the grace of God, not one life was lost.

On a selfish note, some of the work that we did this summer held up. The three roofs that we fixed had no leaks, and the gardens we installed were spared. But there is still a whole lot of work to be done. If you are interested in supporting the beautiful people of this island, right now they are asking for monetary donations. Raoul and Karen will be heading to Miami this week to do some shopping for non-perishable items. Then when they return, they will be able to get a discount from the Bahamian Government on plywood and lumber. Also, many of the children are in need of underwear and socks.

If you feel called to donate, make checks payable to Karazim Ministries and mail to:
Karazim Ministries
1777 Venice Lane # 136
Miami, Florida 33181

Taking Action

2011-07-23T14:06:00.001-04:00

Like I have mentioned in an earlier post, you get Godwinks all the time. Some are really subtle, and some smack you right upside the head. We got a good smack Sunday morning at church when Rev. Lewis preached about the only way to defeat evil is to take action, no talk about doing good things. Since our verse of the week was 1 John 3:18 – “Dear children, do not love with words or speech, but in actions and in truth,” we were pretty sure God had something special in store for us this week.

Now when you come down here, there are ample opportunities to serve and take action. From the time you get up in the morning, you can carry someone’s backpack, help them on the bus, or carry the water jugs. At breakfast, people can serve the food, clean up the tables, or bring drinks. And then once you get to the jobsite, you can paint, roof, fix gardens, or play with the kids. But it is really easy to do those things when you are in another country with a group of Christians. We’ve got a clear connection to God this week. There’s nothing blocking it – facebook, phones, work, friends, family problems. Just us and God.

But we are on our way home. As I’m typing this in Freeport International Airport, I look around and see the groups reading magazines, playing cards, and snacking. The tv is on and I’m hearing about Amy Winehouse’s death, Rupert Murdoch’s problems, and the crazy heatwave. Already the distractions have begun. So we have put a challenge out to all team members (me included) to take action. Last night at the closing service, we announced our action step for when we return. A lot of what was promised last night was to getting more involved in youth group, praying more, sharing the experience with friends and family, going to church.

The Jesus that we all worship didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk. He didn’t half –way do it. He went all out for us. So I pray that the promises we made last night don’t become just lip service. As James 2:22 says, “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” I know that He will work through this team, and we will be taking action this year.

Divide and Conquer

2011-07-21T23:34:00.001-04:00

For most of the trips, we stick together on the same site. Occasionally, a small group might go a few houses away to tie up a loose end. But today we had a split squad with 13 people sticking around the feeding center to work on a few projects, so I’ll start there first. Dan, Todd, and Nick were jumping out of their seats to get the opportunity to JACKHAMMER! Yep, we have moved on to the big boy toys. They had to break some ground to find a pipeline to connect a dishwasher to. Lissy, Caitlin, Audrey, and Melissa bent and formed about 10 new fish traps. And Carrie, Kim, Barbara, Alyssa N, Cyrus, and Jessica emptied, cleaned, and organized the large storage bins on the side of the feeding center.

The rest of the group went back to the village to work on the beginning of the end. By now it’s just like riding a bike. Before some of the supplies are off the bus, the teams are already organizing and tackling the various set-up jobs.

The Roofer’s union finished up roof #3, the painters finished house #3 and began #4, and the gardeners firmed up the retaining walls and cleared a bunch of weeds around various houses. And of course the kid’s club crew kept going with a bunch of new activities to keep them busy – like Kung-fu and Magic Carpet Ride.

We ended our night with a few more GREAT Helen games and some devotional time. Most of the team headed to bed early in anticipation of our long closing devotional tomorrow night, but also because they are dead tired. It’s going to be hard getting them up for the 9:30 service Sunday morning. (Thanks goodness for the 7:00)

Even though we were on two parts of the island, most of the kids shared the same “Jesus” moment. (These stories were pretty much the same from both groups.) It was really hot today (not as hot as home), but occasionally we get an afternoon thunderstorm. We don’t want the thunderstorm because that messes up a lot of our work, but today a big one was coming. We scurried quickly to get cleaned up before it hit. As we waited for the rain the come, a nice breeze picked up, the clouds gave us some cover, and the temp dropped about 20 degrees for almost 30 minutes. Fortunately, the rain never came, but the relief we got was just enough for us to make it through to the end of the day.

A Colorful Day

2011-07-21T06:40:00.001-04:00

Houses in the states are boring – brown, white, black, grey – but in the Bahamas they are dynamic – mint green, bright yellow, deep blue, coral, and pink. Imagine seeing one of those colors in a Yardley neighborhood. But down here they are commonplace. So seeing the white primed houses looked a little odd this morning. But it wasn’t long until the painting crews had brightened up the site. Led by the painting coordinator Helen Hughes, her team of Lissy, Joy, Kelsey Mahan, Sarah K, Kim E., Kim S.,, and others blew through the job in no time.

