Sunday

This weekend was a blur of frenzy.  I seem to remember when Sunday used to be a day of rest (vaguely).   Can anyone relate?

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to share a bit about my upcoming trip at Southwinds Church.  It’s great to know I have the support of my church family, and now they have a better idea of what I’m actually going to be doing in Haiti. 

In case you missed it, here are the highlights of what I’ll be doing at GLA:

• On weekdays I will be assigned 8 babies a day to work with – one per hour for 8 hours a day.  Many of the children at GLA are behind developmentally because of prenatal malnutrition and premature birth.  So I will be doing developmental tasks, such as eye-hand coordination, with toddlers, and rocking the younger babies that just need nurturing. 
• Other duties as assigned - they feed a large number of people at each meal, so volunteers are expected to pitch in and set the tables, serve the meal, clean up afterwards, help with dishes, and so on.
• Since the earthquake, there may be tasks related to earthquake relief, such as sorting through containers of supplies received at GLA and preparing care packages for people in the surrounding communities.  I may even have the opportunity to go with a group to deliver the care packages to people. 
• On Saturday mornings we will do a thorough cleaning of the volunteer quarters, and go shopping in the outdoor markets in the afternoon. 
• Since GLA is a Christian organization, all volunteers are expected to attend church on Sunday and Bible study on Wednesday night. 

Here are a couple of pictures of me speaking, and Pastor Bo praying for me. 

After church, there was a drop-in luncheon for the pastor of our sister church (and his beautiful wife).  They are moving back to their home State of South Carolina.  Three years ago, they felt God calling them to Calgary, so they sold their dream home (which they had just built in the mountains of South Carolina) and came to serve here (where it gets down to -35 degrees Celsius in the winter).  Brave souls!  I happened to be at the church as Pastor Wilson was cleaning out his office.  As we chatted about their move and my mission trip, he reminded me that “God blesses obedience”.  Words to live by.  He and Mary-Winn are certainly examples of how God blesses people who are willing to jump in with both feet and follow Him wherever He leads. I, for one, have been blessed by knowing them.   

Moving right along, I went from the luncheon to a staff BBQ for work (which was also a hot-tub party - check out the picture below).  I’m sure I gained back in one meal whatever weight I had managed to drop for my trip (which wasn’t much to begin with), and then some.  It was a fantastic meal and time of fellowship with my co-workers - great to get together in a social setting outside of work.  Some of us missed the Christmas party this year due to a blinding snow storm, so we spent the next six months planning  the next gathering procrastinating, and finally managed to get together yesterday. 

So, that was Sunday.  There’s still so much to do, but I’m gradually checking things off my list.  I’m starting to feel the stress of having only five more days to do everything I need to accomplish before I go.  But more on that later.  Stay tuned...