If I could describe the last 3 weeks in one word it would be this: SPENT.
I know that when you hear that word it may come across as negative… but that is not AT ALL how I feel when I think about that word!
When I think about being spent, I am immediately drawn to "our" verse… the verse we chose as "ours" as we began our funding process. The verse that I have not been able to get out of my mind because its SO good. The verse that sums up why we do what we do in Haiti. Here it is:
Isaiah 58:10-11 "If you SPEND yourselves on behalf of the hungry, and if you satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like noonday."
The first two weeks of June were "spent" in preparation for an incoming mission team. We had rooms to clean, schedules to finalize and print, projects to get ready, a retreat to plan, details to organize… and now that it is all over (sadly!) I can say this:
Last week was amazing. God SHOWED UP in SO many ways. Life-long relationships were built. Kingdom work was accomplished. The Seminary and our families and this team were richly blessed.
And it was the PERFECT example of what it means to be SPENT.
This group was our very first Lifetree Adventures team to come to Emmaus (a new venture that we are SO excited to continue in partnership with next summer!). White Clay Creek Church was the "guinea pig" team and man was I SO very thankful that they were. A team of 18 people, from 15-73 years old and everything in between, worked alongside of one another, and our family, and our Haitian staff, and a local church, and the community (which was SO cool!) to do Kingdom work. (And just-so-happens to already support Matt and Stacey Ayars- THAT is a story all in itself… all I can say is that GOD ordained this trip and it was OBVIOUS!)
Here is what our week looked like from start to finish (get ready for LOTS of pictures!!!):
We headed to the airport with Abel and Leme to pick up our team last Saturday!
The team arrived on time and their airport experience was great! We were on the road less than 30 minutes after they landed :) (Which is pretty much unheard of!)
After introductions, an orientation and overview of the schedule and settling in on Saturday, we woke up EARLY Sunday morning for church (and on the road to church by 7am!)
We worshipped together in Lory, at Prudence and Pradel's church. We attended this church because we were partnering with them in the youth retreat the next two days (And because it is a favorite of ours!). When we arrived, their youth choir sang a song of welcome to us!
The church service was packed! Leme and Simeon translated and Pastor Barry, from White Clay, shared a powerful message!
After church, we took them to the Villa Cana for an afternoon of swimming and relaxing before a crazy busy week!
Sunday evening we talked through the plan for the retreat and worked together to build armor for a relay race.
The theme for the retreat was Spiritual Warfare and Ephesians 6.
From the very first night this team loved on our kitchen ladies- which was such a huge blessing! These ladies are AMAZING!
The retreat began with worship and an overview of the theme. We divided the group of 80 (which became 130!!!) into 4 colored teams. They traveled in groups doing all sorts of activities…
Relay races (putting on the armor of God!)...
Team building activities…
Bible competitions (with Simeon and Walnique!)...
Futbol, aka soccer (you CAN'T have a youth retreat without it!)…
Fellowship...
And a closing time of worship! (By the time we finished on Monday we had 150 people there!)
It was a blessed first day!!!
After the morning retreat on Monday, the team went right to work on projects around the seminary.
From painting...
to yard work around the grounds...
After dinner together, we spent some time in worship and Ryan and Cheyenne shared their testimony with the group. It was a great night!
The next day at the retreat we introduced a brand new game to the youth- Tug of War!
And they LOVED it!
You can see in the top left corner of this picture below that it drew quite a crowd from the community...
Because we had SO many unexpected children show up at the youth retreat we decided to have a special program just for them!
A modified game of Duck Duck Goose was played! (We called it "chat, chat, chen" which means Cat, Cat, Dog!) They loved it!
It was lots of fun for the kids and leaders too!...
The ladies in the church prepared and served a FABULOUS meal of chicken, rice, bean sauce, fried plantains, salad and Cokes with a special treat of Sugar Cane (straight from their fields in Lory!)...
A presentation of medals and prizes and a closing time of prayer and overview of the Bible lessons ended our time together- and we continue to pray that those who came to the retreat would make Lory their home church and continue to grow in their relationship with the LORD!
After another AWESOME meal by our super special kitchen ladies...
The youth from White Clay led us in a time of worship...
And Simeon shared his testimony with the group as well… what a blessing Simeon and Leme were to us and to the team! So thankful for them!
Each night after worship, the group would hang out in the cafeteria and play games- Ethan and Haylie LOVED joining them in ALL the activities!
After spending ourselves those first two days in Lory, we took a mid-week trip to the beach! It was WONDERFUL! Although a few team members ended up with sea urchin stings- all in all it was a great day! Thankful for times of rest, conversation, fellowship and fun!
Thursday and Friday were full days of work around the seminary. We started our day on Thursday launching a super cool balloon that one of the team members, Wayne, gave to the seminary. Made out of tissue paper, and set in the air with heat- it was really awesome to watch it fly! We are excited to use it for object lessons with the students next semester… :)
The girls prepared gifts for our kitchen ladies, Haitian staff and friends...
Some groups worked on some much needed yard clean-up...
Others continued to paint...
Some worked hard on the "circle project" (a beautiful spot that is being created in the entrance of the seminary… it is going to be used for fellowship, Bible study, prayer, and relaxation!)...
After a LONG hard day of work, Prudence and Pradel joined us for dinner and came to formally thank the team for all their hard work on the retreat. It was a blessed time together!
After dinner, we broke up into two groups and visited people in the community… praying with them and just spending time together. The guys joined us girls at Noel's house for a time of prayer. It was great!...
The team brought coloring books and crayons, stickers and mirrors (which the kids loved!)
Krista tried to get out of this picture below… but I wouldn't let her! :)
It started to rain, and Noel's family said it was a sign of "benediksyon" (or blessing!)… we went into the house for our prayer time and it started pouring!!! It was SO powerful. As soon as we finished praying and singing together- the rain stopped! It was obvious that God was present and everyone left their feeling FULL!
Nikki didn't want to put this little one down!! :)
The walk home that night was great… reflecting on God's goodness!
We woke up Friday morning for one more hard day of work together...
Phil and Rick worked together to install a reverse osmosis system for the batteries (NO idea what that is!)...
More painting was done...
Raking of grass and "mulching" of the seminary was completed...
And the forms around the circle were taken off!… getting really excited to see this project completed!
Friday evening, we asked Junior (who had just returned from an AWESOME mission trip of his own- with 8 students from the seminary) to share about his trip with the team. It was powerful! To hear how God worked in and through this faithful group of students was a blessing. I will be sharing all about that trip in my next blog post- coming soon!)
Afterwards, we popped popcorn and sat together to watch "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in our house- which was super fun! Everyone loved the movie and it was a GREAT way to spend our last night together!
The next day we did the typical "last day together" stuff…
Group pictures with everyone...
One of the biggest blessings coming out of this trip was the relationships that were built this past week!
Between Noel and Meghan...
Mona and Cynthia (What a SPECIAL relationship!!)...
Leme and Simeon and the team...
Our families and the team (especially our kids!)...
We were ALL so richly blessed last week. To see God at work in the hearts and lives of everyone involved was powerful. From the kitchen ladies, to our translators, to our families, to the team, to the church, to the community- God was seen, felt, and heard throughout our time together… and we are so excited to continue in the relationships and in the work that He has begun!
THANK YOU White Clay Creek and LifeTree Adventures for being faithful to God's command to GO! THANK YOU for being SPENT with us this past week!
"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15
We love you!!!
WOW! This looks like an amazing week with an amazing team. I love seeing the kids working with the teams. God is truly at work EBS!!!
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