The roofing team, led by Jeff Hill, continued to seal up all the leaks. It was a hot one today (but from what I understand we are the lucky ones down here), so the tar was extra gooey. Jenny, Sarah B, Kate B, Mike M, Andrew M, Pillz, Alyssa N, Matt, Chelsea B, Carrie, Mike and Mike H, and Jeff L were doing some sweating for Jesus, and they came off the roof with only one color – BLACK. The ride back to dinner was filled with the smell of mineral spirits.

The gardening team made major strides today. Fourteen frames were completed and the retaining wall was extending. A lot of heavy pick-axing and shoveling was done to create a more stable and level area for the frames, leaving most members with a dusting of white all over their legs. Tom, Todd, Jeff R, Dan M, Alyssa C, Melissa T, Sarah K, and Chelsea really let their hammers do the talking today.

Then after dinner, we encountered a small rain shower and we saw – yep, a rainbow.

Finally, the day ended with a glorious beach service at sunset. The magnificent sky shone bright with an array of colors. And we were all able to worship with song, prayer, and fellowship for a few hours, enjoying some of God’s creation.

(Sorry for the late upload. This typing thing between 11 and midnight is starting to take its toll.)

Slow and Steady

2011-07-20T07:17:00.001-04:00

Day 2 always brings about big expectations. We end Day 1 with so much enthusiasm. There’s usually a lot of physical progress made at the site, so people think it’s going to be more of the same. Unfortunately, that is rarely the case on the second day. Our plan is never the same as God’s.

It’s not that we aren’t working, but the BIG stuff is already taken care of. We were able to really clear up the most of the brush, weeds, and garbage that was strewn around the village.

But it’s probably the most important day of the week for team morale. It’s easy for us to get down when you can’t see the big steps. Yesterday, Raoul was able to secure the services of a front-end loader that was able to clear out a huge portion of the area behind the houses that we are using to create gardens. It also spread out the four loads of fill that were dumped to create a base for those gardens. So there was a huge change in the appearance of the site.

Our job today was to create retaining walls to allow the rainwater to flow to certain areas in the rear of the village. Now the thing with this fill is that after it gets wet, it gets pretty hard, so the rain we had last night didn’t help much. The task was daunting. Pick-axing, shoveling, dumping – over and over again for about 4 hours to place about eight 8-ft boards in place. But the team that worked on this project was ecstatic that it was completed. Three of my small group members were on this project, and they all shared that this was their “high” point of the day. And one member said that when she felt like she couldn’t continue, she could feel God’s presence give her the strength and will to finish the job.

The other groups were able to also make progress – finishing the roof of one house and beginning a new one, painting one house and priming another, and continuing to replace some boards off of various houses.

Today reaffirmed in us the importance of patience – with each other, with the kids, but most importantly within ourselves. We can’t rush through this expereicne. We need to take it all in, and listen to what God wants us to do.

Let it Begin

2011-07-18T23:18:00.000-04:00

Day one of the trip is always my least favorite. There is so much anticipation to get going, but there is also so much waiting around. As the leader, there’s a lot of pressure to make sure everybody is working and has something to do. We weren’t at the site for more than 15 minutes and it felt like I was being pecked to death by chickens, seeking answers to questions that I had no answers to. So I did what I do best, I faked it. And then I prayed for God to give me some guidance on how to make this whole thing work.

So after a little alone time with the man upstairs, I surveyed the situation with the help of some of the veterans of the trip. We quickly set up a home base under the tent, made a list of the big jobs, assigned leaders to paint, roof, and scrape, and began to do what we at Woodside do best - kick some butt!

And as Raoul was going over some details, he showed me the first gardens we build in Rainbow Village back in 2007. I was distraught at what I saw, or thought I saw. It looked totally overgrown with large plants overtaking the entire area. Raoul said, “Can you believe what has happened here?”

I thought, “I can’t believe all of our hard was went to waste and no one took care of it!”

“Look at what YOU started!” he exclaimed. “You guys planted the seed the first time around and motivated the village.” He pointed out to me the sugar cane plants, pumpkin vines, sweet potatoes, and variety of other vegetables. “They have been asking for you to come again to help make it bigger and better than before, and you have answered their prayers.”

