Last Service in Placencia

Last night marked my last official service in Placencia. It took so much energy out of me. I had, had a busy day of traveling, it was particularly hot in the church as we had 18 visitors from Virginia among us, who are here for the week leading a VBS at St. John's Memorial....and with that many new people it made me a bit nervous. And to top it off, it took every ounce of energy for me not to cry. And I managed not to shed a tear. The service was lovely. It was great to see the church full, and it was such a pleasure to welcome the group of young people and their leaders from Virginia to Placencia. You could feel the enthusiasm that these young people had for mission, and you couldn't help but be so exicted and look forward to doing mission with them.

Before the service Miss Sonia had told me that one of the leaders of the group was a priest, so I asked her if she would talk to him about coming up after communion to bless those who haven't been baptized. Because I'm not priested I can't bless them, I often will invite them to come forward and will say a prayer with them. So I thought it would be a great experience for him to be able to bless them. But I think I may have embarrassed him when I let people know that he was present. I think my exact words were, "We have a real live priest among us this evening ladies and gentlemen." The congregation laughed, and I glanced over at him to see him sink a bit in his chair and turn a bit red....while laughing as well. He was a good sport about it. It was so wonderful to have him come up to the front and watch the children hurry to the front to receive their blessing. Their faces were radiating as this priest signed them with the cross and said the blessing. What a beautiful moment...and I must admit, I was so thankful that this had taken place on my last service in Placencia. I couldn't have asked for a better memory to leave the country with :)

I stayed in Placencia for the day, hung out at the church and at the school in case I was needed during the VBS. I wanted to stick around as a member of the congregation and be available to the team from America if they needed anything or anyone to run errands for them. It was a lovely day. The team had 70 children come out for the VBS today, and the kids were so excited. While the team ate their breakfast I was cleaning some things up in the church and the children were in there bouncing in their seats waiting with such excitement for their new foriegn friends to arrive. Crafts were done, games were played, snacks were had and swimming was enjoyed. As somone who has been living here for the last 3 months, I've become very aware of the need for Christian education and VBS for the children here, and I couldn't help but feel so grateful for this team as they are taking time out of their summers to come and live among us and be present in our community. It really is a blessing, a blessing that I have taken for granted when involved or ministered to by mission groups in Canada. So if you're reading St. John's Mission Team from Virginia....God bless you, and thank you for sharing in mission with us and sharing your faith with us!!