GYC Pre-Conference Mission Trip
Written by Miriam Popovski
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 65:24. Undoubtedly, you heard about the flight chaos that took place between Christmas and new year. It was in the middle of this disarray that on December 25th our BRI team took flight from different parts of the country headed to Phoenix for the GYC pre-conference mission trip. Some of our team volunteers got their flights postponed while others got canceled flights which were rebooked only to be canceled again and that five times. With all these obstacles we prayed earnestly that God’s will be done as we knew He undoubtedly had amazing plans for this mission trip.
The church we helped in Phoenix had recently suffered tragically as a drunk driver had slammed into the church building leaving a damaged sidewall and rendering it unsafe for use. Thankfully no one was badly injured, but the church members were discouraged as week after week nothing was progressing due to the drivers insurance and other circumstances. Not to mention the rest of the buildings on the property had also been neglected.
The plan was to do three days of pre-work preparing the outside walls of the Sabbath school classrooms for painting. There were also ceilings and other rooms that needed repair. After the pre-work was done, 60 GYC participants were to join us on Friday and together like a force of a mighty wind we would paint, clean, and fix everything in the six hours timeframe we had.
Even with the traveling disturbances and a smaller team to help with the cleaning, caulking and all the other pre-work preparations by Wednesday evening we were ready for the large group coming on Friday. Thankfully a couple church members came to help us, and seeing the enthusiasm they caught the vision and requested the youth of the church join us on Friday.
On Friday, to our delight, 76 volunteers arrived ready and eager to work! We hadn’t planned for such a large group, but God had and we had just enough tools for everyone to help out. Everything seemed primed for success. But, then, there came rain! We gathered the whole group and prayed together. Although Phoenix needed rain, we couldn’t work under those conditions. We prayed for the Lord’s will. Ostap and the team quickly found alternative things for the volunteers to help with inside different buildings. It was a daunting task to keep 76 people occupied in such a small space. And still lingering was the promised arrangement to finish the outside of the building giving it a fresh paint job. We wanted the church members to arrive on Sabbath morning and be greeted by a brand new looking church building.
After three hours the rain started to drizzle out and with the sun shining we rallied the troops to action. Each volunteer that came had a specific role to fill, and we could see the Lord had built a tremendous team in order to be able to complete this work. With half the time left we pulled together and finished the mission just as the pastor of the church was pulling in. The pastor had a family tragedy in another country that pulled him away for the entire week. But now as we were finishing he arrived and with a huge smile and tears he beheld his beautiful church building. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19