Lutheran Church of Hope’s team in Abaco shared about their projects completed during the last day on the island and reflects on the trip and the way it affected their hearts.
Check out the past blogs at Team updates – Impact Trips (manyhandsimpact.com)
I can’t believe we are about to start our last day. Our other days have involved going out into the community to help and do work but today we are starting our day at Camp Abaco. This camp has been around for over 50 years but has primarily only been used by Assemblies of God during Abaco Youth Camp for six weeks during the summer and sits empty the rest of the time. With it being vacant for so much of the year there is a lot of upkeep and things that Many Hands is trying to get done to be good tenants.
We were divided into three groups. One group went down to the chapel to do some deep cleaning and I was told the windows sparkled after they finished. The next two groups worked on different aspects of the bunk beds. The bunk beds in one of the dorms were not that old but had been built with untreated wood so the termites moved in. Some of the new treated wood had been cut, so a team started to assemble the beds and the other team was in the warehouse cutting the remaining of the treated wood to make 10 bunk beds in the dormitory.
A few people were able to break away for a trip into town to visit the market that was being held that morning. The market was in a very small building and lots of produce was being sold. Since Hurricane Dorian, there has not been a lot of things grown on the island so most all the food is shipped in from the States. Miss Ruby was there selling her jellies and jams. The team had the opportunity to work on her yard earlier in the week and already knew how tasty the jellies are. The Kelly’s were also there selling the produce we helped harvest a few days earlier at their farm. It was interesting seeing it come full circle.
The afternoon started with us going to Agape Christian School where we split into multiple groups. One group painted a classroom while the others cleaned and did minor electrical work with outlets. After we finished, we were just in time to watch the Agape Junior boys win their basketball game. It was super special because this was the first week of basketball games in the facility since Hurricane Dorian.
After the game, we came back to camp and enjoyed ribs for dinner, and we started sharing our IMPACT stories. Members shared lots of their life through their stories and it touched everyone’s hearts. It was a very special, emotional night.
Since the termites provided us with some wood, we were able to have a rocking bonfire that closed down our evening. Just as we could see the lighthouse light from miles away, we are sure the residents of Elbow Cay could see our bonfire light illuminating the sky.
This Island has definitely opened our eyes and our hearts. The Bahamian people are a very welcoming and resilient people. It is still hard to comprehend hurricane winds over 200mph sitting over this little spot in paradise for over 50 hours.
