After finishing up at the community center, the Kairos team shared their IMPACT stories and prepared to leave Camp Abaco.
Read past blogs from Kairos and other teams at Team Updates – Many Hands Impact
With the trip coming to an end, the team was busy wrapping up projects and reflecting on our time together as a group. We started our day early as we once again headed off to the Murphy Town Community Center center to put in a morning’s work. We continued to leave our mark by hanging drywall, painting the building, and praying over the communal space so that God may use it for his will. On our way back to Camp we went to local shops, many of the team bought items to help them remember what we did here in Abaco and the memories that we created.
It was so cool to meet more locals and hear from local business owners. We also had the best ice cream on the island. Sure it was out of the living room window of a local’s home but customer service was an 11/10! Something is so beautiful about the simplicity of an in-home ice cream parlor that would most likely not pass inspection in the USA. This is just one example of the many times the team has struggled to understand why America has to be so extravagant when it comes to the small things.
Since this was our last full day, it was important that we took a retrospective approach to everything we have learned so far. Throughout the night, we each shared short stories called our IMPACT stories where we touched on how we ended up here, a theme, an impactful moment, and our plan to put love in action. Many tears were shed as the team continued to see God’s work not only in our time here but also in our lives that led up to this trip. Many team members stayed up till early morning hours soaking in the new but also deep friendships we have formed for one of the last times at camp. It was no accident that each and every one of us was here together as we can all agree every individual here has a special gift they uniquely offered to the group. These gifts were how we saw Jesus in one another. We will continue to praise the Lord for his goodness and faithfulness which has been evident on this trip. We have been able to come together and create a cohesive unit to continue to serve the Lord when we return.
While the team all made different commitments on how they will bring what we learned here back to Iowa, there is no doubt in our minds that hearts will continue to be on fire for the lord and lives will continue to change. From Y-turns (it made the blog Andrew!), larping, and rapping to deep questions about faith and sharing things we never thought we would have the courage to share, thank you Abaco. However, more importantly, thank you to our heavenly Father for this life-changing experience.
We love and will miss you Abaco,
The Team
