Hello all,
Today was our final day at the Compassion Child Development Center. Saying goodbye is not always easy. We have come to know not only the children but the staff, caregivers and the mothers involved in the Child Survival Program.
The tasks of the morning were, digging out holes to put in poles for a volleyball court, preparing a garden, planting roses, building a fence out of bamboo and planting some mango trees. What made this special was doing it with the children, some of the staff, and volunteers. Having the same task to focus on and work on together is such a great way to connect, breakdown language barriers and build relationship. To me it is a microcosm of what we are really striving for in developing these church to church partnerships. As we both remain focused on the common vision of advancing The Kingdom of God in our given contexts and work to help each other accomplish that, relationships will grow and we will do more together than we could have ever done alone.
While the guys were working, the ladies were visiting. Georgie went on two more home visits into the villages to meet the families of 2 of the sponsored children and her friends sponsored child. Trudy and Christine were with the CSP (Child Survival Program) moms, connecting with them , learning about how the CSP has impacted their lives, families and community and then praying together. You must remember most of these women are from Hindu villages and homes, they are being exposed to the love of Jesus here at the CSP and learning and hearing about Him for the first time. Since the Child Development Center started 5 years ago, 50 + of the 304 children have accepted Christ, and many of these moms are now attending church and learning about Jesus in a safe place. The CDC & CSP really are an amazing outreach of the Bethel Church.
All through the morning Pastor Samuel, Albert Das who arrived from Raxaul last night, and I were able to talk and share with eachother. It was exciting to see the connection happen between Samuel & Albert. As it turned out they were both married by the same pastor, Albert knows Samuels brother and there were just some amazing connections. Although they are very different in terms of personality, it is so cool to see how they engaged with eachother and have now begun a friendship. This has been a huge thing I have been praying for on this trip. God is SOOO Good!!!
We then served the children and moms a big lunch, and then sat down ourselves to break bread with our hosts. We then went on a quick drive down the road to see another one of the Bethel Church sites that is very close to the CDC. When we got back to the CDC they were all set up for the closing ceremony where the children sang, danced and we said our good byes. As the time ended, we had the entire CDC staff and all the Bethel Church leaders get together. Our team surrounded them and we prayed for them. It was a POWERFUL time where the presence of God was so real and the sense of family that has been created here over the past 4 days was confirmed.
Ian Stevenson
