After arriving at Concord Street for the last time, we loaded up the bus to head to Second Harvest Food Bank, once again. However, the "open-toe shoe club" decided to conform and join the team by wearing close-toe shoes. Luckily we did not sort through old meat but we sorted through canned goods, baby food, dry foods, juice, etc. that would be packed into boxes, tagged, and placed in areas for distribution. While it feels that we were not doing a whole lot in the way of serving, we understood that we may not ever know the impact we will have in a community or in someones lives. This was a perfect example of that, but we remember "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow" (I Cor. 3:6).
We headed back to Concord Street to have lunch and prepare for our last day at Lake Mann. Today was the day we would present Noah to the kids and we had prayed for the rain to hold off. Let me say, we had beautiful weather all week and the rain usually missed us.
As we arrived to Lake Mann, it began to rain. Was it a coincidence that it would rain on the day we would talk about Noah and the flood? Maybe, but it sure did add to the lesson we were teaching and made it more real for the kids who were there.
Despite the rain, we had kids waiting for us as we arrived, once again. I really saw God in the kids this day because they still came in the rain. Some had umbrellas, some had ponchos, and some just came. What an amazing site to see kids who had the desire to be with us and learn about God that they braved the weather to be there!
As we wrapped up the afternoon, we sang some more silly/VBS songs and the kids kept wanting to sing and kept requesting songs to sing. I had to take a moment and walk away while I had a small cry because these kids did not want us to leave and I did not want to leave them because for a small moment in time we brought some joy, hope, and love to their lives through God's word. What an amazing experience and week.
At one point I was in the restroom and I heard one of the kids singing "If you love Jesus". He had no clue anyone could hear him, but I could and it did my heart good to know we left an impression on these kids that they were wanting to sing about Jesus as they walked home.
We finally finished and afterwards we went to the lady who made the "Flips", so we could buy out the rest of her stock and be a blessing to her by giving back to her monetarily more than she asked for. We hung around and ate our flips, but eventually we had to load the bus back up and leave.
One thing I've learned in doing mission work is that it's never "Goodbye" but "Until we meet again". I believe that we will be back in Orlando to do mission work in the next year or two and I hope to see some of the same kids that we got the pleasure of meeting during the week we were there. I also pray that they live a life, according to God's will, so we can meet again in Heaven one day.
It's amazing how God can touch your life in just a short span. This trip was more of a life-changing experience for me, even though our purpose was to have a life-changing experience for the kids. Our God is truly an awesome God and I urge you to trust that He is prepared to do some amazing things in your life. You don't believe me? Take a mission trip for a week and see if God doesn't change your perspective on the power He has in your life.
