Mr. Ellis called in this morning with this reflection....he has been really blessed by the efforts of our students individually but even more so as teams working together as unto the Lord. He has seen "Peter" preparing the soil, and "Paul" planting the seed and then there will be those who will follow this work through with to the "Harvest". Our students are really "Getting It!", they are not doing this week of service for themselves, not for Mr. Ellis, and not even for their parents...but they are indeed serving as unto the Lord. Your students have been a real blessing to the leadership team!
Yesterday they divided into two teams and played tag between the ALC and the All Saints Aids Camp. They once again rose to the occasion and worked and served very hard. A gravel trail was laid at the ALC camp and wheel chairs were distributed at the Aids Camp. The residents at All Saints were so overcome with this amazing provision that they were speechless. Two camp residents that some of you may have heard about were recipients of those wheel chairs...Miss Moxey and Tony! It was a special time for our students to be part of presenting this abundant provision. The groups were able to meet personally with over 30 camp residents and simply spent the time listening and offering words of encouragement to the folks in residence there. One of the ladies expressed to the first team that visited that she would "run a mile for a banana" and Miss Moxey happened to mention that she was yearning for a Sprite....well our little group of listeners passed on this info to the next group who arrived at the camp for their visit with enough bananas and Sprites to last these ladies a whole week! It is amazing how just such a little act of kindness can be so special! The team returned to camp for their cultural experience of Bahamian cuisine which included the famous Bahamas version of Mac and Cheese and conch fritters.
The time around the campfire once again was very special. This campfire has really served as their altar for the week, the time and place where our students have an opportunity to seek and meet the Lord. Today they are preparing gift packets of toiletries and supplies that were collected at the school to give to the students at the Youth Hostel. Again, simple expressions of love and care by providing these kids with hair brushes, socks and shampoo! Thank you to all of you who made this possible. The team will visit the Straw market today, have lunch at Ft. Montegue and have some time at the Beach.
All for now. Tomorrow will be your airport run and the "happy happy joy joy" family reunion time! Parents PLEASE make plans to park your cars and COME INTO the airport to pick up your students. They will not be brought out to the curb.
All for now!
Bahama Mama
Friday, March 2, 2007
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Team Adelaide Powers On
Great reports continue to come in from our team on the field. To begin with I am very happy to be able to tell you that they have not received any bad weather this week. There was a short "drizzle rain" delay for Wednesday morning but that delay only lasted an hour. They didn't get any of the tornado watch action we had here in Broward county and they even didn't get anything from that big rain storm we had on Monday night. All that said...after the short delay they headed back out for a ministry day at a local Haitian pastor's home and his church. The group divided into two groups and painted and cleaned at both locations. Our students really took extra care and did an excellent job. While the team was working at the church a group of students began a conversation with one of the locals who was observing their work. The gentlemen shared with them the sense of despair and discouragement that he carries with him daily. He then pushed the conversation toward a spiritual debate. With one of our team leaders standing by, this group of students went on to share about the hope they have in Christ. The man stopped debating and began listening and the conversation led to one of our students asking this man if he would like to receive the free gift of eternal life offered by Christ. He did and there was a time of rejoicing! This student then gave the man his own Bible and the group took him over and introduced him to a church member in an effort to get him plugged in to the church. Our team really felt that this was a divine appointment.
The time that night around the campfire had the team considering the challenge of how to be aware of the needs of those around you. Certainly for this week the physical needs of the people has been evident and the team has been very willing and blessed to be the hands of Jesus in the sharing of their physical support. The challenge will come as they return home and continue to be sensitive to the needs of others. It may not be something as easy to see as a home that needs to be painted or an area that needs to be cleaned but rather hearts that are empty or lonely or confused. The challenge was then presented to them to consider their own personal commitment to God and if in fact they are serious about this commitment. Mr. Randy Grebe who is the founder of the ALC was in town and joined them around the campfire. He shared with our students that is was when he was 13 years old and in the 8th grade that the Lord gave him a vision for the ALC, for a camp that would provide an opportunity for young people to learn about the things of God. Mr. Ellis then shared that he was also 13 when he first led someone to the Lord and that was the year that he knew that he was called to be in youth ministry. The team leaders gave the students an opportunity to really consider the level of their own commitment and many students prayed to rededicate their lives in service to the Lord. It was a special time just between each individual kid and God, a time for quiet consideration and reflection.
More ministry opportunities to come: Service project at the ALC, a visit to the All Saints Camp, (where they have an opportunity to distribute several wheel chairs donated by a CCA parent), a visit to the Youth Hostel and an outing with the kids from the Youth Hostel to the beach. Updates expected on these events sometime tomorrow.
All for now!
Bahama Mama
The time that night around the campfire had the team considering the challenge of how to be aware of the needs of those around you. Certainly for this week the physical needs of the people has been evident and the team has been very willing and blessed to be the hands of Jesus in the sharing of their physical support. The challenge will come as they return home and continue to be sensitive to the needs of others. It may not be something as easy to see as a home that needs to be painted or an area that needs to be cleaned but rather hearts that are empty or lonely or confused. The challenge was then presented to them to consider their own personal commitment to God and if in fact they are serious about this commitment. Mr. Randy Grebe who is the founder of the ALC was in town and joined them around the campfire. He shared with our students that is was when he was 13 years old and in the 8th grade that the Lord gave him a vision for the ALC, for a camp that would provide an opportunity for young people to learn about the things of God. Mr. Ellis then shared that he was also 13 when he first led someone to the Lord and that was the year that he knew that he was called to be in youth ministry. The team leaders gave the students an opportunity to really consider the level of their own commitment and many students prayed to rededicate their lives in service to the Lord. It was a special time just between each individual kid and God, a time for quiet consideration and reflection.
More ministry opportunities to come: Service project at the ALC, a visit to the All Saints Camp, (where they have an opportunity to distribute several wheel chairs donated by a CCA parent), a visit to the Youth Hostel and an outing with the kids from the Youth Hostel to the beach. Updates expected on these events sometime tomorrow.
All for now!
Bahama Mama
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