Day 1...feels like Day 6

I cannot believe it is only day 2 on the island...so much has happened, it seriously feels like almost a week already. Wow.

Barb had a great first shift from 4-12 on Sunday. I stayed up to debrief with her (and Kevin) after her first shift. She saw several different cases, of course, but really felt she was able to minister to everyone and really use her gifting. It was totally a God-thing that she was able to get to serve with the medical group. We praise God that it worked out and we can learn more about the medical organizations working inside the camp. We miss not being able to see Barb as much, but are hoping that on Tuesday our team can spend some time together during the day before we all have the later shifts.

This morning, we left for our training. Praise God! We found the place with no trouble (I would hope so after the 6 rounds we made yesterday!)  Thank you for your prayers. Orientation went well and was very helpful in preparing us to start at camp. We were joined by a couple from the Netherlands who will be here for the 2 weeks that we are here.

When we arrived at camp, we did a walking tour of the entire camp to learn all of the zones and areas. It was very overwhelming to see.  This camp is designed to hold 3,000 people and when I was here in February there were 7,000 people there. Today...there are 14,000 people in camp!  I have no idea how to describe what it was like...

When we started our shift, four of our team went to serve at the warehouse. They ended up spending the day there, sorting and packing things.

 

Me and LH stayed at camp and started out at the Information Area. This is my least favorite area (but it's not about me...) only because I feel so helpless and unable to help anyone. The language barrier is very challenging and there are many of the refugees frustrated and loudly seeking answers to questions. One awesome thing to watch today was LH in action with her Arabic skills.

Another cool thing that happened today was when we did a housing project to try to change out some beds in one of the ISO boxes that had 8 single men from Afghanistan. When we got to the door to talk with them, one of the guys who was there was one I met in February and he served me tea when I was doing ticket duty!  I had wondered about him and whether I would even see him. I thought there would be no way to see him or even find him in the sea of 14,000 people! He remembered me...it was fun to see him again.

What did I spend the majority of my day on, you ask?

photocopying...

serving meals to new arrivals

bagging up baby wipes

When we were at church on Sunday, we learned of some baptisms that were to take place on Monday afternoon. Praise God! We were able to catch some of that after completing our shift! What a beautiful thing...a man and another couple, all from Afghanistan, being baptized!

 

After the baptism, we made a trip to the grocery story. We had expected to have a fairly early dinner and evening, but no...of course another bump came up... (blow up your screen to read the sign Perry is holding)

Seriously??  Perry locked the keys in the rental car!?  We all had a lot of fun messing with him about it--obviously it could have happened to anyone. So, while we had to wait the 2 hours in the parking lot for the locksmith to come, we debriefed about our day. It was actually a great use of time--everyone had so many things to process.  I appreciate each one of these team members and the opinions and values they bring. 

Debriefing about the day

The locksmith showed up, and had the car open in less than 2 minutes!  Praise God!

Although we had a late dinner, we had a lot of fun laughing around the table and sharing together even more about the day.  This team is awesome! We are all doing great, rolling with the punches. Everyone is connecting and encouraging one another. Thank you for your prayers for the team. 

Tuesday is a later shift for all of us. Four of us will be on the 4-12 shift (along with Barb, just in a different area of camp). The other two will be on the 12-8 shift. Pray that we all get the rest we need to work the shifts. Pray that we are able to have some fun time together as a team before starting shift. Pray that we can find ways to stay connected well over the next few days as we will be on different shifts and eating/sleeping at different times.

Thanks for following along. I'm hoping that Tuesday will be a more "uneventful" day?  Stay tuned...