TEAMS, TEAMS, TEAMS
We
committed to praying together as a team, and the result on the season of
team hosting this spring was dramatic. We experienced cooperative work for
the Lord with many logistics and people over several weeks. Lives were
impacted, enormous amounts of labor accomplished, and relationships
established. Each team was such a blessing, and if you were on one of
these teams, THANK YOU!
In February we hosted a team from Oak Grove Baptist
Church in Richmond, VA. They poured cement onto the slab for the 60’ x
100’ building project behind the Training School. It is not officially
called a youth center, but will be used as an extension for the youth
ministry on this island. They made improvements to the parsonage where the
Redds are now living.
West End Assembly of God sent a team that did a variety
of construction labor. They poured concrete for the Youth Center,
renovated the First Assemblies of God parsonage house, and worked on a
service project for a family at the south end of the island with desperate
housing needs. WEAG team members also helped with Youth Night. God used
them to bless us in many ways.
A team from Wheaton College in IL came to minister. This
multi-cultural team was made up mostly of college students. Leading
the team was a man with talent for Christian hip-hop/rap music. Because of
the culture here in the islands, hip-hop/rap is an effective way to
deliver the Gospel to kids. The team worked hard, making presentations in
many communities, and many decisions for Christ were made. One person with
this team was a woman named Yreille. She grew up in the slums of Nassau.
God gifted her as an evangelist and she is very involved with missions
work. God used her for speaking to the youth of Long Island. We had an
ironic connection with Yreille. The original owners of the sailboat “Praise
the Lord” were Dave and Ruth Mitchell. They used PTL for mission work in
the Bahamas and were involved in a church-plant in Nassau. The pastor of
that church was Yreille’s father, who became a close friend to the
Mitchells. God gave us this connection with Yreille, and we are excited to
see the Glory for Him that will come of it.
Another team was from Peoria, Illinois. The team became
servants to our dear widow friends by doing a variety of tasks for them
and blessing them with groceries and lamp oil, etc. They also completed
the project that was started for the family at the southern end of the
island. Food was distributed to families and a door-to-door prayer
ministry was conducted. They helped put on a “Jesus” party with food,
games, prizes, a movie, and the message of the Gospel. God used the
presentations they did in the elementary school to impact the kids and
teachers.
