I woke this morning to a tumult of clanging and slamming. Work had begun on the third story of the compound where our living quarters are, which also houses the classrooms for the children, so there was hammering above, and screaming below. There are two shower stalls in our room. After Dan flipped the water heater on for me, I waited a few minutes and stepped into one of the stalls. I turned the water on and proceeded to spend half of my shower time waiting for the water to warm up. When it never warmed up, I spent 90% of the remaining shower time (that's 45% of total shower time, for those of you who didn't already do the math) building up the courage to step under the ice cold water. Finally, I showered for about a minute (ok, so my percentage estimates may be a little off; I didn't actually spend 20 minutes in the shower stall). After I got out, and commented that the water had been freezing, Dan checked the other stall. Warm.
At ByGrace, there are numerous projects constantly going on, so there is a variety of work to be done. While some of the team worked in the greenhouse, preparing to plant tomatoes, the rest of us were tasked with dirt transportation. Behind the school and living quarters, there was a mound of dirt. A very short distance away, there was a trench. Our job was to move the mound into the trench. It was difficult work, because the ground was rather hard clay, and adequate tools were in short supply. Most of us spent the day grabbing chunks of clay and tossing them into one of four wheelbarrows, which, when full, would be carted 20 feet across the yard and dumped there. Several times, I opted simply to toss the dirt across the yard, bypassing the middle step, wishing for a more efficient means of accomplishing our task. The two good pick-axes and two good shovels were in use, so I worked for a long time breaking clay up with what was essentially the straight end of a really large pry bar. It was absolutely the wrong tool for the job, but it did get the job done.
Tea time came at 11:00, and I was relieved, because after a long morning of hard work in the hot sun, a hot cup of tea is exactly what I want. Hot tea is the wrong tool for the job of quenching thirst. I nearly went upstairs to drink from the shower, knowing for certain that it would at least be cold. After tea, Stephen came out to work with us, proclaiming that he believed we could finish our dirt transportation by lunch. It would stand to reason that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains, it can also move mounds. Whether because a larger seed of faith was required, or because Stephen's faith just wasn't large enough, we didn't conquer the mound before lunch. I think we might have if we had been in possession of more than two functional shovels.
After lunch, we did. While a team of locals worked on shoveling still another mound of dirt, we finished our task and prepared for soccer time. Part of our ministry here is through an organization called Uncharted Waters, which is dedicated to running sports camps around the world, and training local pastors to do the same. In a place like Kenya, where there are so many unsupervised children wandering around, it can be difficult to get them into a church service, but when they see a soccer ball, they're willing candidates. One slight misgiving I've had about this trip has been that our team may not be ideally suited for sports ministry. Ryan, our UW leader, Dan, and Laura are all fine soccer players, and right at home leading such a camp. I wouldn't call myself a fine soccer player, but I'm comfortable enough in a sports environment to be of use as well. Unfortunately, my ankle still prefers not to be a willing participant, so I was sidelined for the day, taking pictures. Mitch and Conrad, I anticipated would adapt well, but Emily, Sandi, and Terri, by admission, aren't exactly at home on a soccer field. What I discovered, and I shouldn't be surprised, is that the Lord can use any tool for His purpose. Our first day camp went very well, I thought, as those who didn't play soccer proved to be effective teachers during the lesson time and necessary for playing with the non-participants. I've little doubt after today that we need not worry about our roles. Whatever the ministry, a willing heart is the only tool God needs.
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