Welcomed as Stars…
Everywhere we travel, we ride in what looks like an old army jeep with vinyl windows that roll up to provide breeze when it is hot and covering when it rains and two benches along the sides in the back. Everyday I feel like a member of the ARMY, ready for battle – in 
a sense I guess we are. When we arrive at our ministry location, the door swings opens, and our team files out the back hunched over and trying not trip over bags, water, etc. It’s a great scene to watch: seven white people, slightly larger than every Flippino, trying to fit through a hole meant for little people. And this was the day…
Usually, we ride for at least thirty minutes to an hour before we find ourselves unloading from the vehicle. But today was different, we stopped in front of a bamboo structure with part whicker siding up to your waist with rest being aluminum, as well as the common banana-leaf roof. I looked out the window of our jeep and saw 30-40 adults and 150 children lining the pathway into the church. At first glance, I thought – “We can’t already be here – I wonder what is happening – maybe some huge event…a wedding, a funeral, a band.” Then reality set in, and I realized – we were the huge event, and all the eyes were looking at us. We slowly walked through the path of people, shaking hands, talking to women and babies, and trying to grasp my mind on what was really happening.
Our team planned to do home visitations and a short children’s program for about 30 children, what were we thinking? We had our craft ready to go, games ready to play, and now, we have 150+ children and 30-40 adults to work with, not to mention we were already 45 minutes late. Our team came together…worked things out…and God showed us that we can plan all we want, but He is the One in control and has the Ultimate Plan.
Our team decided to go on with the same program about the birth of Jesus. Then we broke up into groups. Jeanette and I led a Bible study for the women on “Identity in Christ,” Aaron and Traci led the older children in games, and Seth, Megan, and Krystle enjoyed structured chaos with the younger ones. It turned out to be one of the best days of ministry, and I even got to climb a coconut tree!!
