Hello from Aruba. So our team has arrived safe and sound to this little wee island that is neither part of North or South America, as I've googled, this island is the property of Holland, or am I actually in Europe? The source also says its part of the Carribeans, which is technically North America, so I guess I didn't step foot on a new continent as I had wished, BUT we are so so CLOSE to South America on the map, I wish I could just hop over, some day, probably spontaneously again.
Were settled into an amazing house that was rented to us by a pastor who lives in Canada for half the year I believe. There's a mini pool, a hut, a view by the Atlandtic Ocean? and IQUANAS IN THE MORNING! It was hard to imagine that we were all here for a mission trip as it feels like we're coming for vacation, living in a resort and enjoying the beach (which has minimal sand...). I always thought a mission trip wasn't all that dressed up, more bare, and work to it, but were very thankful for such a nice villa to stay at and I guess as everything is provided we can focus on our work to be done here.
Today we visited the church we will be hosting a camp at and drove around to get use to the area as well as made our own map to and from the church. There are barely any traffic lights, speed limit signs, or pedestrian signs. Mainly just stop and yield ones, safe eh?! but the streets are usually quiet and not much cars during the day (fun fact: you can drive around Aruba in less than two hours!).
We also hosted a service for the church today and though they're congregation is SUPER SMALL, like 15 people? and we were another 7, it was encouraging to see the Chinese community of Aruba come together to worship and learn about our God. We were also incharge of hosting a kids service for the kids, but there was technically only three kids so we didn't get into the bible story or lesson planned, but they enjoyed playing the "name" game and "BANG!" with us!
I'm starting to understand more about Pastor Gabriel and his wife's work here and what they have done these past four years (yea.. I don't really understand just from reading the bulletin or what missionaries do in general). Though the attendance is small, tomorrow we are expecting about 30 kids and I pray that we can reach out to them with the gospel and get to know their lives. Its feels like this is just another kids camp that can be done anywhere, by anyone right? Why Aruba? But these past two days, I realize the church wouldn't be able to make this happen without us as I once again emphasize the size of their church and the lack of full time staff they have. The parents work a lot and their kids also help them out, its like a part time job, thus planning could not been done without outsiders.
Even though this "happy" island is beautiful and full of sunshine, please continue to pray that we stay focus on our tasks at hand and grow spiritually as we venture to mission to the kids.
Ayo!
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