Today's schedule was very similar to Tuesday's. The team woke up, ate breakfast, sang worship songs, and listened to a morning devotional that challenged the team to serve like Jesus did. With that challenge in mind we headed out to our serving sites for the day. The 7th graders spent the morning at the local MANNA food bank and sorted rice just like the 8th graders had done on Tuesday. Once again they formed an assembly line where they packaged another 2,000 pounds of rice. The MANNA site has provided a nice change of pace for everyone, so that they can engage in serving the community in ways other than digging and painting. The 7th graders joined back up with the 8th graders for lunch and an afternoon at the digging work site. We had the opportunity to meet Brenda Clubb's mother who lives up the hill a little way. We learned that she suffers from Parkinson's Disease, but she was so grateful for the work we were doing to help her daughter. Also, we had the privilege of meeting Brenda's neighbor that lives in another trailer above Brenda. She has been living alone ever since her husband passed away a few years ago, and she cherished the opportunity to have some company to talk to. These two interactions showed how the NC team has been sharing God's love not only with Brenda, but the entire community that lives near Brenda. It has been a beautiful picture of the body of Christ at work.
Today our work was cut a little short because ut poured rain for about 45 minutes while we were at the work site and filled our trenches with water. So, we headed back to our housing site early and were able to have a little extra rest time before dinner, which was nice. After dinner and an epic game of soccer against one of the other groups staying here at ReCreation Experience, the NC team gathered for porch time. Tonight, Philippe Warren, who has been a leader on this trip for the past 6 years, gave the evening talk. He gave us some great thoughts on the question: Why does God allow suffering to occur? He used the story of the man born blind in John 9:1-11 in order to answer this question. Jesus tells the people listening to him that this man was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Philippe used this to tell everyone that one of the most important truths to understand is that even in the midst of suffering God is present and working. Philippe ended by challenging everyone to be a light in this world in the midst of suffering knowing that even the most horrific suffering inflicted on Jesus was used for the ultimate salvation for people.
After porch time, the team ended the evening in small groups. Philippe's talk hit a nerve in a lot of people because suffering is something that we can all relate to and we all have wondered how God could let things happen. So it was great to be able to immediately process these ideas in small group. It has been a wonderful day of witnessing God at work here in North Carolina and we look forward to finishing strong tomorrow on our final day at the work site.