The rest of the day became a lot more enjoyable, especially when I returned the last time from the store to see EVERYONE fully engaged in some way or another. Whether it was on the roof, priming and scraping, pulling up weeks and overgrown brush, tearing out rotted wall boards, or playing with the kids, there was a smile on every face (and a lot less questions).

Seeing Jesus

2011-07-17T23:15:00.000-04:00

One of the questions we ask each day in our devotional is “Where did you see Jesus today?” For the new people on the trip, it’s kind of difficult for some to open their hearts to see Jesus working. But having been on this trip for so many years, I’ve experienced this many times. Typically, it occurs during the church service, and it happened again today.

Our verse for the week is 1 John 3:18, “Dear children, do not love with words or speech, but in actions and in truth.” Reverend Lewis from St. Paul’s Methodist Church didn’t quote this verse, but he came pretty darn close. His message today was “Can good overcome evil?” And within the first few minutes he was talking about how many people say they are good, but don’t really do anything. He commanded us to take action, and by doing good deeds we will be able to defeat evil. The hair on my arms stood up, and I could feel a tingling all over my body. The murmurs from the group could be heard behind me, “That’s what our verse is.” Pretty cool.

Later in the day, we were able to head out to the beach for “God in Nature” day. But unfortunately, the initial plans did not come to fruition. Randy, Raoul’s brother, owns the boat that is used to take us out to the fishing traps and snorkeling location, but it has a broken part, so plans had to change. I don’t want you to feel bad for us because we were still able to spend 2 ½ hours swimming and playing in the cove, eating hamburgers and hot dogs, and just having some great fellowship time.

Where is Jesus in that? For me, it was in the laughter of the team, the new relationships that were being formed, and the positive attitude that everyone showed.

Finally, one of the biggest concerns that we had was how in the world would we be able to fit all 47 of us on the bus. (We now have 47 members because we adopted Lydia, the intern from Seabring, FL, who was rooming with Clare this past two weeks.) Well this morning as we boarded the bus for church, we discovered that it had EXACTLY 47 seats. Made it a lot easier to take a headcount. That’s what we call a God-wink.

This week we’ll be looking for Jesus in all facets of our work. Can’t wait to see Him again.

No Joke

2011-07-16T22:12:00.002-04:00

I like jokes, but doesn’t everybody. I’m always up for a good laugh. So this morning at about 6:30 I thought someone was trying to play a little joke on me. As I’m in the luggage bay under the bus, Kim reveals to me that her passport fell out of her bag and is in her car. “Ha,” I thought. “Real cute. Make me even more stressed.” But as I turned to look at her, I could tell it was laughing matter. She had a panic stricken look and my heart was breaking for her.

But to our rescue came Helen. “CALL JOHN!” She blurted. “He’ll call LMT police to have them break into her car and he drives so fast he’ll be here in no time.” (I’m paraphrasing for effect.) Within minutes, John called to say he had the passport and was on his way. And by 7:30, a major disaster was averted. Mama Kim was on her way.

When we finally arrived in the Bahamas, the sun beat down on us as we walked across the runway to the concourse. Plans of unpacking the bathing suit were shared, UNTIL… the skies opened up and poured for over an hour. Scurrying across the parking lot to the hotel was an adventure, but we were dry and ready to ride the elevator to the 8th, 9th, and 11th floors, UNTIL… we discovered that the elevators were broken. Forty-five 50 pound bags were dragged up all those flights of stairs all without a bit of hesitation.

But before I had a chance to get started moving bags, my duties as the team nurse had begun. Audrey stubbed her big toe and it became a bloody mess. It looked A LOT worse than it really was. After some quick cleaning and a little liquid band-aid (thanks Carrie!), she was off carrying more bags.

After a few moments to recover and get our heart rates to normal, the sky opened up and the sun began to shine again. We quickly raced to the beach for some time before dinner, which was of course an awesome Karen Armbrister meal.

We played some icebreakers, found our groups for devotionals and games, and had the LONGEST initiation ever. The night ended with an hour of fellowship, singing, games, and candy in my room. At most I think there were almost 30 people. And all of laughing was authentic – no joking.

If you have the opportunity, please make a comment. The kids really enjoy hearing what you have to say from home. THANKS!!

Christmas in July

2011-07-12T21:15:00.001-04:00

There are certain days in the year that we all look forward – Christmas, birthdays, last days of school, etc. Each one of those days elicit some pretty cool memories of years past, and also lead to some crazy expectations when they come up again. (Luckily for me, I still get to enjoy the last day of school feeling every year.) Well there is another day that creates so much excitement I can barely contain myself – Day 1 of this trip.

