“No man ever fell into error by being too watchful.” Charles Spurgeon
Bryan and Brodi led devotions this morning over Psalm 39:1 regarding taking heed to our ways. They reminded us that we are never out of danger of falling into sin and even our every day actions can end up leading us into sin. Following devotions, Jerseley brought out a high protein breakfast to help keep us satisfied through the morning. We had cheeseburgers with ham and eggs on them and optional habanero peppers along with a whole mango each. It was fantastic! Well fueled, we packed up the vans and head off to Bandabou to help serve our dear friend Gerda who is recently widowed. She has a wonderful ministry for single moms and provides housing, education, and training both vocational and with regard to raising kids.
On the way to Gerda’s, Lucas took us to an overlook where we could view some of the old plantation houses in the hills overlooking several estuaries. We took a group photo and then headed to Gerda’s where we were truly able to put I Timothy 5:3 into practice by, “Honoring widows who are really widows. She had several projects that she needed done around her property so we divided and conquered. Several of the girls painted the outside of the shipping container that has been converted into two apartments. They also painted three of the doors on the container. Two of the girls removed soil and sand from an old refrigerator that was being used as a planter and then they moved the refrigerator. The boys cleaned up Acacia trees that had been trimmed and trees that had been cut down. The Acacia trees had thorns over an inch long and were tricky to move. All of the branches and debris were burned in a huge fire so the temperature outside was hot and working around the fire made it even hotter! About ten thirty, Gerda brought us a wonderful snack of ice water, watermelon, Stroop waffles, and Dutch candy bars similar to our KitKat bars but with white chocolate. The sugar and water really helped us all perk up! The next jobs were moving very heavy tables and cutting down a large, dead tree in the goat enclosure. When we finished she was so happy and it felt good leaving knowing we had completed everything she wanted us to do. The whole team worked extremely hard and did an amazing job!
Next it was time to go to Discover Lagun to relax, cool off, and grab some lunch. The open air restaurant overlooks Playa Lagun and their food is always good. It was really nice to just sit and cool down! While we were eating the rain began to fall lightly which made the temperature fabulous! After lunch we headed for our last beach of the trip, Grote Knip. As we were driving to the beach it began to rain quite hard which was really a blessing because this is a very popular beach. As we walked down the stairs to the beach most people were running to their cars and packing up to go home because of the rain. We took advantage of it and jumped into the ocean while watching the rain dance across the crystalline water. It was really beautiful! While there we swam, snorkeled, and several of the kids went cliff jumping.
At four we jumped back into the vans and went back to the Youth Center to clean up and prepare for our annual barbecue. On the last Saturday of every trip we have a tradition of Luca’s preparing a whole host of meats for us and we dine in his backyard under the mango trees. Our meats began with chicken, pork tenderloin, and filet mignon skewers. Jerseley made side dishes of rice, cubed, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, and a tomato and avocado salad. The next meat served was tomahawk steak followed by barbecued bananas and strawberries served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. The final round of meat was thinly sliced ribeye. During the course of a couple of hours we ate, fellowshipped, played dominoes, poker, and card games and just enjoyed spending time together. It really was the cherry on top of the trip.
Everyone helped to clean up and then we debriefed prior to showers and packing for our flight home tomorrow. Speaking of flights, here is the flight information:
Departure. Curacao to Miami. Flight 312. 2:35 pm
Arrival. Miami. 6:03 pm
Departure. Miami to Phoenix. Flight 2484. 7:42 pm
Arrival. Phoenix. 10:02 pm
Thank you for praying for our trip all along. Please pray for quick and easy passage through immigration and customs as well as ease rechecking bags and getting through TSA in Miami.
Thank you again for allowing your kids to join us,
Lisa
Bryan and Brodi led devotions this morning over Psalm 39:1 regarding taking heed to our ways. They reminded us that we are never out of danger of falling into sin and even our every day actions can end up leading us into sin. Following devotions, Jerseley brought out a high protein breakfast to help keep us satisfied through the morning. We had cheeseburgers with ham and eggs on them and optional habanero peppers along with a whole mango each. It was fantastic! Well fueled, we packed up the vans and head off to Bandabou to help serve our dear friend Gerda who is recently widowed. She has a wonderful ministry for single moms and provides housing, education, and training both vocational and with regard to raising kids.
On the way to Gerda’s, Lucas took us to an overlook where we could view some of the old plantation houses in the hills overlooking several estuaries. We took a group photo and then headed to Gerda’s where we were truly able to put I Timothy 5:3 into practice by, “Honoring widows who are really widows. She had several projects that she needed done around her property so we divided and conquered. Several of the girls painted the outside of the shipping container that has been converted into two apartments. They also painted three of the doors on the container. Two of the girls removed soil and sand from an old refrigerator that was being used as a planter and then they moved the refrigerator. The boys cleaned up Acacia trees that had been trimmed and trees that had been cut down. The Acacia trees had thorns over an inch long and were tricky to move. All of the branches and debris were burned in a huge fire so the temperature outside was hot and working around the fire made it even hotter! About ten thirty, Gerda brought us a wonderful snack of ice water, watermelon, Stroop waffles, and Dutch candy bars similar to our KitKat bars but with white chocolate. The sugar and water really helped us all perk up! The next jobs were moving very heavy tables and cutting down a large, dead tree in the goat enclosure. When we finished she was so happy and it felt good leaving knowing we had completed everything she wanted us to do. The whole team worked extremely hard and did an amazing job!
Next it was time to go to Discover Lagun to relax, cool off, and grab some lunch. The open air restaurant overlooks Playa Lagun and their food is always good. It was really nice to just sit and cool down! While we were eating the rain began to fall lightly which made the temperature fabulous! After lunch we headed for our last beach of the trip, Grote Knip. As we were driving to the beach it began to rain quite hard which was really a blessing because this is a very popular beach. As we walked down the stairs to the beach most people were running to their cars and packing up to go home because of the rain. We took advantage of it and jumped into the ocean while watching the rain dance across the crystalline water. It was really beautiful! While there we swam, snorkeled, and several of the kids went cliff jumping.
At four we jumped back into the vans and went back to the Youth Center to clean up and prepare for our annual barbecue. On the last Saturday of every trip we have a tradition of Luca’s preparing a whole host of meats for us and we dine in his backyard under the mango trees. Our meats began with chicken, pork tenderloin, and filet mignon skewers. Jerseley made side dishes of rice, cubed, roasted potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, and a tomato and avocado salad. The next meat served was tomahawk steak followed by barbecued bananas and strawberries served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. The final round of meat was thinly sliced ribeye. During the course of a couple of hours we ate, fellowshipped, played dominoes, poker, and card games and just enjoyed spending time together. It really was the cherry on top of the trip.
Everyone helped to clean up and then we debriefed prior to showers and packing for our flight home tomorrow. Speaking of flights, here is the flight information:
Departure. Curacao to Miami. Flight 312. 2:35 pm
Arrival. Miami. 6:03 pm
Departure. Miami to Phoenix. Flight 2484. 7:42 pm
Arrival. Phoenix. 10:02 pm
Thank you for praying for our trip all along. Please pray for quick and easy passage through immigration and customs as well as ease rechecking bags and getting through TSA in Miami.
Thank you again for allowing your kids to join us,
Lisa