Salina Journal Article: Grenada

I was asked to write an "overview" of our Grenada mission trip for the Salina Journal.  Here is what I submitted:

        

 

  "Over 500 people received free medical care on the little island of Grenada during the last week of February.  The occasional bag of fresh mangoes was presented to the team in humble appreciation from locals who had received care or medicine.  The team consisted of one physician and a medical student, along with three nurses.  Even the honor of being featured on a segment of the local news was not enough to distract the team from their purpose, or from the other 30 individuals who traveled alongside them. 

            Salina’s own Emmanuel Foursquare Gospel Church sent a team of 35 individuals, ranging in age from 22 years to 71, down to Grenada, an island of the West Indies in the Caribbean, to serve, love, and minister to the local people.  This was the 18^th year that Emmanuel has sent a team to a different country. 

            Over the course of 6 days, the team covered dozens of miles on foot to meet the locals and invite them to the free medical clinics.  They spent their days in the sun learning how to mix concrete and mortar by hand on a construction site, alongside the local construction workers.  Their mission? To completely paint an entire concrete building, as well as to construct a retaining wall to border the grounds. 

The task seemed daunting on Day One, but the team quickly proved that by dividing and conquering, many of the little details could be taken care of.  Power tools were not a luxury the team had available to them; rather, individuals used pieces of cinderblock to sand down the concrete wall before painting, and climbed a 20-foot tall wooden ladder in order to reach the highest corners of the church walls.  Several individuals took turns pouring buckets of water into the sand/concrete mixture while 3 to 4 individuals used singular shovels to create the sticky mixture that would be the foundation for the wall, and hold the cinderblocks together.  At the end of the week, the entire church was painted, inside and out, including the high ceilings, and the retaining wall was off to a remarkable start.

Many individuals on the team served double-duty, assisting with the Children’s Fun Day on Saturday morning, making balloon animals, painting faces, telling stories, and playing games.  The evangelism team was able to reach dozens of people and talk to them about the reason for the team’s visit to the island: the Heavenly command to go, love, and serve. 

The team would like to thank everyone in the community who helped make this trip possible by participating in the 5k Before Christmas Run, buying their World’s Finest chocolate bars, and attending their comedy dinner theatre performance.  "