Where to start? The day was so packed with God’s many blessing that zeroing in on a manageable number to highlight is no easy task.
At breakfast this morning a small group of women seized the opportunity to begin ministering to a troubled and lonely woman who had joined their table. When it came time for all of us to come together for our morning devotion, she looked on curiously. As soon as it was over she joined us again. You couldn’t miss her hunger and thirst for the Lord. But she distrusted Christians and told us about feeling judged and ostracized by too many in her past. But when Derik asked her if we could pray for her defenses just melted. Hugh followed with a prayer that spoke of God’s love for her; it was an arrow that hit the bull’s-eye of her isolation and loneliness.
She wept with relief and longing as we all exchanged hugs. Now imagine, this all took place in the lobby with a full breakfast room and guests by the check-in counter. I wish you could have seen the expression on the faces of the guests. In Bible-belt country you’ll see a whole lot of religion. But they didn’t seem to know what to make of what they’d just seen and felt.
Tom and Szilveszter continued their work on the same house. They painted and worked on the intricate details around the edges of the frame. Carl, from World Challenge also joined Juan, our carpenter. They commenced measuring and cutting wood so fast that it recalled the animation of old-style claymation creatures.
Master carpenter Dave, Derik and Brett led our team in building wheel chair access for a diabetic women who’d lost part of her foot to amputation. What we saw arriving at her house and the surrounding neighborhood was a degree of grinding poverty and dilapidation that we normally associate with a mission to a third world county. But here in the U.S. there is no less need for us to be God’s hands and feet.
Enshil and Deborah worked along side the men in support roles. Imagining that the project would take all day, we were wrong; it was dealt and done, from picking out the wood to the completion of a functioning ramp, in just a few hours.
But again, we learned that the projects themselves pale in comparison to the divine appointments that God unfolds. Our host had been under the weather and unable to receive us when we’d stopped by yesterday. But today, she did. She was feeling so poorly that she had her space heater on full blast unable to move from her spot on the sofa. We put in place a plan to get to the hospital the next day, if she’ll just follow through, and prayed over her and another young woman who happened to be coming by. We learned that less than a week ago the young visitor had attempted suicide. Our prayers ministered to their hearts and spirits in a way that it’s hard to express in words.
The team of Godfridah, Lisa, Roger, Herb, George, Isabel and Hugh went back to Juanita’s home to finish up the tiling and painting. Herb and Hugh did a great job of installing the moldings, wood trimmings and other carpentry work, before the designated painting crew of George, Isabel, Lisa and Godfridah completed the artwork on the walls and doors. The ladies also used their creative skills to make protective garments from plastic bags to prevent speckling of shoes and clothing. Go Isabel and Godfridah!!
There was a bit of a drizzle here and there throughout the day, though not enough to hamper our progress.
They finished off work earlier than yesterday as Roger had to rally the troops to prepare for Tuesday’s Father’s Love meeting with the 10 to 12 year old boys, which started at 5:30pm. Now this was probably the highlight of the day for the team, as we’ve heard so much about the high-energy boys. The pick up started at 4:30pm with Roger and Brett driving separate vans to collect the boys from their homes. Derik and Hugh rode with Brett on his designated route on the south side of Jacksonville. Brett dutifully drove around, stopping at about 17 homes, though some boys were either not home, or wasn’t able to make it today. For the ten boys that Brett picked up, it was amazing to see how excited each was getting on board the van. It seemed as though the sight of the Father’s Love van was a ray of hope in the otherwise dull afternoon (the skies were overcast by then with a light drizzle). The pickup lasted about an hour and we got back to base at 5:30pm. Then the fun started!!!
The boys darted off as fast as they could to join the party of other boys in the gym (now about 30 in all) who were either picked up by Roger or had been dropped off by a guardian. They played basketball, air hockey, table soccer and dodge ball. Needless to say, the youthful spirit of the men in the BrinkThink team came alive, and laughter filled the air as they joined the boys in the games.
