Mike, our incredibly funny bus driver, never fails to crack a joke! Yesterday morning, he "punished" me and put me in a corner for sleep walking onto the bus and made me wait in order to wake up! After every one boarded the bus, we headed for Eber Prep. All the students stood behind a closed gate and our team started off with two worship songs , followed by Audrey's testimony, Followed by a story by me... wait, What? I, Chris Ciccarelli, spoke in front of a crowd?! I did!!! I overcame my fear, even though I did not want to speak in front of a crowd and told the students the story of Jesus walking on water!We continued our day helping YWAM (Youth With A Mission) at their base in Montego Bay! YWAM has the most beautiful grounds, with the most amazing view of the island/beach. Even though we were at this beautiful place, we had pretty hard work to do! They added a 400 yard water pipe and our job was to fill the 1ft. trench with sand and earth.
The job sounded pretty easy, but, digging hard clay into the trench at 40 degree temperatures was probably the hardest construction job we have faced to date! Luckily, we got the job done and had it all done in about 3 hours. The staff was incredibly happy because a job like that one could have taken them weeks! Later in the afternoon, we headed off to Robin's Nest orphanage, about 1 hour drive from Auntie Dalley's. We drove through the jungle and up a rocky mountain to a beautiful house on top of the mountain with a gorgeous view of the jungle! Robins Nest has 33 kids, aging from babies less than a year old to teens about 13 years old. They are one of only two orphanages on the entire Island that has special needs children in their care (and the foster homes here for the most part don't take kids with disabilities). 
After a quick tour of the grounds, we were encouraged to go around and play with the children. I visited the toddler area and picked up a crying baby called Dwight and played with him until he had a smile again on his face! However, when I put him down, he started to cry again; so the nurse in charge allowed me to take him around with me! Other members of our team enjoyed a dip in the pool, helping children with severe disabilities (like Cerebral Palsy) to have some time in the water too by assisting them to swim because some could not go in the water unassisted. Others played board games or simply ran around the house chasing the little boys and girls.
After an afternoon of fun, the hardest part came: saying good-bye to the children. Most of the kids in an orphanage do not get the attention and love and care that children need. So, after an afternoon of playing, holding and feeding Dwight, I brought him back to his crib and put him down. After saying good-bye I started to walk away and he started to cry. Broken hearted , I turned back and picked him up and played with him a bit more. Finally, after a long drive home, we headed to West Gate Hills Baptist Church for Friday Night's Youth service. We began the service with a few songs, then a few people shared what God had been doing in their lives and finally Phil spoke about the mission of Youth Ministry!After a great, but somewhat challenging day, we headed home to Auntie Dalley's to meditate on the day we had and to get some rest!
No comments:
Post a Comment