Bahamas Team - Pam

In my previous blog entry, I mentioned that my prayer was for God to rip my world apart and break my heart for what breaks His.  Well, in the words of Ms. Moxey at Camp, “Sho’ Nuff!”  God did just that and what a tremendous blessing it was all week.  
We served with a youth group from Wyoming, Ohio.  They were a wonderful group of teens that ranged in age from 14 to 20.  Their leaders were amazing and gracious as well.  The Next Step staff was outstanding.  They worked very hard to make everything come together for all of us and even when obstacles came up like no water, and no gas for the stove and no Internet – they adapted and made everything work out.  Our God is awesome!!  
We all worked very hard at camp and actually finished all the projects ahead of schedule.  When we first arrived, there were pillars for the houses to be built on and that was it.  Teams filled in the dirt back around the pillars and built the floor frame and floor joists, painted the plywood flooring and installed that.  We did this for a two-resident home and a four-resident home.  In addition, another team used machetes and cleared away brush and trees around the camp, as a security fence needs to be installed.  These residents don’t have much at all and, yet, people try to steal from them.  Another team dug holes in the ground (using a jackhammer) to be able to put in 6x6 poles to rerun the electrical wires.  Concrete was hand-mixed for those holes by using wheel barrels full of rock, sand and 100lb bags of concrete and buckets of water.  Teams used shovels to mix the cement slowly to make sure it was the right consistency.  

While all of this work was going on, we were all encouraged to go meet and talk and visit with the residents.  This was the absolute best part!  The work was challenging and rewarding –but visiting was the true blessing.  We thought we were going there to bless them, and we received it back ten fold!  Ms. Moxey has been at the camp for a very long time – John says that she’s been there long before he started going there in 1999.  Using another one of her catch phrases, “I’ve been here umpteen years!”  Another resident, Patrick, greeted us each day and tried his best to help us out even though he is partially paralyzed from enduring strokes.  He was always joyful and was just so happy to be around us and to be included.  He prayed with us daily as we gathered in a circle, held hands and prayed each day before we began the work.  Vincent, who is blind, but blessed with such insight, sold us “Goombay Punch” and other sodas as well as joined our lunch devotions and prayed with us.  The Holy Spirit was definitely present and flowed through him as he would share and pray with us.  So many other residents were just happy to see us there and thankful for our service.  Garvin is an amazing person, and we got to witness the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.  
My personal favorite (if that’s possible in a place like All Saints Camp) has to be Lillian.  I brought her a pair of slippers and was able to personally deliver them to her with her lunch and her eyes lit up, and she just repeatedly thanked me.  From there she trusted me enough to take her key and unlock her door for her later that day – which is a big deal as again, everything they have is in their tiny room.  Thursday was the icing on the cake, though.  We visited her and told her how beautiful she was and how lovely her family was – 3 daughters, 2 sons and 20 grandchildren!!  Her smiles and laughter were so intoxicating. I’ve never previously felt God’s love showering over me as much as I did that day.  Definitely one of the best weeks of my life!  
Following God’s will for me to go on this trip has definitely opened my heart and mind to know that the mission field (no matter it’s location) is where I want to be and I will WILLINGLY go wherever it is He sends me next.


Pam
Bahamas Team