On the days leading up to this trip, like kids the week before Christmas, I’m pretty much on pins and needles in anticipation. Knowing what has happened in years past, and the great things we have accomplished, make it very difficult to contain my emotions. And being the organizer of the trip, it really messes with my sleep patterns. Way too many times have I woken up in a panic thinking I left someone or something, only to take a few deep breaths and realize it’s still a few days away.

Like most people who have been on a mission trip, you know that the work is not going to be easy – physically emotionally, and spiritually. But for some reason we keep coming back for more. I think knowing makes us want to come back. The feeling you get the entire week cannot be duplicated at any time during the rest of the year.

I know that many of my friends and family can get kind of sick of me talking about it. It’s hard from them to relate to what I’m doing if they haven’t done anything like this yet. A lot of them also think that I’m kind of crazy to be doing this year after year. But I can’t help it. Now that I have gotten a taste for this type of work, how can I stop? Now that I have been to a place with so much despair, and the little time we spend there makes such a difference in their lives, how can I not go?

So when this Saturday rolls around, and we are all at the church parking lot at 5 am looking like a group of zombies before dawn, you’ll know why I’m bouncing around like a kid waiting for their parents to get out of bed on Christmas morning. I can’t wait to give the best gift I can think of.

More than Words

2011-06-04T14:31:00.002-04:00

A lot of us, me included, have had some great ideas and plans on how to make a difference. We proclaim that we’ll help do something big - like traveling somewhere that needs extra manpower to recover. In recent years (and weeks) there have been a lot of incidents that have encouraged people to do something about it. My church has been right in the middle of it – sending missionaries to Haiti to aid in their recovery from last year’s earthquake.

But most of us are full of excuses. We seem to talk a great game, but just don’t take action. There is always something standing in the way. “I just don’t have the time.” or “I can’t afford to do something like that.” or “I’d rather help someone in my own country, not a foreigner.” or “I’ll just send a check and let someone else help.” Unfortunately, it’s a lot easier just to turn a blind eye to it all because who is ever going to know if you do anything or not, right?

Up until 6 years ago, I was one of those people. I would donate a little here and there, but I never felt it was my role or responsibility to truly get involved. I had my own problems to worry about - 3 kids, a house, work, and all the other things that go into everyday life. But all that changed when I was asked to be a member of a trip to the Bahamas with the Senior High Youth Group. At first I was hesitant. Why would I want to go to another country with a bunch of high schoolers I barely knew? How would I contribute? And since I was pretty new to the Christian thing, how much “God” stuff would I have to do?

Pretty quickly, my concerns were gone. I fell in love with where I was and what I was doing. Our group did not have to preach or evangelize (whew!) since most of the people we met were already Christians. We were taking action – showing our love for them by being there. Whether we fixed roofs, painted houses, played with kids, or just sat and talked with them, we showed our love by doing. The people who accepted that first challenge came home and shared about their awesome trip. Over the years, the team has had 16, 24, 19, 20, 21, 26, and now 46 members. (85 different people have participated)

So when it came time to prepare this year’s devotional for the trip, it didn’t take long for this verse to almost pop out of my Bible - 1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” Pretty simple yet so powerful. We plan on continuing our tradition of spreading God's love by not only talking the talk, but walking the walk.

I hope that if an opportunity presents itself to you, you won’t give it lip service, but real service. Take some action and be examples of how our Lord shared His love for us – He took action.

$50 a gallon?

2011-03-15T14:25:00.004-04:00

Gas prices are high, but not that high. A gallon of milk? Even a gallon from Whole Foods isn't that much. So what in the world am I talking about? A gallon of paint. But not here in the states, where you can go to Home Depot and grab one for about $10-15. But that's how much a gallon of paint costs in the Bahamas. But who cares about that? I do.

As many of you know, for each summer since 2005, I’ve been blessed to lead a group of Senior High students to the island on our church’s mission trip where we will help the residents continue to rebuild their homes and lives from past hurricanes. We will do light construction work, like roofing, drywalling, and painting, create village gardens, build fish and lobster traps, and play with the children. But most importantly, we will allow God to work through us and be His hands and feet to support and encourage the local Christians who are desperately seeking help.

This trip requires a hefty financial commitment. The cost this year is $1600 per person, but I am fortunate enough to be able to afford it. Here’s how we break it down: Airfare and bus - $650, lodging and food - $700, supplies $250. Each year, we send down money to pay for building materials and other expenses from the job site. That’s a lot of money and we should be able to get a lot accomplished, but it’s not that easy. You see, there is NOTHING that is produced naturally on the island. Everything must be imported. And because everything is imported, there are HUGE taxes and tariffs placed on these goods. So who pays for it? The consumer. The cost of these supplies is ridiculous compared to The Home Depot or Lowes, so the money goes quick. Now we’re able to get what we need and accomplish our goals during the week, but once we leave, our friends with Karazim Ministries, Raoul and Karen Armbrister, are left with very little to support those in need.

