Cornerstone’s team spent their Sunday in a routine they recognized but they had a new perspective at the end of the day.
Read past blogs from this team and others at Team Updates – Many Hands Impact
Today is Sunday. Think about what comes to mind on your Sunday: Church, rest, family, perhaps some football?
Abaco is a place of Faith, and there is no shortage of church homes to gather and exercise that faith with friends and family. Today, our journey began like most Sundays for people back home.
The first Sunday of Advent was celebrated at the “Kirk of the Pines”, otherwise known as Church of the Pines. Our focus was centered around the high priests and the lessons handed down from God on how we, as a fallen people, could bridge the gap to the one true God. The lessons created lists of rules and regulations that read more like a code to break into a secret tunnel than a path to the merciful, loving Father. The community of believers was engaged through word and song and, eventually, the breaking of bread. Most of us don’t experience a church body as mixed as the one I saw today. People of many walks of life, age, color, family makeup, and a section of various aged children that perhaps arrived by their own individual means to deepen their faith. It was a meaningful time of worship with a common thread…CHRIST.
A brief return to the camp led to some time at the beach. For some, it meant wandering and being lost in shells, rocks, and gentle rolls of waves. For others, it meant setting out on a mission to see sea life firsthand. Some needed time to relax and prepare for a very IMPACTful afternoon.
Our mission for the afternoon was food distribution. We had a set of 8 destinations carefully procured by a local pastor and his wife. These two individuals truly capture the spirit of Abaco and Many Hands. A husband and wife duo representing the Bahamian and the Haitian people are driven to share Jesus with all who need him. With our vehicles loaded with eager and naive servants of the Lord, we set out to not only bless others but have our eyes and hearts widened and hopefully blessed.
Imagine for a moment that you, on your typical Sunday, plan to spend time with family and friends, perhaps eat or share in an afternoon of social time one way or another. Now imagine doing that same thing with complete strangers and realizing that these people are your family you never knew you had.
Elderly friends who care for each other, households of multi-generations of women, young families with a tarnished past, and yet so much hope for the future. A trip to homes that should not be allowed by some standards, yet they thrive as a community of care and love like you may have never experienced. Eight stops in total, three general locations of varying circumstances, two nationalities of people, and one common theme..FAMILY!!
It is obvious that these people survived “the storm”…Hurricane Dorian…but it may need a bit of looking to see how they have THRIVED!!!
Today, I witnessed a level of Faith and Uncertainty like I have never seen before. A people group devastated to the core by an incident that has taken four years to see little if any, recovery. “A second chance,” as one man declared. He lost all his stuff, but he has his life…he was given a chance. A little boy celebrating a one-year birthday today with a face that says I have no idea what my life holds. A set of twin 6-year-old boys that rode out a category 5 hurricane with their mother while Dad was on another island.
And yet…uncertainty…unknown…and FAITH!
Today, I saw Jesus and the demand this world has for Him. I have been changed. My Sundays will never be the same. My hugs to my boys and my wife will never be the same. My relationship with Jesus Christ will never be the same.
Thank you for your time, your gifts, and your talents. Wherever you are when you read this message, I ask that you pause and reach out to Jesus. Ask him to show you how your Sundays could change and how your life could change after reading about Abaco and Many Hands.
Thank you, Many Hands.
Kyle
