Hello to all our friends & family! Thank you for your continued prayers & support of our trip, I think I speak for all of us when I say what a blessing this trip has been. This week has been full of laughter, good food, hard work, & an overwhelming sense of joy.
Today we finished our last day of construction & had a dedication ceremony with the church. The Convoy of Hope office team, pastor, & community of the church joined with us to worship & pray. It was a wonderful experience. The pastor of the church told us how we had been helping plant a seed that others would continue to water, but that God would grow. He thanked us many times & assured us that we would always be in their hearts & prayers.
The people of of this country are known for their hospitality, & we have been so loved by each person here. From the church members embracing us, the construction team who was so gracious with us as they had to explain things to us, to our field team members who we are so blessed by. The warmth of these people is unlike anything I have experienced before & I am so grateful to have the opportunity to.
After the dedication we hopped on the bus to see the women’s empowerment program, which is one of many Convoy has. We met several women in the program who spoke of how grateful they were for it, & how much it has impacted them & the lives of those around them. At the particular site we went to, they had a bakery that is used to teach women how to bake, provides jobs once they learn, & also feeds back into other programs Convoy has within the community. The women had graciously prepared cake for us to try, & it was one of the best things I have ever eaten. It was a really unique experience to be able to not only hear about the program, but see it, hear the testimonies, & enjoy their hard work. Of course, we all had to buy a bunch of baked goods, & each thing we ate was better than the last!
After that we headed back to the hotel to rest & ate dinner at a delicious chinese restaurant. We enjoyed time together & tried deep fried ice cream. We ended the night with a debrief & sharing all the ways the day impacted us. I am really thankful for the time we have at the end of the day, because three days of labor in 90+ humid weather is extremely tiring, but being able to share & hear from the team about all the ways they saw God that day or appreciated each other always refreshes my soul.
Thank you again to our friends & family, we love you & would not be here without you. We look forward to seeing you all soon & telling you more about all the wonderful experiences we had on this trip!
- Emily, Daniel, Jake, Bianca, Brian, Caeden, Cooper, Naveh, & Sofia <3
love it!!!
It’s been so great to see your journey!