So instead of writing letters, asking for people to sponsor me and my finances, I’m asking that people make donations for specific items. If you are feeling called to do this, and want to contribute, take a look at the list of items and make a check out for the amount of a something in particular. All money that that I raise this year will be given to Karazim ministries so they can use it to help more people, even after we are gone.

Gallon of paint - $50.00 per gallon
Box of nails - $14.00 per box
Bag of dirt - $3.25 - $4.45 per bag
Vegetable seeds - $5.00 per pack
Paint for a house - $300.00 per house
Raised Garden bed for planting - $200.00 per bed
Roofing supplies - Wood $150.00, Felt $35.00 roll, Roofing cement 65.00
Fish traps - $75.00 each

And if you don’t feel called to give money or are having a rough time right now, that’s ok. Just remember to keep us and the people of the Bahamas in your prayers.

44? Really God?

2011-02-06T22:27:00.003-05:00

During our trip in 2009, I spoke at length with Raoul about the progress Karazim Ministries was making. It wasn't very promising. In the 5 years that we had been going to the Bahamas, the number of groups had dropped from 15 to 5, with ours the largest at 21. This was not very encouraging news.

So what did I do? I opened my big mouth. Or God opened my big mouth. While we were at our Wednesday church service, I was asked to speak to the congregation. I promised that within 5 years we would triple the number of participants and I challenged each of the team members to spread the word outside of Woodside.

Last year, our team grew to 26 members, but we still didn't reach outside of our comfort zone. But last year something happened. Raoul inspired this group with some simple words - "Each one, reach one." And I challenged them to share more about the trip to others. Well, I guess what they said had a pretty big impact because this year we have reached a record of 44 members, with 22 of them first-timers. (Boy is initiation going to take a LONG time)

Not only has the number of Woodside members increased, but this year we have 6 members from Titusville Presbyterian Church, the first time we've partnered up with another church. Additionally, there are 5 more team members that do not attend Woodside.

My goal was to have 63 by the summer of 2014. At this rate, we'll be there next year. People often say, "God doesn't give you more than you can handle." But to take a quote from Pastor Doug, "Of course God gives you more than you can handle - how else would you learn to depend on Him alone?"

I CAN!!!

2010-07-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

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.

Old and New

2010-07-22T23:26:00.001-04:00

We’ve been coming down to the island for six years, and really have a great system on the job site. Lots of these jobs have become old-hat, like painting and garden building. In year 3, we built six gardens in 3 days and we were stoked. This year, we banged out 12 in one day. Our house painting teams have been super efficient this week, finishing the two houses in less than 3 days.

But each year we try some new projects. The first was erecting a nursery where the homeowners can germinate and grow new plants. We were able to finish the first one completely this morning, and begin work on the second.

The second was to help set and harvest the fishing traps off the shore line. Unfortunately, the ocean has been very rough, so we were not able to set the traps earlier in the week like we had hoped. But this afternoon, 12 of the team members set off on Raoul’s boat, Karazim One, and his brother’s boat to see what we caught. Things started off great with the first trap catching a snapper and a yellow fish, both good eating. But each of the remaining 7 shallow traps were empty.

Raoul and his brother were hesitant about going into the deeper waters where they thought we’d have a great harvest due to the choppy waters, so the team did some snorkeling for fun where we got to pick up some starfish and sand dollars. Also, Raoul’s brother speared an angelfish, lion fish, and a lobster. Overall, not the experience we had hoped for, but the potential for success is there.

Finally, after the remaining 14 team members at the site finished up for the day, they took a walk back to last year’s site to visit with the kids. There were lots of hugs, smiles, and tears, as everyone reconnected after a long year.

With only one day left, and an impending storm, we are all praying that we will be able to get back to the village to wrap up our unfinished projects and to say goodbye to all of our new friends.

A Fruitful Day

2010-07-21T23:51:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about being in a village in the Caribbean is the easy access to island fruit. There are trees with ripe fruit dangling all over the place. Just a few houses down from where we are working is a fresh mango tree. The kids were very willing to risk life and limb to climb on the longest and highest branch to grab mangoes for us. We were uplifted by the juicy deliciousness of our afternoon snack.

Besides actual fruit, we witnessed the fruit of the spirit alive and well in our team. It is easy to stand back and watch God at work through our team members. Whether it’s the singing and laughing of the children at play, or the dirt and sweat pouring from our souls, a smile was not far away. It’s been awesome to witness God working in so many ways through us and in us too.

