Day 5

Wednesday was great for so many reasons, but the greatest part of this day for me, didn't come until the evening. But I'll leave you in suspense until I'm done telling the rest of the story. Don't worry... I'll make it quick.

Duties were changed up a bit because the needs for the different projects required different skill sets: and because I was whining all week about wanting to help on the stairs, I got exactly what I wanted. I helped haul concrete pretty much all morning: and let me tell you how NOT easy it was! On this day, all I had to do was haul two buckets back and forth from the concrete pile, to the top of the mountain where the guys were waiting in an assembly line to pass them down to the bottom to be poured into the wood forms. For some reason, I had no earthly idea of how hard this really was going to be, and so once I got going, I couldn't very well tell them that I quit! I demanded that I get to play too! So, play I did, for two hours or so: back and forth... back and forth... and because my pastor is such a grown up, (got nothin' but love for ya' brother!) he thought it would be funny to launch, whip, hurl, and spin the "empty" concrete buckets back up to me and watch in pure delight as I would be splattered here and there with the grey stuff. Gotta love boys. They're so... funny.

Anyway, lunch came and went, and I was just DOG TIRED after my little experience, and so I helped Tom do some wiring down by the new chicken coupe for the afternoon until VBS rolled around.

The kids had a field day making bookmarks out of construction paper, stickers, and packing tape. I've never seen so many stickers on so many faces in my whole life. These kids are just hilarious! My little friends Tiffany (who loved me from the minute she met me on Sunday, because our names are so similar) and "Princess" Fiona, pictured here:

...were just being so naughty. But they are just so stinkin' funny! I couldn't get over these kids! The more time we spent with them, the more and more I fell in love with them all!

But anyway, yes. Stickers on faces, stickers on tables, stickers all OVER the place, lots of laughter, and a whirlwind of children everywhere, and they were gone. That's how VBS went each and everyday. They were there, and then they were gone... and we were left dumbfounded by all the commotion!

We settled into our afternoon, got showered up and prettied up:

...ate dinner and waited for Wednesday night service to start.

Service was amazing! First, a few of the girls did a worship dance for us (well, for God, but we got to watch, and it was beautiful), and then we went into some good old fashioned Jamaican worship. Wow, was that cool! All they had was a tambourine, a hand-held bongo drum, and a girl with a microphone, and they went to TOWN!! The kids, as you can see, get right into it and they just dance before the Lord, and thoroughly enjoy themselves; and they even got a few from our team to participate!

The blurry one on the right hand side jumping up and down is our pastor, getting right in there with the kids. (He fits in so well, doesn't he? ;) Anyway, this worship was unique in so many ways, and was just SO much fun to be a part of!

A little while later, Jess, a temporary missionary on staff (and the resident coffee-guy), got up there with his guitar and led worship with a few contemporary songs that we were all familiar with. Of course, here too, the tears began to fall, not only because seeing those children in such a true moment of worship with thier heavenly Father was such a joy for me: but also because you could just feel His presence all over that place. There is such an undenyable annointing over that place, those people, and that ministry, that God seems to be everywhere all the time at that orphanage. And when we were praising and worshipping Him: well truth be told, I didn't want to be anywhere else in the whole entire world in that very moment.

That night was just so precious to my heart, and is an experience that I will always cherish. God taught so much to my spirit that night through what I saw, what I felt, and what I heard.

Our pastor and his wife were available at the altar call to pray for the children: and according to the Becky, the p.w., almost every child asked for prayer for thier parents: that they might see them again, and that God would take care of them. But one prayer request struck me to the core: "please let me have a good dream about my parents tonight". It still brings tears to my eyes. Those poor babies. Thier hearts are so beautiful and full of life and God: but only because they were given a chance by God through this ministry. But no matter where they are in thier experience at The City of Refuge, and thier walks with God, they still have deep-seeded hurts and struggles that they deal with: and I pray for them everyday that the Lord would heal thier precious little hearts.

After service was over, we were apparently having fun with licorice:

...and my camera. This is me and my little friend Lindsay. (This girl is a riot: she had me rollin' all week!) I proudly call this type of photograph a "selfie", and introduced it to the rest of the team. As you can see, I am a pro at the "selfie": centering the camera with just one hand, and assuring an oh-so-flattering angle for the people involved.

So along with my stellar picture-taking abilities, we again enjoyed games, games, and more games. Some coffee and more games. Oh yeah: and some laughs, and coffee.

Good night, Jamaica.