Today is the last day for VBS. “It’s easy at this point for the group to get a little lazy” Jimmy and Howie mention. “So keep up the good energy and positive attitudes and lets make it a great last day” they said.
We start the day like a few of the others, by taking a quick walk through the neighborhood and remind the locals to come on out for the last day of VBS.
Along this walk this morning I decided to take some pictures of the neighborhood houses. I realized that I had only really been taking picture of the people as well as some of the “nicer” features of the town. I want you to get a bit of an understanding as to what the neighborhood of Sea Grape at Eight Mile Rock is really like. Here are pictures of the normal housing situations of the neighborhood.
As you can see, it would likely be referred to as a “ghetto” in most parts of the USA, and rightly so. The only thing missing here are government-assisted apartments. Also, pictures don’t do the reality of the situation justice. The conditions are one thing, but then you add the relentless heat and humidity and the lack of air conditioning in most places (which adds to the odor) and you really start to come to grips with how good you have it at home. For those of us who would be considered “middle class” in the USA, we live like royalty in contrast to the people of Sea Grape.
In spite of that, much like I saw when I went to Peru, the children as well as the adults here, are so happy. I have not heard a single person complain about their situation the entire time I’ve been here. At home we get horribly upset if we can’t find our favorite pair of shoes for the day, or if we get a little held up in traffic on our way to our jobs that provide for the way we live. These people are lucky to even have a pair of shoes and a lot of them don’t even have jobs due to lay offs and such. It really puts a check on things. Or at least it should.
So the kids arrive at the church and the last day of VBS is under way.
We start with our songs that the kids have come to love. In fact, I have heard the kids playing in the park and in the streets singing these songs later in the day. It makes me smile when I hear it because it tells me they really are listening.
Pictures from opening ceremonies
Once we split into our groups it was off to the activities.
Bible school went great once again. The teachers, both young and adult, have been doing a great job adapting to each group. The groups ranged in age form 2 years old to probably 20 years old. Each lesson had to be adapted in the way it was communicated and the teachers did a wonderful job of doing just that.
Pictures from Bible school
During arts and crafts they made pictures with colored shapes and glue and they played BINGO for prizes. The boys would get matchbox cars and the girls would get a doll.
Pictures from arts and crafts
In games all the groups played some serious kickball. Only this time you had to run the bases in reverse order, 1st base was now 3rd base. It was hysterical watching the kids get all confused, and I’m not just talking about the Bohemian kids.
Pictures from Games
AT the end of VBS we had our songs and dance and handed out the kids arts and crafts. Then it was out front for snacks and hang out.
Pictures from the end of VBS and snacks
Lunch today was hot dogs and chips. A light lunch was a welcome thing because it was too hot to deal with eating a big hot meal in the middle of the day. But God bless the ladies in the kitchen because they were already busy in the kitchen over the hot stove and oven preparing our dinner.
After lunch we had a little free time before we started to put the finishing touches on our projects. Also, several members of our group got together and prepared things for the block party tonight at the park.
Howie and Collin finished up tiling the men’s bathroom, which allowed Seth and I a chance to walk with the group to the bay. Also, Will and Marcus stayed back and put the grout in the women’s bathroom while Ray and Mark put new faucets in both bathrooms. Dylan had some final touches to make on the sign he was painting on the side of the fellowship hall.
Finished bathrooms
The group had a great time hanging at the bay. It was great to be near the water (which was VERY warm) and just have some fun. But even here at the water it wasn’t a very nice area. The place was littered with trash and old tires. However, we were so used to seeing the area as a dirty place, it didn’t even phase us.
When we got back, the restrooms were just about finished (Seth had to tidy up a couple things), and dinner was just about ready, and WE WERE HUNGRY!
Dinner tonight was wonderful. BBQ chicken, Konk fritters, BBQ meatballs, BBQ ribs and konk salad. I personally wasn’t a big fan of the konk fritters or salad, but the rest of the food was delicious.
After diner clean up we had a short amount of time to hang out before we headed to the park to set up for the block party.
We're not 100% sure why this happened. It's all gone now because he shaved it all off eventually.
The block party was FANTASTIC! We got to the park with our supplies around 6:30pm and started our set up.
We had a variety of carnival style games for the kids to play as well as basketball games, face painting and of course the playground equipment.
Kids and parents started to arrive around 6:45pm and we were officially under way at 7pm. In addition to the games and such, we had a live DJ and a hot dog and refreshment stand, free of charge as long as supplies lasted.
The event got crowded fast, and it was a good!
After Ken's message, we had several people ask to receive Jesus at their personal savior. Many of our youth and adults were their to help them through the process.
Just before it was time to shut down, the DJ played a couple more Christian songs and everyone had a great time being silly.
All in all what an amazing week. The last I heard, we had 9 people dedicate their life to Jesus Christ and that was before the block party.
What an incredibly thing to see so many young kids so invested in helping other people. These kids (and the adults) spent a week sleeping on air mattresses on the floor of a large room with none of the comforts of home that they were used to. No phones, No TV, no radio, no Ipod, no pools, no hot water and limited air condition. And on top of being WITHOUT all of that, they still taught classes for the kids, led games and arts and crafts, witnessed to strangers on the street while walking six miles in extreme heat and humidity, helped clean after all meals and activities and so much more. And ya know what? not a single complaint! These kids ad adults were here for the right reasons. Their hearts were in it and they were there to do whatever they could to help the people of Sea Grape and see if they could help anyone that would listen, come to know Jesus as their savior.
We travel back in the morning. Im sure Ill have a final post with some pictures from our travel day, but as for the mission trip itself, this is the end. By the time I have the chance to post this we will already be home.
I hope for any of you that were reading this blog along the journey, that you felt somewhat connected to what was happening in Sea Grape. Thank you once again to all of you who supported our team in whatever way you did. Your investment was well spent and you can be proud of the team you invested in. In the near future I will be putting together a couple of picture and video compilation DVD's, if you're interested in getting a copy, just send me an email at idriveincorp@gmail.com and I will put you on the list and make sure you get a copy once they are complete.
God bless,
JM
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