Last week we welcomed a team from Eastern Christian High School in New Jersey. They were through another organization called Touch the World.
Touch the World
This was the first time that we welcomed a team from TTW but they had been here in the past and the coordinator for TTW was an intern here at the Abraham Project, so it was great to connect with her and knowing so much about the AP and Costa Rica already.
This was also the first team that I, Angie, ran completely by myself. From planning to coordinating to reserving and working the whole time--I was pooped! Bruce of course worked with me, but I was the go-to person. It is a lot of work and it is nice when I am NOT the go-to person. Sometimes it is just too hard to be wife, mom, worker, coordinator, and with this team, nurse. Unfortunately, we were all sick during this team.
I was sick on Saturday, the day the team was supposed to arrive, but thank goodness, there was snow on the ground in New Jersey and mechanical problems with the plane and the team was delayed about 6-8 hours. Not good for them, but good for us! The arrived about 10pm and by Sunday, I was up and moving again.
On Monday, Bruce was down and I also received a phone call from Leyton's teacher. He was sick. I was getting ready to go into the classroom to start daycare rotations and Bruce was starting the team on construction. Steve Jr, who normally would be there to help was out of the country. So Bruce went and got Leyton and he stayed at the office. On Tuesday, Emme was sick. So both Emme and Leyton had to hang out at the office while Bruce and I worked all day. This is one of the downsides to not having extended family to watch sick kids. But we toughed through it. Not only were we sick, but Emme also had exams that week. We had 2 teams back to back, sickness and first trimester exams.....to say we were stressed, was an understatement.
But, God in His faithfulness, provided. One of the team members studied with Emme while she was at the office, and the team was SUPER flexible and understanding. We pushed through and came out on top! So thankful for how TTW prepared this team! They were ready to work and rolled with the punches.
Here are some pictures from their week: ENJOY!
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| Team picture-Dinner at our house |
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| Lunch after church with the children's homes |
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| Cell group |
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| Team picture on first day of work |
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| Working with the daycare classes |
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| Helping move ramps for the skateboard ministry |
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| Bruce using his super powers |
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| A night of worship! |
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| Swinging a pick-axe |
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| LUNCH!! |
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| Soccer!! |
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| Painting scaffolding |
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| Happy group sanding the scaffolding |
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| The BELOVED bakery!! |
Working in the daycare classes!
Helping Emme study for her exams....it takes a village.....
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| Folding newsletters! |
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| Separating donations |
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| Dropping off donation to the daycare |
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| Donations to the dental clinic |
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| Donations to Mommy and Me and Heather Espinoza |
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| Helping set up for Mommy and Me |
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| Baking cookies with grandma Connie |
This team was also the first team that we took to La Carpio for the feeding ministry at a local church. We are so excited to partner with Pastor James and his wife Christina in their ministry serving this needy area.
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| The kitchen where lunch is prepared for between 60-120 children |
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| Serving lunch |
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| Songs and dancing after lunch |
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| Face painting |
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| Painting activity |
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| Balloon animals |
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| Dancing! |
Some of the sweet faces the team served.
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| Even the team got painted! |
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| After La Carpio, we went downtown to walk around and get POPS! |
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| Playing with the kids before dinner |
Dinner in the children's homes. They cooked dinner for the houses!
Their fun day consisted of La Paz Waterfall gardens! Perfect Day!
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| The guys on the team |
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| The girls! |
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| Sherri and I at the waterfalls |
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| Got to get über close to the river |
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| On the bus! |
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| Impromptu team photo! |
Then after all their work and service, they continued to serve us. This is an example of pouring into missionaries. They wrote notes to us...some of them to EACH of us--including the kids. Each letter was a heart-felt thank you and talked about how God moved in their lives. Not only the notes, but they also gave us a gift as a family. These kids are thoughtful and I'm not sure if they know how much the letters meant to us.....this was a blessing!
THANK YOU EASTERN CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL! AND THANK YOU TOUCH THE WORLD FOR SENDING US AMAZING KIDS FOR THE WEEK!
In HIM,
the crawfords