Once again, there wasn’t a time during the day when we weren’t actively engaged in a project. A group of about 15 kids were enrolled in a makeshift VBS led by Jeff, Clare, Kate, Kim, Lizz, Catie, and Ali. John had his team of carpenters perform an old-fashioned nursery raising. Carrie S, Tina B, Jess, James, and Dan M. summoned their Amish heritage to get the structure in place. Our team of painters, Todd, Tom, Linda, Helen, Jackie, Jenny, and Lissy finished with the trim and touch up of Forbes’s house. The garden club – Chelsea B, Chelsea R, Warren, Rob, finished all the frames and loaded dirt into 7 raised beds. Carrie J spent her day working one on one with Forbes, the homeowner, in putting up the trim around some windows and doors. And I spent my day making 4 trips to the hardware store and feeding center. And I started working on my special project, refurbishing the family’s shed with a parachute roof (ask me about it later).

Unfortunately the traditional Wednesday night church services have been dwindling, and we were unable to attend a local church service. However when God closes one door he opens another. We ended our day with an amazing beachside service that reinvigorated us all. We prayed, we sang, and we spent time alone with God, all while enjoying the majesty of this gorgeous island – the sunset, the moon, and the lulling waves were a perfect backdrop to a perfect evening.

Full-steam ahead!

2010-07-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

The word that best describes this team is “machine.” We had five jobs today – painting, roofing, building the nursery, building the garden frames, and playing with the kids. Everyone was engaged in their activity – no one was lagging behind.

The teams broke down like this:
Painting - Helen, Todd, Linda, Ali, Chelsea B, Jackie, Tom
Roofing – Jeff, James, Lizz, Catie, Kate, Jenny
Nursery – John, Carrie S, Dan M, Tina, Jess, Carrie J
Garden – Dan S, Chelsea R, Warren, Lissy
Kids – Clare, Kim
And Rob just drove around with Raoul all day, interviewing a Bishop and a Minister from local churches, and helped Karen in the kitchen. (But he is working on the team video)

But at any time, if someone needed help people were stepping up to get the task completed. By the end of the day, the house had two coats of blue paint, the nursery had 2 ½ walls finished, 6 garden frames were assembled, and the roof was repaired.

Because of our hard work, we have added a few more jobs – repairing the shed and painting the neighbors house.

We ended the day with our trip to Port Lucaya for some souvenir shopping and ice cream. What a great way to end the day.

Great Expectations

2010-07-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

The first day at a worksite is always a surprise. We don’t know where we’re going, what the site will look like, and the extent of our jobs. This year we were sent to fix up Forbes and Lynetta’s house. This family of five is the hub of a small village. Their back yard is set up as a garden that helps feed their neighbors. It’s a pretty big yard compared to other’s we’ve worked on. It has a makeshift, four foot fence with plants randomly growing all over the place. Our goal is to clear out the area – pick up trash, move large rocks, level the land, and create a more organized garden.

Well within minutes the team went crazy. In the midst of our chaos, this yard was transformed. They organized a system of breaking the rock, shoveling into buckets, and dumping them over the fence. The garbage was eliminated, or relocated to over the fence. It seems odd not actually putting the trash in trash cans to be removed, but it’s just the way they do things down here. A task that Raoul stated in the morning should take us about a day and a half to two days was finished by 2:30. That’s just how we roll.

But the day did have a few mishaps. We were able to purchase for Karazim a portable canopy to be used at the worksite to provide some shade. After about an hour, Tom, James, and Warren were able to complete the task. It was gorgeous – was. It was awfully breezy today, more so than usual. A strong gust bent and broke some of the side bars on one of the extension pieces. Tomorrow we will try to fix it. A few people got a little dehydrated or got headaches. And finally, I got stung by 7 wasps trying to retrieve a bucket that was dropped on the other side of the fence – courtesy of Dan Marr. I may change the name of the blog to "Bee stung for Jesus." Unfortunately, I couldn't get Jeff Hill's camera to load the pictures because he got a few good ones of my stings. Thank goodness for Carrie Steele because she nursed me back to health.

Tomorrow we will start assembling the frames for the raised gardens and a new project of building two arbors to house the vegetable flats. A group will be painting the house and another will be on the roof patching a hole. It’s gonna be another busy one.

Day 1

2010-07-18T22:10:00.001-04:00

Day 1 is in the books. What a long day it was. We met at Woodside at 5 am and didn’t land in Freeport until 5:30 pm. As if our four hour layover in Atlanta wasn’t bad enough, we had a 45 minute delay. But hey, we’re here and like I always say, nobody died.

