Celebrate Church’s team took in all the destruction of Hurricane Dorian and had the opportunity to work on the Community Center.
Read past team blogs at Team Updates – Many Hands Impact
Arrived in Abaco yesterday afternoon and settled into Camp Abaco. The destruction remaining from Hurricane Dorian is still so crazy, even after almost four years having gone by. The once lush fields of palm trees lay flattened and the man-made dump lots are full of the many, many destroyed cars.
After a tour of Abaco this morning, we went to the Murphy Town Community Center, which was destroyed by the hurricane. We spent our day there finishing painting the ceiling and priming the walls, so the center can be used again.
Over lunch we were introduced to Pastor Ryan Forbes who shared his family’s story of the hurricane. Ryan’s family was stuck on the second floor of their church with water around them and both the walls and ceiling blown away. Ryan told us how he continually prayed for God’s faithfulness in action and God provided for them in miraculous ways. This was an incredible reminder for us of God’s constant faithfulness even in terrifying and challenging situations.
The Community Center being rebuilt will create another space for God to show his faithfulness to the people of Abaco. The Community Center will again be a central part of the community for graduations, Easter celebrations, and many other celebrations to be hosted there. Today we met multiple children from the neighborhood and were able to see their infectious joy, and we are excited to get the Community Center ready for them.
After our first full day, we thank God for a great start to the trip and for an awesome introduction to the people of Abaco.
