Our last day in Potlatch has been a bit like running through an amusement park – fun, yet completely draining! We started this morning with our last day of Vacation Bible School and, though there weren’t as many kids there as there have been on the other days (many left for a long Fourth of July weekend), our students were full of enthusiasm for their work with the children. Even when a class wasn’t at the music station, praise songs and hymns rang from the kids’ voices throughout the grounds of the church. What a blessing to be able to praise our God with such beautiful music! The question of the day was: What does God want us to do? To which the students readily replied “To spread the news about Him to those around us,” and that they did through their music and their joy.
After VBS, the Moores, a family from the neighboring town, invited us to come to their farm for the afternoon. Jeannie Moore and six of her nine children have been the highlight of the trip for all of our students and the leaders as well. They are originally from Issaquah, but moved to Idaho just a couple years ago to live on thirty-three acres that they have used to create a more sustainable living environment for their family. They have lambs that they shear and eat, goats that they milk, chickens that lay eggs and provide meat, two large green houses for vegetables, dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs…and all of this with seven children under their roof (their two oldest are already out of the house)! Our students loved being able to pet the four-week-old puppies, feed the lambs, milk the goats, and see a lifestyle very different from what we’re used to in Renton. Most importantly, they enjoyed spending time in fellowship with a large family of dedicated believers that have touched all of our hearts. It was hard to leave their property and say goodbye, but even harder to say goodbye a second time at our barbeque at Potlatch Park.
After leaving the Moore’s house, we quickly gathered our barbeque fixings and headed down to the park for one final night of youth outreach. We played ultimate Frisbee as well as volleyball and ate a delicious meal prepared by Kevin Kerr, one of our leaders. We had more than thirty adults and students with us to play, sing songs, and listen to two of our students speak – Kristen Sparkman and Stacie Larsen. It was the end of this beautiful evening that brought tears to our students’ eyes. It was difficult to leave people we had become so quickly attached to, and to people whom God teaches us so many lessons through. Currently, the distraction of cleaning every inch of this church is helping distract the students from the empty hole they’re already feeling in their hearts from having to leave this beautiful place and these extraordinary people.
On the other hand, I know that we’re also very excited to be able to come home tomorrow and to be able to sleep in our own beds. It will be so nice to be greeted by our loving, happy families and to share more stories with you in person! Please be praying that our trip home is safe and quick. Six hours on the road after a week overflowing with activity and energy can be tough, and we’d all appreciate the extra angels surrounding our vehicles J. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!
- Kirsten
0 comments:
Post a Comment