We took advantage of the layover to form our small groups/teams. This year’s theme is superheroes, so we all created our own and came up with a catch phrase and mascot. Ask your kids more about it when they get home.

We arrived tired and hungry, but that soon disappeared after eating some of Karen’s fabulous lasagna. The eleven newbies got initiated and are now officially part of the gang. Only a few broken bones. (Just kidding Barb and Mary).

Small group time will be a growing experience for all of us as we focus on Phillipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

We are all looking forward to getting to the work site tomorrow to see what Raoul has planned for us, but we know it’s God’s plan that we are following this week.

Why the Bahamas?

2010-07-13T22:15:00.000-04:00

There were a lot of emotions mixed up in my head when I would first shared about this trip. What would my non-believer friends and family members think? I was still in the infancy stages of my walk with Jesus, only about 6 months into it, and I was worried I would lose my old friends. Have I become a "Jesus freak" or a "Bible thumper?" Was the old Dan gone? I was truly worried about what they would think. Explaining what a mission trip was very uncomfortable for me, not really knowing what a mission trip was myself. Most thought I was just going on a Habitat for Humanity trip.

But what shocked me the most was this one. "The Bahamas? What about all the people in your OWN country who need help?" Wow - this hit me hard. Were they right? Should I do something here at home? I would reply, "Hey, I didn't pick the location. I'm just a chaperone." Looking back at that moment, the thing that upsets me the most was not how I responded to this particular question, but after. I slowly stopped sharing about what I was going to do for fear of more of the same from others. It was almost like I was ashamed. I didn't have a defense. What would I say? I had no idea what to do, so I did nothing.

But something happened on that week back in 2005. And for anyone who has ever gone a mission trip, you know what I mean. At first we were the Americans and they were the Bahamians, us and them. But before long, those barriers were melting away, and I let myself care. I didn't want to. I wanted to go down there, fix up some houses, play with some kids, and come home. Caring was not on my agenda, but I couldn't help it. There is something about the spirit and faith that these people had that made me fall in love with them.

And just like that there were no Americans vs. Bahamians. We were all Christians. Children of God working together. It didn't matter where they were from or where we were from. Jesus reached out and ministered to all people, no matter their background or location. So why should I limit myself to these boundaries? Why should I be care what a few people thought about it?

So I came home that summer and shared with everyone about my week - what it was like, what we did, who we met. And if people questioned me, I shared even more. I wasn't going to hide this. These people, this place - it was all apart of me now.

I can't wait to get back each year. But I also can't wait to come home and give the answer, "Why NOT the Bahamas?"

Headaches

2010-07-06T07:03:00.000-04:00

The headaches are here. Not the ones that will go away with some Tylenol. These are headaches that can't be controlled and that's what makes them so painful. And they've been here for a few months.

They began in late April, when team member Warren Marr was trying to add on to our group and discovered something that I wasn't aware of - our flight didn't exist. WHAT? I was sure he was wrong (even though he deals with flights for a living). So I called DELTA to see what was up. "Oh yeah," was their response. "Sorry we didn't inform you. We changed your flight." Our lunchtime arrival was out and a dinner time flight was in. That wrecks our first day, beach-game, team-building day. OK, we'll make do.

The second, and probably most important thing is MONEY!!! Now it's not like the date the money is due is a big surprise. One of the first things I do is give a due date, and like clockwork there are more than a few people who need an extension for some reason. That's why I make the money due a few weeks before the checks are due, but I was cutting it close with a few team members this year.

In mid- June I got a phone call from the Hill's. Before I go on, let me give you a little history lesson about the Hill's. This is the fourth year that the Hill family has been on the trip, and it always seems that something comes up in their busy lives so that someone has to drop out. In Year 2, Ellen and Catie were planning to come, but had to miss. In Year 4, Nick had to stay back for a college class, and now in Year 5, Nick and Scott have work issues that are keeping them home. So Catie and Jeff are filling in.

We are now less than 2 weeks away and I need paperwork!! Forms - insurance, liability, parental permission, notarized documents - all need to be in my possession very soon. If we were to leave today, the trip would only have 6 people on it. For those of you scoring at home, that's 21 with some sort of missing paperwork.

Even with the headaches that are caused, I've come to learn that they work themselves out - not by some coincidence, but because God has a hand, THE hand, in making sure everything works out. I don't look at the flight change as a problem, but an opportunity to bond in other ways. Having Catie come on the trip will be awesome for Jeff because now he has had a solo trip with each of this children. And the money and paperwork thing - well there is no bright-side to that. They ARE headaches.

