God has been doing a lot in my life this past year.
After coming back from Sea to Sea I realized that I know could handle my desk job (though I still love designing) and I felt called to be using my time to glorify God by helping others, specifically those effected by injustice like AIDS and Human Trafficking. It was a struggle to figure out how to change my current direction but after a number of months I applied to Laurier University for the Human Rights/Human Diversity program to begin my education process of heading into a new direction. During my first course God put in my path another opportunity to be a part of YWAM and their Justice Discipleship Program. I wasn't sure at first as I was just making this huge change to go back to school and to leave my current job but after much prayer and consideration I knew that this was where God was leading me too.
It is already day two now, though technically YWAM doesn't start till tomorrow (Monday). I left Toronto on Saturday, bright and early! It was a really blessed flight. I met a few residents of Barbados heading home and I was surprised to discover they were all Christians, two of them even having heard of YWAM in Barbados. I sat with two very interesting gentleman; Stephen, a kind but talkative man who had left Barbados many years ago and has been working in Street Ministry in London, ON and Malcom who works for Air Canada as an Engineer on the Island. I really enjoyed talking with Malcom and hearing about his family. I believe God put them both there for me to meet but spefically Malcom who invited me to meet his family and visit at some point within the first while of my stay. What a kind man!
After arriving and waiting in the customs line I discovered two girls who had been on the same plane (but come from Alberta) were also a part of the same YWAM DTS. That was very exciting and as we waited in the long line we were able to meet and get to know eachother a bit. I got through first and then Jess, but Dean had disappeared. I was worried and tried to find out what happened and decided to wait with her luggage in the mean time. I later found out that her visa process hadn't gone through yet so she had to prove why she was here. Solomon, one of the staff members and our driver was called in to talk with the customs officer and I found myself now holding the "YWAM sign" as we were still waiting for 2 more people and Solomon was concerned he would miss them. Anyhow, everything worked out in the end which is good but a little nerve-wrecking for Dean. When we came out I discovered there were a number of us all waiting outside for us slowpokes. I will admit too the heat really hit me when we got off the plane. It was much muggier then I was expecting. Oh and another great start was when we all had to push our van to help it get started. Reminded me so much of my mission trip to Eastern Europe. I think every time we had to go anywhere the van broke down, either at the start or along the way! Good times :)
That evening we just got aquanted with our surroundings and meeting with those who had arrived. The plantation is in a beautiful but fairly remote area. We are halfway up a hill which gives us a beautiful view from some areas of the plantation. The doorms are pretty nice, the girls (about 12 of us) are split up into 3 rooms and the boys (just two) have a very nice large room. We are expecting two more people to show up later in the week. I am so thankful that I brought a small fan along, like suggested, as the rooms stay fairly warm but God grants us relief at about 5pm ish when it begins to cool down which make sleeping easier, as by 6pm it is already dark.
Sunday morning 7 of us headed with Solomon and his wife to their church. The worship was beautiful and full of lots of movement and hallelujahs. A few of the songs I knew but like most Christians songs the ones you don't are pretty easy to pick up. Typical Caribbean church lasts 2 1/2 hours and we were lucky as well to be able to partake in Lord's supper with them as well. Afterwards we headed back to base and then we were off to Crane Beach. It was beautiful! The white sand and the BIG salty waves :) We are on the windier side (opposite to most resorts) which is nice as it does cool things down a bit. There is also a cliff we could climb and jump off. It was about a 20 foot or so jump. We did it a couple of times, our last time jumping as a group. Myself and another girl, Jordan hung out in the water forever bobbing up and down with the waves, once in a while swollowing a mouth full (yuck). I really enjoyed the chance to talk with her as though there is an age gap we seem to be fairly similar. Oh yeah, so the next oldest to me is 22! Most are 19. Its okay though, like I found with Sea to Sea on the whole, away from daily life you really can't tell there is a large age gap. The only difference is a number haven't started or have just started university. Alef (22 from the Netherlands), however, is already working as a highschool teacher and has many stories.
So where do some of the other students come from? We represent many nations: The Netherlands (and that's not me! lol), Finland, England, US, St. Lucia, Switzerland and 4 of us from Canada! A great mix.
Well so far it's been a good few days, with a few little trials but they are to be expected as well. We start orientation tomorrow and on Tuesday we get to go on a tour of the island. FUN!
Well that's all for now. Thanks sooo much for all your prayers. Please pray for us this week as it will be a bit of a first overload but I'm so excited to see what's in store.
(L-R: Back row: McNeal, Samuel, Sarah, Dean, Laura, Kadeen, Josh, Jessica. Second row: Alef, Claudia, Stephanie, Nicole, Jordan, Solomon, Suzanna. Front row: Celina, Riikka, Faith, Bekah)
The grounds here used to be an old plantation. It is so beautiful and green. There are sugar cane fields which with them bring mice, and cockroaches (thus no open food in the dorms) as well as monkeys!!! That's right I saw a bunch of monkeys today. First outside our window and then later when we went for a walk, so cool. There are 5 cabins down past ours which are called the youth village. These are used by local churches for retreats or for children's ministries. The monkeys live down by the youth village. There is the great house, which is where we come for internet. It has a family room with a TV to watch movies, a library where we can borrow books from, a kitchen where of course all the delicious food is prepared as well as housing upstairs for guests. Their rooms are much nicer than ours and Alef had the pleasant opportunity to stay in them when he arrived early last Wednesday. We will be having a little shop soon in the family room where those from the neigbourhood as well as ourselves will be able to buy snacks and drinks during free time so that is kind of cool. Then there is the classroom which is also where we have worship. It can hold about 30 people so it is fairly small, but it has fans and is nice and cool. In fact a few were wearing sweaters!! Imagine that (though it was a cooler and rainy day today, nice). There are 5 houses on campus where the staff and their families live, and then there are the students dorms. There are 4 rooms each with a number of beds. The room I am in I share with 4 girls at the moment. Another is hoping to come but we don't know yet.
