August 2nd, 2009
Friday was the day that our group was looking forward to the most…or at least I was. Every time I see pictures or hear stories from my friends who have been on mission trips they are always filled with tales of working with children. I was ecstatic when I learned that our team would be given the opportunity to visit a children’s home.
When we first arrived at home we just sat down in the common room area and started pulling out our crafts and games, the kids began to flock to us, no introductions needed. All the kids saw were toys and people who wanted to play with them, and that was all they needed.
We made bracelets and necklaces with the kids, played games like Candyland and Connect 4, but I don’t think it mattered what we played with them, just the fact that someone was giving them love and attention meant the world to them.
Later in the day we returned to the YWAM campus and played tournament style games with the campers from their Legacy Conference. I feel that all the kids from all the different places blended and played so well together. It was beautiful to watch.
August 2nd, 2009
Yesterday we got the opportunity to watch a documentary about the firefighters in the Ladder 1 firehouse which was the fire station to respond to the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001. All but one of the firefighters from Ladder 1 were in the building when the first tower collapsed and all of them survived. We had a time of small silence as we traveled to Ground Zero. I was amazed at how large the area was where the towers once stood.
After viewing Ground Zero we got to explore New York City with our small groups! This was a very fun time shopping and people watching. Dinner, as most events are with Wonder Voyage was a surprise. We ate at Stardust Diner, a restaurant where all of the waiters are aspiring broadway stars. As you can imagine, this a very fun place where we got to dance and just have fun after a long week of working and serving.
Last night, we each shared our moment of transformation/reconciliation. This was an incredible moment in which God’s presence was evident to everyone This week has been an incredible growing experience for me. I have been learning how God wants to use me for His works and what my spiritual destiny is.
August 1st, 2009
Today we got to sleep in after a long evening of playing at the hot springs. After a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, toast, beans and rice, we went to the waterfall. There was about a 15 minute drive on semi-paved roads and then we walked down an uber-steep hill. That was not so much fun, but we were rewarded by getting a chance to see and swim near an amazing waterfall. The water was almost perfectly clear and very cold. We got used to the temp and continued to enjoy our time there.
Diego drove us back into La Fortuna and dropped us off at a restaurant named Luigi’s. When we had finished a very relaxing lunch, the girls and I went shopping in the city. We stopped at the church in the center of the town and were amazed by its beauty. Behind the altar, instead of a solemn Jesus hanging on a cross, there was a flying robed Jesus. Kenzie said it reminded her of the Greek church in Atlanta. It made me sad that our journey in Costa Rica is almost finished.
August 1st, 2009
Today we woke up pretty early, because we left Guanacaste and took ¨No Choice Transportation, the GB765¨as our driver and host Diego calls it, for three hours to our new location here in La Fortuna. The drive was really fun and scenic, as seems to be the trend on this trip, and the time flew by especially fast since we were playing games. We stopped once we got close to the Arenal volcano, which is huge (we can´t see the top of it at night because it´s the rainy season).
In the evening we went to the hot springs, which was really fun, although very touristy. There were pools with all different termperatures of water, including one that was 145 degrees Farenheit, which no one was in. There were also three water slides, but I think my favorite things was the deep pool, though it wasn´t as hot as the others. It was cool that all the water was heated naturally by the volcano!
August 1st, 2009
On Thursday, we left Ffald-y-Brenin and traveled towards London. We stopped for a “Scottish” breakfast at McDonalds. Afterward we visited a very remote castle called Carreg Crennen. Most of us went down to the dark caves below the castle. Later, we arrived at our bed and breakfast called “The Cottage”. We celebrated our cooking victory at a Thai restaurant across the street.
A journey that began two years ago in a classroom at our church with a group of teenagers who didn’t know each other and two new leaders completed this week on our Pilgrimage to Wales. Before our very eyes my husband Peter and I have witnessed what happens when a community that is built on a foundation of faith in God is set free to discover themselves, one another and God in a land far away from their home. The miracles and moment that unfolded have awed us, inspired us, touched our hearts and given us a strong hope for the future of our young people and our world. If I am to tell you anything, I tell you that God is present and alive in the hearts of our pilgrims. He loves and guides them, humbles and blesses them. He gives them a voice when they think they have none and ears to listen to his voice. He has kept them safe and held them close in the palm of His hand. They return changed from who they were when they left 10 days ago, and I believe all would say for the better. We are proud of the community they are and honored to have had the privilege to guide them on this journey.
