There are many first in this mission trip.
It is my first mission trip.
It is the first time I am leading a mission trip.
It is also the first time I am 'baby sitting' kids that are grade 1 to grade 5.
Leading up to this mission trip, I was getting worry with the logistics. What if my team cannot do this? What if we forget about that? What if we don't plan enough? What if ....
I stopped and spent last week praying and seeking the Spirit. After all this is God's Mission and He will provide as necessary. He definitely did!
I am very thankful for many things. For church members willing to drive us to subway 6 in the morning and in the evening. The team members continue contribution to various activities. I told them that I am not good with kids and they had more experience than I do. They worked without complain. They simply wanted to serve.
Where do I start and how do I end this post? There is so much to talk about.
For this mission trip, I wanted the team to expose to what God is working in St Jamestown. I wanted them to get a glimpse of poverty, the brokeness and at the same time the HOPE that our GOD offers. I want them to see that there are Christians that are actively praying and making choices to transform this community. I wanted them to see a bigger picture of what it means to be a Christian to reach out to love our neighbors (instead of sitting at church every Sun, having fellowship, going to Christian events etc..).
And slowly...really it is just having the desire to follow Christ.
What caught me by surprise is how much I love playing with the kids. There were two grade 1s which we sat hvaing lunch and started playing a game they called fastshot. The game consisted of a half hoola hoop and two big balls. I hold the hoop up and the they would sit on each side kicking or punching the ball to each other. Whenever the ball passed the person, he lose. It was so simple. Yet so much fun.
There was a girl name Mary which is very very active. She took all our name tags on the first day and put it on her. Despite her short attention span, she is super bright and smart. She loved to come behind you and poke you on the side and screamed 'TAZER'.
Today, during swimming pool, I looked over two little boys named Ian and Ali. Ian is a much better swimmer than Ali. Ali was bright enough to know that he needed a life jacket. The best time was when Ian asked me to teach him how to float and had the boys grabbed each of my arm as I dragged them in the water as fast as I could.
Last night after a long day at the camp, I took the team to St Jamestown. We went to specific area to pray for the community. I showed them playgrounds which as kids and families were gathering around, these are the same places where drug deals will go on at night.
We also met two Christians from MoveIn Ministry. They lived in St Jamestown to transform the community by loving their neighbors. Their testimony and sharing was awesome...
There is a lot more to share..a lot of laughters and fun.
The team members are tired and so am I. Everyday I get up at 5:30 and we don't go home till 7-8 pm.
Going to bed now :)
The team. I was sharing to the congregation why we are going to St Jamestown.
The kids laughed at the hair on the girl as we walked to the swimming pool.
Team leaders (us and other volunteers) looked over two kids as we took the subway to the pool.
A mural the kids painted yesterday. Today we went out to the park to pick up flowers and leafs to stick it on. Tomorrow, we will draw animals and put them on.
Yesterday, we split the kids up into three groups and each team member gave a show and tell (aka testimony sharing).
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