David Lindenlaub

Thursday – almost the end of the week.  Many of us are weary after a full week of work and are looking forward to a rest and getting back home.  However, we have all been changed this week in one way or another and will likely remember this mission trip for a long time.  We came to serve Harvest Home, but in one way or another, we were also served by them.

 God blessed us this morning with another beautiful sunrise, birds singing in the fields and warm temperatures – perfect for working outside on projects around the Farm.  There is a true peace here – not just being away from the traffic and hustle of our South Bend “city life”, but the peace that God can bring to a person.

Once again after breakfast, the team met for a quick rundown of the day and to get our assignments.  We had prayed for several people the night before for various aches & ailments and heard that God acted overnight with some miraculous healings.  Praise God!  Our theme for the day was to continue to press on and push through.  That, we did… several went to the Farm’s pantry to demo an old storage area in preparation for rebuilding, another group jumped in on at the Hope House, prepping the tile that was laid yesterday for grout while others finished laying the rest of the tile.  Others were scattered about the Farm moving dirt, burning more from the jungle, painting chicken coops and finishing grout in a bathroom at the Refuge.  (The Refuge is a large building with multiple bedrooms & bathrooms, kitchen, dining and common area that will be able to serve additional residents when it is complete.)

 We all quit work a little early to participate in a scavenger hunt around the Farm with the staff and residents.  Organized by the residents, it involved the typical scavenger hunt tasks… gathering, counting, searching and running.  Running was a little tougher after a week of work, but it didn’t stop anyone from pulling out all the stops to claim bragging rights to get the most points.

With the warm weather still hanging around, most of us ate dinner on the deck.  Sitting back and looking around, I couldn’t help but have my heart warmed to see the tables full of team, staff and residents eating together, sharing stories and laughs and building connections.  Rhonda often spoke this week about the focus of “community” on the Farm.  However, I realized that this wasn’t just a group of people living and working together.  The staff and residents are truly a family doing life together, experiencing the husband, Danny, make an appearance after being house-bound for several months recovering from various illnesses (Danny and Rhonda are the founders).

Our team debriefs was the highlight of the day - praise that we accomplished more this week than they anticipated.  When 25+ pairs of hands dive in to be the hands of Jesus, many things get accomplished.  After some great worship and sharing of our high and low points for the day, we all shared words of encouragement for those on the team.  Of course, there were the lighter moments as we recounted stories of the day and week concerning the others, but I believe we also strengthened the bonds between team members as we went around the circle.

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