Restore Soquel Camp Mission Trip, 2017
God has done it again! During the Aug. 20-25 Build and Restore International (BRI) mission trip to the Soquel campgrounds, God worked out some amazing miracles. BRI went to Soquel to do building and renovation at the campgrounds.
The 26 people involved in the project, coming from Washington and California, worked with dedication. In talking with Ostap Dzyndra (BRI’s President), Todd (the manager of the campgrounds) could not help but remark at how impressive was the commitment, work ethic, and workmanship of everyone involved.
BRI’s original plan for the project was to build three fences and paint three trailers and a small cottage. God’s plans were bigger, however. In addition to building the fences and painting the trailers and the cottage, the volunteers painted a storage container, the back side of the Esperanza Room, and the mechanics shop. They also replaced siding, trim and boards, washed windows, trimmed grass, cleaned the grounds, and cooked for the group.
Although Ostap was initially a bit worried about the funding of the project, as the donation goal had not been reached, God intervened. Various people donated approximately 30 gallons of leftover paint. When mixed, the paint of six different colors amazingly matched the color of the Esperanza Room. What were the chances of this!
More, the paint was sufficient exactly for what was needed. The Lord provided enough paint even for touch-ups, after which there was no more paint.
Another miracle was the paint sprayers. God moved someone to lend a paint sprayer to BRI for the project. Yet, one more paint sprayer was needed. Ostap had three sprayers, but none of them were in working order, even after he took them apart to repair them. Just before the trip, Ostap was impressed to take apart one of the sprayers for the third time. He did it and amazingly, out of nowhere, that sprayer started working. Ostap was impressed at how well the sprayer started working. It worked as any new sprayer he would have had to purchase. The two sprayers met all the needs of the project.
God was not done! One afternoon, when the volunteers decided to visit the nearby beach, they met Michael and his wife, who became interested in the work being done by the BRI volunteers. Michael, a stranger to the Seventh-day Adventist faith, came next day to volunteer with BRI. As a mechanical engineer, he even offered to help with the fixing of the cafeteria’s refrigerator. Somewhere along the way, Michael must have been seeing glimpses of Jesus because when Ostap was showing him the campgrounds, Michael stopped him and asked, Can we talk about God?
The BRI volunteers were blessed by the kindness of others as well! A man and his wife came to the campgrounds and brought food, thanking the workers. Todd brought vegetables and fresh apple juice.
It is all about Him! As Jesus urged us in Matt. 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Is your light shining? Is it shining for Him?