Day 16: Food for the Soul

​What was our Monday like? For those of you waiting with bated breath for this slightly delayed blog post, let me fill you in…

We started off the day with breakfast (surprise!) and had our usual rice and eggs, and a few mugs of coffee for those who needed the caffeine. With a big day swimming at the falls on Sunday, we were certainly feeling the need for a boost!
 
Following breakfast, we joined in with the YWAM base’s worship session – with Joel, Katie and Beth joining in a little more than the rest of us. These three talented folks joined the band and led worship for everyone on the base. It was a special time of community: sharing highlights of the week, singing a few ‘Happy Birthdays’ and in particular taking time to encourage and pray for each other. Worship was spectacular and it’s lovely to see our team use their musical gifts to bless the YWAM community in this way.
 
After worship, we quickly ducked down the street to drop off our laundry at the Washing Well (which happens to be the cutest name for a laundromat that I’ve ever seen). On the way back, the mission for mangoes was a success, but the mission for ice candies was not! :( The schedule was quiet until lunch, so some of us played Bananagrams, and we were not quiet. Even had someone from the Singapore team join us for a few games!
 
After lunch, Katie led us in devos on Mark 11, about the power of prayer. Do we pray big, specific prayers? And do we trust that God will answer them? A challenging and encouraging question to ponder! Then straight into a mini debrief, sharing about the things we’ve touched and heard over the past few days. Using our senses is a great way to process our experiences, and it’s always so interesting to hear what stood out for everyone. And by the time we finished our talkfest, it was time for something cool and refreshing. This time the ice candy fairies were successful in their mission! Lami. Yummy.
 
Later in the afternoon we had our last children’s program. This location was quite close to the base, but with by far the unruliest group of kids we’ve encountered yet! Instead of the bubble wands, we brought stickers, which were a hit with everyone – hard to keep up with the demand ;) On with the program – we whipped out our “Fruits of the Spirit” boogie and our “You called me by name” cha-chas (we’re pretty good now, if I say so myself), and performed our Elijah skit one last time. A few more hugs, some waves goodbye, some big heaves from the men in the community to help our van do a seven-point turn in the slushy potholes, and it was time to head home to the base.
 
And it was graduation time! A DTS cohort were graduating from their six-month program, and it was great to be able to join the base’s celebrations. The place was transformed with giant paper flowers and twinkle lights, and everyone was dressed in their best attire. We had a ten-minute turnaround after the children’s program to scrub up, and let’s just say that the hasty sharing of makeup, quick consultations over hair-dos and liberal application of perfume can work wonders. I’m not sure if we got any photographic evidence so you’ll have to take my word for it! Over the evening we joined in worship and heard testimonies of God at work in the lives of the DTS students. Food for the soul.

And there was evening, and there was morning – the 16th day. And it was good.

- Kaitlyn