Thus ends the Wales blogs…
August 1st, 2009
We had our most eventful day yet yesterday. We began early taking the train out to the largest food pantry in Queens serving 1,000 families weekly After reorganizing their storage closest we enjoyed pizza and some crucial A/C.
Next we headed to the great St. Thomas church home of 95ft gothic ceilings and divinely inspiring organ. From there we traveled by shoe down 5 Ave to the great Central Park home of the famous street performer Thoth. Words fail me, but I promise you this may be the most impressionable moment of the trip. We returned home awe inspired and excited.
August 1st, 2009
Today we returned to Cayo Christian Academy to finish helping with the projects we started on Tuesday. We continued hauling rock and making pathways as well as sorting and stacking books, and mowing the weed infested yard. Instead of an edger or weed-eater, we used a machete to do the edges that couldn’t be reached with a lawnmower.
There was a dead palm tree that we began to hack at with the machete. A woodpecker had been seen flying into it earlier in the day, but when we looked into it, we didn’t see anything inside except ants. I ended up kicking the tree down. Then a featherless baby woodpecker came rolling out. We put it back into the tree, but it probably died within hours of me knocking down the tree.
Later in the evening a bat came into our house from the open porch. It flew around our living space blinded by the lights inside. We turned out the lights and opened the front door to try to lead it outside. It flew into a wall and ended up stunned on the floor and our youth pastor swept it outside with a broom.
Through my experiences today God showed me how fragile life is. but also that God is sovereign and in control. God is so much bigger than I am. He is in control and I need to trust Him. It is one thing when people tell you about God, but it is more personal and real when you experience Him yourself.
July 31st, 2009
This morning the team from IBC brought joy to a community through their service at the Raymond Skinner Handicap Center in Memphis. This facility is a mix of both young and old and today their morning was spent dancing, playing games, hearing stories, and doing arts and crafts. It was a reminder that when we serve those who need help most we are actually serving Christ and fulfilling his heart.
Lunch today was spent at the historic Tom Lee Park where Tom Lee is honored for his heroic, single-handed, rescue in 1925 of 30 men who were stuck on a boat in the Mississippi. During a time of continued prejudice Tom Lee, an African-American, risked his life to save the “other.” It was a reminder for the team that the work of reconciliation can involve risk and will require perseverance and hard work.
After lunch the team headed back to the Cleaborne and Foote homes to finish up their delayed ministry from the day before. It was an afternoon of fellowship as members of the team spent their time playing with the local children and donating some of their own clothes to the pile that community received.
Eventually in the evening, thanks to a Tornado Warning, the team made it to the More Than a Meal homeless feeding at the Idlewood Presbyterian church on Union Ave. This historic congregation has been providing free meals and fellowship to the community for generations.
July 31st, 2009
Today the team from IBC got to sleep in and recover from their two previous early mornings until they set off for a day of service with our partners at in Memphis, Shine in the Dark Ministry. This organization, lead by Jay Beene, works directly in the Cleaborne and Foote Homes through community outreach, clothing drives, and support.
The goal for the day was to organize and conduct a free clothing drive and clothing give away. The team spent the morning collecting clothes and distributing flyers in the community letting them know of the event. When the time came to actually do the distribution it ended up raining and we rescheduled for tomorrow, but the night was still full of questions, prayer, and refection on the Gospel and its fundamental purpose of reconciliation.
July 31st, 2009
Bright and early the team from IBC headed to the downtown courthouse of Memphis in order to spend the morning ministering to the incoming defendants. It was a morning of challenge filled with prayer and exploration, and that same attitude was carried on throughout the afternoon of ministry.
For lunch the team was challenged to take some extra sack lunches with them as they take the time to sit down with a local homeless person, sharing a meal, stories, and listening to the experiences of others. It was an eye-opening experience.
Later in the evening the team served another meal to the homeless at the Memphis Union homeless shelter. This site has been a source of hope for the homeless men in the community since 1945 and it was a blessing to serve alongside them.
After that the first Stone Soup team prepared their homemade chili and the group shared in a wonderful meal filled with conversation about their experiences that day and how their own presumptions about the homeless and the notorious “other” can effect their work of reconciliation.