So I'm going to heed the advice that I first heard from friend and team member Carrie Steele when I first became a believer back in 2004- let go and let God! I can't control everything. As a matter of fact, I can't control anything so why try. I'm going to sit back and enjoy the ride God has planned for us.

Decisions, Decisions

2010-06-19T20:22:00.000-04:00

When you're planning a trip like this, you need to make a lot of decisions. It begins back in the fall with the date of the trip. Then as your team begins to come together, it's selecting the best flight. Usually the airlines change it, so even the best decisions go awry. As we move closer to the trip, I need to assign their rooms and small groups. This is a little tricky since I try not to overlap any roommates with group-mates. I also try to cross-reference last year's trip so that their are as few repeats as possible. Whew - that's a lot to think about.

You might think that these decisions and choices would be most crucial for team unity and happiness - but you would be wrong. The most important decision that has to be made is ------- the T-shirt! Yep, the t-shirt. Besides the hundreds of pictures posted on facebook that quickly fade from people's memories, the one lasting reminder of the trip is the t-shirt. Also, the shirt is the leader's way to keep an eye on all of the the kids as they roam through the airport.

There are a lot of variables that need to go into the shirt. The first few years were easy. We didn't have any history of getting t-shirts so we could do no wrong. Everybody loved them.

Year two was eerily similar to year one, except a change in color to yellow. The only problem with that shirt was there was a Korean group in the same airport with the same color yellow. It looked like our group tripled and our heads were spinning as we counted the kids.

But as year three came around (2007, my first year in charge) I felt a lot of pressure to pick a shirt style and color that would be unique and everyone would love. I spent hours on various church t-shirt websites, peppering my wife with samples and questions about what she would like. I finally settled on my favorite one yet - a blue shirt with a huge sun and palm trees. (Its the only one I actually still wear in public)

So when it came time to choose 2008's shirt, I had to do a little bit better - so I added our memory verse on the back. And it was bright orange. No problems seeing our group in those. I chose this color because my mother-in-law was coming on this trip. My father-in-law had passed away the previous year and she decided that she wanted to cross "mission trip" off of her to-do list. I felt that I could at least do this for her. (But I don't think I've worn it since we arrived home)

Last year, my partner-in-crime, Sandy Stewart, had the idea to incorporate the tv show 'Survivor' into our team games, so the obvious choice was to go camouflage. Once again, nice for the trip, but its been buried in my closet since.

So as this year came along, I needed to take a different approach. Back to simpler days. Basic color, no verse, nothing crazy. Red. Three people in summer clothes. One holding a shovel, one a paint brush, one a hammer. All things we have done and will be doing this year.

Hopefully the team will like this shirt, and will wear it with pride in the airport and on the plane. But more importantly, I hope they wear it back home in front of family and friends, creating opportunities to explain what the shirt means, what they did, and how the trip changed their lives.

I think I'm going to go upstairs and take out the old shirts and put on a little fashion show for my friends.

Getting Ready

2010-06-04T21:07:00.000-04:00

I know what most of you are thinking - the Bahamas? What kind of trip is that? Are you cleaning the beaches for the week? I wish. You see, there are two sides of paradise. The part we see on the brochures, commercials, and other ads makes up about 2% of the island. The other 98% is a disaster. Residents live in abject poverty, with little to eat, high unemployment, and a serious drug problem - and we see it all.

We're about 6 weeks away from our trip. This is the 6th year I've been on it, and the 4th year of running it, but it never gets old. As the days are crossed off the calendar and the trip gets closer, I start getting butterflies in my stomach and having those crazy dreams. You know what I'm talking about - the ones where something goes wrong - like I left without any luggage and had to borrow clothes all week long.

This year will be the biggest in our short history - 27 team members - an increase of 6. You see last year I made a promise to my friends on the island, Raoul and Karen Armbrister. I told them that within three years we would triple the number of people coming to the island with us. For those of you scoring at home, that's over 60. I tried getting other youth groups in my area involved, but was politely turned down by each one due to lack of money, too late to plan, already have a trip, etc. So I'll keep trying for next year.

We are adding something new to our work agenda this year - building and setting fish traps. Not really sure how it will go, but from the way Raoul spoke about it to me earlier this week it should be a blast. Other than the fish traps, we will work on rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes and construction raised gardens for local villages. But most importantly we will be ministering to the residents of the villages, especially the kids. These kids are amazing, so happy to have so little. It's truly incredible to see how much faith the islanders have when they live in some pretty bad conditions. They know the He will take care of them and provide for what they need.

I'm looking forward to making more friends, building more homes, and reaching more lives through Jesus.

And I'll make sure not to forget the sunscreen.