Impact Team: Abaco

Thrift Market Team – Reading, Painting, and Relating

By January 26, 2024August 4th, 2026No Comments

The Many Hands Thrift Market Impact Team is made up of staff, volunteers, and friends of the Many Hands Thrift Markets located in Iowa. They are serving together in Abaco, working alongside the community to be impact where God leads them.

Today, our team subdivided, and skills were challenged, expanded, or depleted. As those of us used our academic skills to enhance reading opportunities for children on the island, we found that we were inspired by Lisa Berg, who is driven to provide libraries to children who have never seen one, help them select appropriate books, and when possible, give books to children.

 

Well beyond the task itself was the joy of having meaningful conversations with one another. It was a blessing to contribute our abilities to the fruition of Lisa’s prayers.

Members of the team adding books to the Many Hands ARK library

Others learned that converting a faded building into one that brings joy through its beautiful color is a complex process. Previous paint began to show through as they removed the whitewash covering it, laboriously completing that five-step process before beginning to apply the smile-inducing purple. Color application itself began with time-consuming detailed edging and then, finally, the great moments of filling in the void between them. Eight team members completed one-half of the building today. They are trusting the next team to follow their example to complete the process.

The Thrift Team painting a building on the Many Hands Campus

As we head to bed after a wonderfully productive day, our bodies are aching, but our hearts are filled with increasing love for one another and the ONE who called us all here.

Read the previous blog from the Many Hands Thrift Market Team here

This profile represents the collective voice of our Many Hands Impact teams. The reflections shared here are written by everyday individuals, from students and parents to local community members, who have traveled to Haiti and Abaco to experience the mission firsthand. They are not full-time staff. They are volunteers stepping out in faith to be love in action. In these posts, you will read raw, unpolished stories of personal transformation. Our guest writers document the shared humanity discovered while working alongside local leaders on safe structures, education initiatives, and community development. Impact trips are designed to change the participant as much as the community they serve. Through their words, you get a front row seat to the exact moments people discover their purpose and learn to live with intention.

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