Day 7 – Self-control

Well today Raoul had planned our God & nature day but God had other plans for us.  When we woke up today it was raining & the weather forecast for the day was for showers, some heavy, in the morning & scattered storms in the afternoon with thunderstorms in the evening.  Not a day to be on the open seas!

after we finished breakfast Raoul spoke to me about the plans for the day.  He told me that any projects they had were outdoor projects & it would not be safe for us to work outside today.  He asked if we minded spending the day back at the hotel.  I told him we were fine with a down day as we had worked very hard all week & could use a little time of rest.  Raoul talked to our group and thanked us for understanding that the work we did at the feeding center was just as important as work done in the villages as if the feeding center is not kept up to code, there would be no ministry to the villages because they would be shut down.

So what do you think the first thing the group did when we got back to the hotel, and after we packed to come home? They played tollyball in the light rain until about 1 when we ate our lunch.

the afternoon was spent reading & playing games until dinner.  Raoul & Karen delivered our dinner & we ate in our rooms.

after dinner we gathered in the girls room for worship & devotions. We discussed where we saw self-control today.  At first we had trouble thinking of a place but eventually we were all able to tell the group where we saw self-control today. Before our closing prayer time we wrote a note of encouragement in each persons devotions book.  We also jotted prayer requests for the Bahamas on post-it notes which we will take home and put on a poster board in the youth room that will be a reminder of our time on the island & of the thing we need to be praying for.

For prayer time this evening Mike broke us into our prayer partner groups & asked us to share one God moment we experienced this week & to share what we are taking away from this week.

As I am writing this, the thunder & lightening has started.

please pray that this storm clears out quickly & that our flight tomorrow is not delayed by weather either here or in the Philadelphia area.

this week has flown by.  We are looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow & sharing about our week!

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Day 6 – Gentleness

Today was our last day of working on the island as tomorrow is our God & nature day.  Today after breakfast we continued painting the fence at the feeding center.  We painted until about 12:40, cleaned up our painting supplies then had lunch.  After lunch Raoul & Karen took us to several villages where we had worked or visited in the past.  It was nice to see some areas that had improved from last year.  We went to areas that are impoverished & most people live in shacks.  we gave the kids foam crosses & stickers & they decorated their crosses with the stickers.  when we were leaving one of the villages one of the little boys ran after our bus.  Raoul & Karen talked to some of the moms about school supplies for the kids & got the ages of the children so they can bring them backpacks filled with the age appropriate supplies.  Karen is also going to take them new flip flops at the same time (we actually brought 56 adult flip flops and 116 youth).  We got back to the hotel around 3:15 and got changed & ready to catch the 4:00 ferry to Port Lucaya to do a little shopping, have some ice cream & just to see all the various vendors and their wares.

we took the 6:10 ferry back to our hotel & picked up our dinner & ate over by the pool/beach.  After dinner we had devotions & during prayer time we broke into our prayer teams to pray.

i have many pictures of your kids with the kids in the villages.  They all had a great time!

i just saw on the weather channel that there is a 60% chance of showers tomorrow…and they are going to be thunder storms.  If that’s the case our God & nature day will look different than we think.

please keep us in prayer for travel mercies as we travel home in two days.  We can’t believe how quickly the week has gone by!

Day 5 – Faithfulness

Today we had a blessed day with 45 youth from Eight Mile Rock at Heavenly View Ministries.  We  sang a few songs, put on a skit about Moses & the 10 Commandments, then did crafts with the group.  After crafts we had a skit about Jesus telling the disciples to Go Tell It On The Mountain!  We sang a closing song & played a game of Simon Says.  The women from Heavenly View made sandwiches, corn fritters & a cake for the youth & we shared a little with them.

after VBS we went back to the feeding center to continue working on the painting of the front fence.

When we returned to the hotel, and before dinner, the youthful members of the mission team played tollyball.  We ate dinner in our rooms and when we finished we went to the beach for our mid-week worship service.  This service is not like our regular devotions time — it is one where we spend a lot of time in song, personal prayer time, as well as corporate prayer.  We get a chance to talk to God near the vast ocean He created as we are listening to the sound of the surf.  What a peaceful prayer time!

At the end of the service, as with every other night, Mike asked us where we saw the Fruit of the Spirit today.  Many spoke of the faithfulness of Karen & Raoul, Lolita & Mervin and of the kids from Heavenly View — ask us to tell you some stories of our experiences today.

We had our picture taken with some of the VBS youth right before we left.  If you use Facebook you can see it on the Titusville Presbyterian page or on Barbara’s page.  You will see smiles on everyone’s faces.

Tomorrow we will visit one of the villages and around dinner time will go to Port Lucaya.

thank you all for sharing your children with me this week.  They are an awesome group!