Last week I was the "leader" of our group, along with Aaron (one of the single guys). Our job duties included handling the team finances, facilitating the meetings, keeping track of what everyone was doing and the schedule for the week and generally encouraging people. I enjoyed it and think I did a pretty good job.
We'd had a 3-day weekend after the VBS, so we had plenty of time to shop and swim and relax before we got started. We ended up working with the Emmanuel Worship Center and going out to visit families, bringing them food and encouragement. Most of the families were Indian, and we all really enjoyed spending time with every one of them. One family I visited that I fell in love with have a young boy who came to VBS - he was one of the kids who stood up to accept Jesus. His parents and younger brother don't go to church, so he is very brave and goes all alone each week and is being a witness to his family. They live in a rural area, and their house is an 8x12 foot shack made of corrugated tin - no water, no electricity. His mom cooks on a peice of tin set outside, and the house is just one room with 2 beds and a chair. I'm constantly amazed at how blessed we are financially in the United States. Sierra, too, was quite moved as she realized their entire house was 1/2 the size of her old bedroom. Reality checks are good!
We also were able to go to visit the leaders of various small groups (called cell groups here) to encourage them and help them to infuse some "fire" back into the groups. Everywhere we go, we are invited in and given juice and food. People just love to visit, and so do we!
People are starting to wind down and are looking forward to coming home. I'm trying to be a cheerleader for everyone to stay focused and finish strong, but I think it's a losing battle!! So, I've decided not to do that anymore as I don't want people to get annoyed.
This week we are having another medical clinic with Marine Reach in another village, and then we'll be having a crusade there over the weekend - so it's a busy week, but we are doing things I love to do! Today we walked around the village letting the people know about the clinic. We were invited in at most houses, and spent 20-30 minutes visiting. When we got ready to leave, a few people actually began to cry and tell us how priveleged they are to have us in their house and how much they will miss us. Such a different perspective, and wonderful to be a part of it!!
I will add more pictures soon...Sierra also learned how to husk coconuts and drink the juice, and extract the milk...she's so into coconuts now!!
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