On the verge of leaving!

Last night we had our last meeting before we leave on Monday!  Everyone was brimming with excitement, but we also took time to honestly share the stresses we have.  Some of us have business details to clear up before going (two weeks is a long time to be gone).  Others have children and spouses to help before leaving, or health concerns, or getting all the supplies ready.  From the outside it can seem like a winter trip south is all sunshine and smiles, but it's not without stress. 

Our evening team devotions there will be from the book of James, so last night we read James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance."  Indeed the stresses we have aren't fun, but they don't steal our joy.  In fact, they add to it, since we call on the Lord all the more for his strength and perserverance.  By the end of evening we had connected well as a team, confirmed supplies and travel plans, and experienced the Lord deepening our trust in him.

It was exciting to see some old-fashioned hay-barn pulleys that Cor had cleaned up for the work in Belize.  We'll be continuing construction on the second floor, and in the absence of skid-steers everything will go up by hand.  We had heard from the previous team (Kitchener CRC) that a good rope and new pulleys would be helpful.  Last night we also packed tap-cons, hammers, drills, and school supplies.  Thankfully a great deal of the supplies and tools are already there, brought by previous teams or purchased locally.  How good it will be to start working!

But one comment from an experienced team member caught me off gaurd: "Remember, we're not there to build a school."  I thought I had heard him wrong, but he continued, "We're there to build relationships with the Christians and community there."  He echoed what EduDeo Ministries has said all along, but it took me until now to clue in.  Helping to build Unity school is a means to an end, not the end itself.  Building relationships will have the greatest value.  Clearly, more than just bricks and mortar will go up, the body of Christ will too!

We hope to post blogs daily when we are there, but it will depend on time and internet availablity.  We look forward to sharing the progress and prayer requests with you!

~ on behalf of the team, Daryl DeKlerk