Abaco is stirring. Read how the Freedom Fellowship (Indianola) IMPACT team’s day—from morning prayers to painting with local families and serving children at CAPS school—became an act of being the hands and feet of Jesus, proving that giving your time creates impactful, loving connections.
God woke me up before the sun could peak out over the sea and I knew he was stirring something for the team. It is abnormally cold for November in Abaco, the high was 69, the wind was blowing (yay for a break from the no-see-ums) so I took myself out to the water to pray for the day. As I sat, God reminded me even in the dark He is with us, just as I could not see the water, the sound was recognizable and I knew it was there. This may have been where the stirring started!
Our team started the morning with a devotional in the Gathering Hall before breakfast. At 8am we ate and headed out to work. Today the group split a little, the majority went to a house to finish painting and other tasks, and some got a chance to go to the CAPS school to help in the Library with reading.
I started my day off at the house painting. God gave us beautiful weather and this enabled us to really get things done without the heat and humidity. It also gave us another blessing, the 3 littlest members of the family came out and played with the younger team members! There was hide-and-seek, lizard chasing, painting, and chatting and laughing. Well, the bigger team members couldn’t let them have all the fun so everyone had an opportunity to take a moment and love on the kids. See God stirring again?
With the littles occupied, their mom was able to have a conversation with another team member. This is where IMPACT really rings true. This isn’t just about getting a job done, we want to do that for sure, but this is about more. It is about taking a minute to let God move through you and into others, making a connection, working together, sharing, and being the hands and feet of Jesus.
The second half of my day was spent at CAPS, which is a government school serving K-6. I was able to go into the Library/Resource room to read to students with our two youngest team members, Alex and Irelynn. This class had 30 students and they were split into groups of 5. I brought a book to donate to the Library and was able to read it to my group, it was Where the Wild Things Are. This is a Johnston family favorite and it did not disappoint at CAPS either. After we read to our tables, Alex and Irelynn played a matching letters activity with the class, then it was time for them to head back to the classroom.
School hours are 9am-3pm and the students get an hour lunch. Two students came in to be tutored after school and the kids were able to read them books while they ate a snack and waited for tutoring to begin. I helped put together some reading incentive posters for the classes.
When we completed these tasks the kids on our team went out to play games with the children that were still waiting on rides home. See God stirring here? The kids went with the last two students to the playground and played until our ride arrived. The students were so sad to see their new friends have to leave BUT we will serve breakfast tomorrow for them and they will get to check in and say hello again! Our ride arrived and off to Camp Abaco for a little time to rest and reset and then it was time for dinner.
At 6pm we had another amazing meal prepared for us to nourish our tired bodies and prepare us to discuss our day as a group.
8 pm was chapel after dinner to fill out our IMPACT journals and discuss the day. A common theme today was the children of Abaco.
“God stirred feelings in each of us about how children are children wherever you go. How it was so good how God used our young team members to open doors and to show us the innocence and love the children of Abaco have even though their life may not look like that of our children at home.”
It was noticeable how giving the children our time and attention filled them with smiles and a want for more.
Isn’t that the way it is with God, if we give him our time and attention, don’t we want more? See the stirring 🙂
We ended our night with a fire outside of Doug and Carrie’s where we shared with each other, listened to stories, laughed and sat in the dark with that recognizable sound of the ocean in the distance remembering that God is there, stirring our hearts and pointing us to him.
– Shannon