After about 30 minutes of games, it was time for Chapel and Basketball Brett rounded up the boys where they were officially introduced to the men on the BrinkThink team. The boys had the chance to ask questions and as the Lord would lead, Derik and Hugh had the opportunity to share about their lives in response to eager queries about their childhood.
The ladies, however, were on a different mission. Isabel, Lisa and Godfridah had a grand plan to make dinner for Juanita and her family. Their plan soon ballooned into a Top Chef ordeal so Enshil and Deborah were drafted in. On the menu was beef stew (a la African style), vegetable rice, collard greens and plantainos. They also made a few sumptuous beignets along the way, although the Top Chefs eventually consumed them. They were fabulous!
The team was delayed a bit as they juggled too few pots. But as Isabelle pointed out in response to Dave’s ribbing, “you can’t hurry perfection.”
Shortly thereafter, the ladies were ready to load up the van, and head on over to share dinner with Juanita’s family. Szilveszter and Hugh went along with the crew of Lisa, Isabel and Godfridah. As soon as they arrived, Isabel made jokes with Juanita in Spanish about arriving an hour late, and then she prayed God’s blessing on the meal. They enjoyed the meal together and shared many laughs as they gave God thanks for His love. Godfridah even got the chance to practice the seven Spanish words she’s learned since yesterday. Not only did Juanita express her heartfelt thanks for the kindness shown to her family, she gave gifts of beautiful handmade jewelry to the women.
After a hearty breakfast, our morning devotion and prayer we arrived at the Father’s Love facility before 9:00 a.m. and began packing the trucks and vans with supplies, lunch and beverages. Talk about a smooth operation! As much as the Father’s Love team enjoys a good time, they are as no-nonsense as you can get in running a tight ship.
Godfridah, Lisa and Hugh went with Roger, Herb, George and Isabel from Father’s Love to the home of Juanita, an elderly lady whose husband has Alzheimer’s and is bed-ridden. Two of her nine children along with four grandchildren also live at the home. The team was charged with the task of tiling and painting Juanita’s bedroom and bathroom, and also replacing a worn out kitchen cabinet.
Soon after arriving, we prayed together with Juanita and her family (George, a Father’s Love team member translated in Spanish for Juanita) prior to starting our activities. Hugh and Godfridah got to work on removing the cabinet, while Lisa and Isabel (Father’s Love) worked alongside Herb, George and Roger to prepare the floor for tiling.
Juanita’s four year-old grandson quickly decided he wouldn’t be left out, so he latched on to Godfridah asking her to read stories. The Lord always equips us for whatever He calls us to do, so Godfridah was able to utilize her training from the TSC Children’s Ministry to share and read many, many stories with the ‘lil one. The ladies also washed the dishes, cleaned the cupboards, stove and refrigerator, much to the surprise of Juanita, who shed a few tears of joy at the outpouring of love towards her family. As a result, the Lord provided an opportunity for Lisa and Isabel to pray with Juanita and encourage her. After prayer, Juanita’s demeanor changed. She was much happier and even helped with the fridge.
Of course, there were several moments when things seemed to be heading in an unplanned direction — the day’s relatively cold temperature of 52 degrees made it challenging for Herb and his crew to lay the tiles — however by the end of the day, with all hands on deck, we finished the tiles for the bedroom and a portion of the bathroom.
As the day drew to a close, with grateful hearts we said goodbye. There’s still some work to be done, so we look forward to Day 4 in Jacksonville, Texas and pray that the Lord will continue to open the door to share His love with Juanita and her family.
The team comprised of Brett and Nate, from Father’s Love and Enshil, Derik and Deborah arrived at Miss Addie’s house, the widow I described in yesterday’s post. Following prayer for the day, and her invalid son who remains under Miss Addie’s care, we went to work on the home maintenance issues she needed help on, including the repair of her railings, yard maintenance, plumbing work.
As much as she appreciated our work on the various projects, it was the fellowship with “God’s people,” as she called us, and Derik’s fervent prayer for her son that touched her heart the most. She’d spent her adult life working for God and although not entirely comfortable, with the role reversal was as grateful as she could be. At lunch she surprised and treated us all to delicious pot pies. For our part, we simply fell in love with Miss Addie!
