Catching Rain: A Team Moment

Grace & Peter in the "waterfall" from the roof

As team leaders we think about our team a lot.  How are they doing?  Are people getting along?  Are they feeling encouraged or discouraged?  Are we working well together?  We are often trying to take the pulse of our team, and for good reason.  We understand that our team rises or falls together.  We are all in this together.  If we are not working together our effectiveness will be greatly decreased.  If we are not taking care of one another, our team health will be compromised.  If we are not willing to sacrifice for each other, we will only be a set of individuals working alongside one another and we will miss out on the power and potential that comes from working as a team.

This week we had a very encouraging team moment: It was Sunday and we were meeting together at Abby & Jess’s house for our weekly time of fellowship.  (You may remember that Abby & Jess have had quite a few problems with their house, especially around plumbing.  First the plumbing had not been fully installed.  Then they went without a toilet for two weeks to discover that the pipe had been blocked with cement.  Even now they are dealing with water shortages and leaky cisterns) 

Half way through lunch it started to rain.  Actually, it started to pour.  Actually it started to downpour.  The week before we hadn’t seen a bit of rain.  The girls buckets and cistern were nearly empty.  The girls were soon grabbing buckets to go out on their street to catch rain water.  But we were all there.  We could help!  It wasn’t organized--it just kind of happened.  Everybody went to work and took up a role.  Some people went out on the street, some of us went up on the roof.  A couple of team members went over to the other house to catch rain water there too.  Others were doing dishes, others were watching children.  Everyone was busy helping.

Up on the roof we were getting soaked.  The rain was pelting us and we even felt cold at times (a rare event for the islands). By hanging buckets over the ledge, we were catching rain water very quickly and able to pour it right into the cistern.  The girls have a 3000L cistern on their roof which has never been more than ⅓ full.  During the storm we filled it half way! Sometimes one of these buckets full of water would “accidentally” fall repeatedly on unsuspecting team members collecting water down below in the street (to the enjoyment of those on the roof and many island spectators).  

David enjoys rain on the porch

We were out there for an hour and everyone was tired and completely soaked, but the girls had more water than they’ve ever had and we had evidence of something even better--A team that works together and sacrifices for one another!


PRAYERS ANSWERED
We were able to visit our friend in the prison this past week.  We are thankful for his mature, patient, and peaceful heart in the midst of this injustice.  He has since then completed his sentence and has been released, but justice is far from being done.  Pray for the appeal process and that the truth would be made known and justice would be done.   The arrival of rain has been an answer to our prayers from last week.  The boys’ heat rash has greatly abated and empty cisterns are filling up.  We were able to do some good long range planning which has been helpful in thinking through the next steps for our team.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Keep up the persistent prayer for Megan’s back to heal. Pray for our team as we finish up the “orientation unit” of our program. Pray especially for their local language learning and for Megan as she evaluates their language and tries to encourage them forward. Our old team leaders (who are still serving on Volcano Island) are coming out this next week to visit and encourage us. Pray for a good visit and for their team as many of them will be heading to their home countries in the next couple months.