Maranatha

Today was a great day.  We started with our orientation to the farm/building where we are staying, then had our orientation to Hands at Work, and then we were off to Maranatha to visit the community we will be serving in for the first time.

We arrived at Maranatha to the cheers and laughter of a hundred children approaching our bus and then getting on the bus when we opened the door.  As we exited the bus each one of our team was greeted with handshake after handshake from these beautiful children and the kids wouldn't let go of our hands.  By the time all 12 of us had exited the bus we each had 4-5 children trying to hold our hands all at once.  Wow!

The purpose of today was to meet the careworkers, get to know their names, and learn about the Maranatha community.  Maranatha started in 2005 under the leadership of Jackson and Angela.  Jackson is 64 years young and Angela is 45, having been married for 30 years with 10 children and 4 grandchildren.  Their passion and energy is contagious.  The community cares for 100 children with food, medical care and education.

We spent time singing and playing a game with the careworkers and then went on to wash the children's hands, feed the children their lunch, and then wash them again.  After this we broke into groups with some of our team and a few careworkers, in order to get to know them even a bit more.  Celine, Alexa and I met with Angela (Jackson's wife), Patricia, and Mary.  These women have given of themselves to the Maranatha community from 5-9 years and work tirelessly with the children.

The whole day was amazing, but 2 things stood out above the rest.  First, meeting a young 6 year old girl named Exildah (careworker Patricia's daughter).  She sat down beside me when we were having our small group chats with the careworkers.  She didn't smile at all but stayed close to me.  She had a bad burn on her right hand and her mother told me she had that for the last 5 days and there was nothing to put on it.  I asked if I could pray for her and so I put my hand on hers and prayed for her.  Within minutes she had sat a bit closer to me, followed by her left hand on my arm and then her right hand on my arm.  Lo and behold Exildah was my friend the rest of the afternoon, holding my hand and smiling the rest of the time I saw her.  When I was on the bus and we were leaving, we blew kisses to one another...words can't adequately express!

Second was the children when we were leaving.  They ran after our bus for quite some time and wouldn't stop.  Every time we thought we had turned a corner and were on our way some of the children would have caught up and were waving and cheering for us.

As we drove away every one of our team were moved by what we had seen and experienced.  I am so excited to see what God has in store the rest of our time here.

Frank