The third team made up of Juan, Thomas and Szilveszter went out for a paint job. That team had a great time scraping and painting the front part of a one family house; however, hearing the testimony about the owner’s little daughter outweighed everything. The little girl suffered from debilitating eczema from the time she was born. Her parents couldn’t do anything but pray, and after four years God answered their prayer. The girl was healed overnight.
By the end of the day we were all exhausted, most of us a little punchy, but all blessed beyond measure.
Our day started with a devotion and then church service. As the day progressed it’s theme became clear–reliance on the Lord.
When we’d heard the night before a bit about what we’d be called upon to do, it was clear that the building projects seemed to require skills that none of us, with the exception of our leader, Derik. possess. Admittedly, it was a “Yikes!” moment. But faith quickly prevailed, giving a sense of peace. We knew that our lack of carpentry skills (or precious few other building-related skills, for that matter) had not caught God unawares. He’d handpicked this team for a reason that we knew would unfold through faith in due course.
We attended church service at Tyler Christian Fellowship where many of the church-goers were familiar with and had fond feelings toward Times Square Church. The wonderful service took up the hard question of why we sometimes feel far from God. The clear, convicting message gave examples of people who you’d never think of as ever being far from God–Mother Theresa, Charles Spurgeon, even Jesus, and shed much light on the question. It also reminded us of the vast difference between how God sees things and how we do.
Two young people from Wisconsin talked about their mission to Myomar, (formerly Burma). In the story that the young man chose to share he brought home how dearly an eight year old boy, an orphan, cherished nothing more than the sense of family the young man gave him. He reminded us of how much we, as the body of Christ, could do to eradicate the problem of orphans if those of us who could would consider adoption.
At church two things reminded us that we were in Texas: the expansive warmth of the people–truly you feel it as they greeted and hugged us with questions like “how y’all enjoying Texas?” The other Texas-ism made us laugh–the church program made mention of The Men’s Annual Shotgun Shoot, coming up next Saturday! Where do we sigh up?!
Following church we enjoyed the gracious hospitality of our host for a delicious lunch at a local restaurant. A few young people from Father’s Love joined us and we began to get to know them. Refreshed spiritually and physically we were ready to visit the Father’s Love facility for a tour, a deeper understanding of the projects that they had in mind for us, and prayer. But we got so much more!
Not only was Father’s Love facility designed and run with the love of our Father. You can see from the pictures how comforting, calming and lovely the facility is. But the seriousness of purpose didn’t in any way detract from a sense of fun.
A couple of examples illustrate. Melissa gave us name tags and we quickly set about the largely futile task of trying to remember everyone’s name. Well, turned out there’d be no worries in that regard–they had us covered. Each of us had to come up with a descriptor that began with the same letter as our first name. So we had “No Hair Nate,” “Random Roger,” “Doofus Dave,” “Daddy Derik,” “Dedicated Donna,” (she stole my descriptor, darn her, so I became Dutiful Deborah) “Meticulous Melissa”–you get the picture. A follow-on activity combining physical coordination and memory muscle cemented our recollection. The upshot is that none of us will ever have to contend with that embarrassing moment when we’d have to say, “tell me your name again.”
Through another activity we learned a lot about each member of their team and ours. I’m no spoiler so don’t expect me to divulge the details. Suffice it to say that it worked and was awesome!
Within two hours we felt like family. When asked, each of us shared what we are hoping to get out of the week. The Father’s Love team then amplified with what we should expect from their perspective. Roger talked about the sweet spot that Times Square Church holds in his heart due to his long and happy affiliation with the church, how the influence of our pastors’ teachings permeates everything they do and the amazing work that prior BrickThink teams have performed.
