Keith & Lori Crain

We can’t believe how quickly the week went by. We also can’t believe how much transformation we saw in these few days.

We obviously saw a transformation in our main construction projects. But the other transformations were more important. First of all, there was a huge change in how we interacted with each other and how the ladies of the farm interacted with us by the end of the week. At the beginning of the week, there was plenty of awkwardness. By the end of the week, we were sharing, laughing, joking and loving each other. I think this was as impactful for our team as it was for the ladies.

There was a transformation within the team as well. What started as mostly 18 strangers loading into a few vehicles transformed into a group that we can only describe as a family.

Here is how our final day at the farm unfolded. The day started like all the other days with breakfast, stretching and handing our work assignments. Right away we knew this was going to be a challenging day. The wind was brisk at the start of the day and the forecast was calling for it to be windier as the day went on. This really made getting the last 21 of the 16-foot roofing panels installed a huge (and treacherous) challenge. We also had folks work on drywalling a shed, installing doors, windows and siding.

After lunch, the team took some time to pray over Pastors Gary and Jackie. The ministry they do is full of very high highs and very low lows. We got to see that this week with one resident making the decision to leave and other residents coming out of their shells. This was a powerful time of prayer and most of our team had tears in their eyes as we tried to bless them for what God has called them to.

The wind really made it difficult, but we safely completed the roof and got the doors and windows installed. We didn’t quite finish the drywall or all of the siding projects, but we left it much better than we found it.

As the end of the day approached, the winds kicked up even more and it began to rain. To us, this was clearly God telling us we had completed our mission because it was no longer safe to keep working.

After wrapping up the workday, everyone quickly showered and we traveled over to “Country Church”. Here we had some food, a time of worship and a couple of pastors, including Pastor Gary, shared a message.

After arriving back at the farm we had our last team debrief meeting. Even though everyone was extremely tired, nobody wanted the mission trip to end. Our final act of the day was to leave messages for the ladies on the whiteboard in the Chapel where we met each night.

We don’t have the words to explain how great the team we had this week was. One of the verses in our journal today, Colossians 3:23, says “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord...”. This team worked incredibly hard for the Lord this week and we are blessed to have them.

Check out our upcoming India Missions Dinner with Pastor Abraham on June 23. This dinner is an opportunity to meet Pastor Abraham, the founder of Christ for India, and hear The Vineyard Church's vision for supporting him and his organization. You can find more information and sign up here.

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