Day 5 began with some warm southern hospitality in a
breakfast of biscuits and gravy. After getting their fill to start the day, the
kids participated in the daily worship experience where they listened to the
pastor from ReCreation give another morning devotion that really spoke to the
organizations summer theme of, “Our Hearts Cannot Stay Silent”. He challenged
the whole team to break out of their comfort zone and “wash the feet” of those
around us throughout our day. After the sermon, the team loaded onto the buses
and headed to our work sites.
Today was a little different from the other days due to the
fact that we split into two different serving groups. One group went to the
houses we have been painting all week and continued to work on the completion
of our task. The other half of the team went to The Manna FoodBank. Their mission statement is to involve,
educate, and unite people in the work of ending hunger in Western North
Carolina. We aided in this process by packing about 2 tons of pasta into boxes.
These boxes are then sent all across
Western North Carolina to those who are in need. This was an incredible
opportunity for out team to have a different type of service outlet and to
realize that there are hungry people even in America. God worked through your
kids as they ran one of the most efficient assembly lines we had ever seen.
Midway through the day both halves of the team met up at the
painting site to eat lunch. After lunch
the different halves of the team switched worksites, one painted and one packed
pasta. By the end of the day, we were able to finish painting Lawrence’s house
yellow with only the trim to finish on our final day of working. When it came
time for our team to clean up and head back to our housing site, it was an
inspiring moment to look up and see the work we had completed.
We then returned for dinner and our nightly “porch time”. We
shared our memories, worshiped God through song, and listened attentively to
Nick Mercer as he gave a talk on Matthew 6:1-4. As he walked us through this passage, he
challenged the team to contrast two potential values: compassion versus
competition. This helped the team to see that compassion towards others and
putting God first is more important than the competitive nature in which we
tend to focus on ourselves. We then broke up into small groups where our team
was able to share what they have been learning throughout the trip as well as
where they struggle to be compassionate in their lives. It has been another
incredible day filled with laughter, joy, love, and hard work. As we have grown
closer as a team, we have also grown even closer to God.
God Bless,
