While in previous years I've highlighted pre-trip events in an effort to show how the Lord moves before a mission trip, this year was a little different. Not that He didn't move, but rather we had so much going on in our personal life it was hard to be attentive to pre-trip movements of the Lord. Looking back, I can say this; He did it again.
Every year, for the past three years, one or more people have "climbed aboard" to join us last minute (with two weeks or less before our departure). In preparation for our trips we have meetings to organize and discuss what we will do. So last minute add-ons are a risk (unless the Lord arranged it-and He did). Gloria joined us and had no problem being a useful member of the team. My mom who lives in Maryland was needing someone to accompany her on the drive to Rhodell. While Mary had committed sooner than two weeks out, we had not spoke with her about our mission nor to plug her into an activity-yet she found a way to be useful while in Rhodell.
Our trip there was uneventful. One difference this year was a Wednesday departure from home and our last day was a Sunday. This allowed us to do a church service for the first time. We had our dinner at the local Ryan's in Beckley, followed by an evening devotion. Anyone want to guess what I was going to use as devotion material (based on the theme of the previous paragraph). Okay, okay, an article in the BBN newsletter on dedication. When did we get the newsletter? End of July; the last one before the trip. Are you picking up on a pattern here?
So our first day called for rain; I prayed the Lord would hold it off. After morning devotion we headed out to Rhodell under cloudy but dry conditions. Arriving at The Open Door, a young boy named Justin was there to greet us for a second year. Nevaeh and a small band of helpers worked with us to bring in supplies. We had a number of new faces with us so I made sure Paul and Marie had a chance to meet our new members.
We got a nature walk going and that's when, shortly after the walk started, began to fall. We worked on putting lunch together. This was followed by VBS activities, finishing the day around 5 pm. Our second day we were able to finish the nature walk then had lunch. We continued with VBS as well as some volleyball. We were also able to do some work in the Town Hall in an effort to get the place painted and hopefully allow them to move in before winter.
During these two days people were registering for backpacks with school supplies for their children. People were also very active in earning Redemption Coupons to be used in the store on Saturday. This was our big day, activity wise, with the talent show, the Redemption Store and giving away the backpacks. Brigit and Gloria did a fantastic job on the backpacks. The talent show brought out some surprises that may have caused Simon Crowell to raise an eyebrow.
Sunday was a big day spiritually in that we were conducting a church service for the first time. David led the worship part and Mac gave the message. He and Susan had arranged a very powerful message with a small white cross, some washable red ink, and thumbprints. Bobby, dressed as Jesus, came in, and washed away all the red thumb prints. Very powerful.
That summarizes our trip as we enjoyed the continuing journey of building relationships with the people of the Rhodell community.
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