From Mr. Hood:
Last night was truly an amazing time of sharing--one in which we could clearly feel the Spirit of God moving in our midst. It began with a wonderful energetic praise and worship set led by Josh D and Nick H on their guitars. We then opened it up for students and chaperones to share whatever God had impacted us with that day. It was very open ended--we encouraged people to share things they were thankful about each other; things they learned from our rich man/poor man lunch; or anything that God had laid on their hearts. Within a few moments you could tell it was going to be a special time--students were opening up about deep hurts they've had. Others were confessing things they had said about each other, apologies were made, tears were shed, hugs of reconciliation, encouragement was said to others, tears of joy were flowing, prayers were lifted for parents who are sick, hugs of support were given to students weeping because of parents who have passed away or parents they have never known...It went on for two hours!! It was an amazing combination of emotions! Joy, pain, love, reconciliation, transparency, times of challenge were given--no one wanted to leave and when we ended everyone stayed for another 30 minutes hugging and crying and laughing. Thank you to all who have prayed for this trip--we have seen the results--God answers prayer!!!!!!
Last night was truly an amazing time of sharing--one in which we could clearly feel the Spirit of God moving in our midst. It began with a wonderful energetic praise and worship set led by Josh D and Nick H on their guitars. We then opened it up for students and chaperones to share whatever God had impacted us with that day. It was very open ended--we encouraged people to share things they were thankful about each other; things they learned from our rich man/poor man lunch; or anything that God had laid on their hearts. Within a few moments you could tell it was going to be a special time--students were opening up about deep hurts they've had. Others were confessing things they had said about each other, apologies were made, tears were shed, hugs of reconciliation, encouragement was said to others, tears of joy were flowing, prayers were lifted for parents who are sick, hugs of support were given to students weeping because of parents who have passed away or parents they have never known...It went on for two hours!! It was an amazing combination of emotions! Joy, pain, love, reconciliation, transparency, times of challenge were given--no one wanted to leave and when we ended everyone stayed for another 30 minutes hugging and crying and laughing. Thank you to all who have prayed for this trip--we have seen the results--God answers prayer!!!!!!
From Josh D:
Oh my goodness, we have had so much fun on this trip so far! One of the fun highlights of this trip was "The Wall." The wall is a 12.5 ft tall wooden wall with a platform at the top. The objective of "The Wall" was to get every member up to the top of the wall, which would leave one person left to lift from 12 feet down below. We had gotten everyone up except for Benji, George (who was helping lift) and Charley (who was also lifting). With the help of God, and Mr. Hood, Jenna, and Brandon, we got Benji up, but not without a fight. Then George got up with Charley lifting him. The last one left was Charley. We could not find a way to lift Charley up, until someone thought of an ingenious way of lifting Charley up off the ground to the top. It was a great team building activity to make us trust each other. It also taught us a spiritual lesson that we have to believe we can climb a wall/problems with God being the one to lift us up and over.
From Emily W:Today was a lot of fun. We went to a Hatian church in the morning. It was fantastic. Even though we could not understand most of it since the service was in creole, we were all gathering to worship the Lord, and that is what it is about! Then, we all got up and sang a song in English. We sang "Marvelous Light" with the hand motions and everything. It was AMAZING. 2 different cultures coming together under one house to worship and praise the Lord. What an awesome experience! After church, we headed to Cypress Gardens. We had so much fun. Jessica D, Andrea B, and I got to witness to multiple people while waiting in line. It was SO much fun!!!!! We all enjoyed the park, and some got even closer in their friendships. Can't wait to see you all back home, and hear about other mission trips. We are having a BLAST! Love, Emily W
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--The Lake Wales Team
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