We meditated on verses of scripture like Psalm 72:13 – ” He will have compassion for the poor and needy.” After Roger shared the aims of the mission different members of the team prayed on each:
1) God touching us
2) Ministering to the poor and needy
3) Working with kids and their family
4) Ministering to the community
5) Ministering to the other churches
Before heading out to “supper” (that time already!?) we were given our schedule for the week. A few examples include working on a ramp for a woman whose foot had been amputated, general maintenance for a widow who’d spent her life on the giving end and needing to learn about receiving, repair work on a trailer home. But we were exhorted to use our creativity to think of ways that we could add that special touch that’s just love in action.
We’ll spend the evening with the kids. In addition to leading the worship in song, we will each share our testimony of how we came to Christ. Of course, the Father’s Love Team, being who they are, incorporated some fun over the course of the week. But you’ll have to stay tuned to learn what that’ll entail!
A packed day as you can see. But we were nothing but blessed and left ready to roll up our sleeves for the work ahead. We can’t wait to watch the puzzle pieces fall into place that will show us God’s design in bringing us all together for a time such as this!
Anyone could tell that we were excited as we rode the van to the airport on our way to serve God with our mission to the to the Father’s Love Ministry in Jacksonville, Texas. This is my first missions trip and I couldn’t help but be struck by how different we were in background but how similar we were in heart. Over our time spent in training and prayer in preparation for the trip, we came to a unified aim–simply put, to be a cup of cold water and to glorify God. But God surely put together a diverse team to accomplish his good purpose!
Let’s take place of birth, just to illustrate my point. On our team of eight there was only one native New Yorker–Derik, our spirit-filled leader. Enshil was born in South Korea; Godfridah, Zambia; Thomas, Germany; Szilveszter, Romania (although of Hungarian descent); Lisa, Congo; Hugh, Jamaica; and I was born in Wyoming, in the U.S. See what I mean?
Before we’d even gotten on the plane we’d begun to bond even more as a group. Several had praise reports of God’s grace in making it possible to join the team and removing daunting work-related obstacles that threatened the trip at the last minute for one team member.
On the long ride we saw plenty of steer, and even a zebra! The expanse of the place is something you know about intellectually but have to see to fully appreciate.
Turns out that we had our share of worship leaders who led us in songs of praise for most of the 2.5 hour trip from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to our destination in Tyler, Texas. Prayer, and praise throughout the day had its effect in traveling mercies. With ease Lisa, our navigator, led us to the hotel relying on the GPS of her Smartphone. But the instant we pulled into the parking lot, the battery died, having held on until it was no longer needed!
Before dinner Derik put in perspective how different this trip was compared to many missions trips with respect to comforts (hotel accommodations, nearby Starbucks, Walmarts and what-have-you).
At dinner we were surprised by Brett and Melissa, of Father’s Love, driving 30 miles just to greet and welcome us. We learned that we will be working on some of the homes of the young people who attend the program. Despite Jacksonville being a small town, it has a Texas ‘hood and the challenges that kind of environment and poverty can breed. Married three years, Melissa and Brett are funny, young, and full of love for God’s children. We left with a much better understanding of the need, what to pray for and how God can use us.
We were all pretty joyfully spent by day’s end and look forward to a good night’s sleep as we ready ourselves to offer our hands, heart and the light of Jesus as we look ahead to the coming days.
On one of our last days in Texas we helped finish moving the church to prepare for the Easter Sunday service in the morning, but then had a wonderful opportunity in the afternoon to get a good taste of Texas, a tour guided by a local. We were taken to the coast to see the beach, to a really live Texas long horn ranch and even got to sample some great Texas Bar-B-Q. We finished off the night by helping set up for the Easter sunrise service at the local rodeo.
While we were in Texas we not only built houses to send to Haiti, but had the opportunity to serve the local church in helping them prepare their building for their first service there (Easter Sunday!). We spent a couple of days serving them and helping get everything ready for their big day. Our day included a trip to the dump, moving chairs, sweeping, moping, shoveling and much more. Here are some shots from our day with the church:
I’m just now sitting down to start editing the Texas 2010 trip from back in March/April and can’t wait to share it with you all. Here are a few shots from the first day of house building that we did there. It was such an amazing trip, and it was wonderful to see what an impact can be made around the world from our own backyard!
