Not What I Was Expecting

So I have been in Hilo working at the Nazarene Church here for about a week and a half. So far it is not what I expected.

The majority of what I have been doing is manual labor. I don't have a problem with this but it was just not what I was expecting.

The church is currently moving from a cesspool system to a septic tank system. This needs to happen so the preschool on the same campus can open up to a bigger area and use more of the church. The issues have been many. So far we have located one of the two cesspools, however that took quite a bit of time. We have spent time gathering all the information we could. The building and the cesspool system are only about thirty years old so you would think someone would know where we should dig, and if that wasn't avaiable you would think it would be written down some where. Both very practical wishes, however neither were true. The plans were kind of confusing and people keep telling us to dig in different areas. So we have dug many a hole and have come up empty. By luck we have found important things like the pipe leading to the first cesspool. So we dug a huge trench to get to the cesspool and eventually we found it. I actually broke part of the man hole cover off with a pick. It didn't feel very good on my hands but the excitement of finding the cesspool dulled the pain. The second cesspool has yet to be found. We have dug many exploritory holes but we haven't found much. I fear we will have to go with the find the pipe and dig a huge trench method again. Not looking forward to tomorrow when we start the search again.

My other manual labor story involves the house of one of the older members of the church. Uncle Henry is in a care facility while he undergoes physical therapy. He is going home either a next Friday or next Saturday. We still have alot of work to do, including reapairing parts of the ceiling, but I am confident that our nightly work will pay off and we will get done soon.

So I came to Hilo expecting to work mainly with youth and to date I have hung out with youth very little. It is somewhat depressing. I feel that I am called to youth ministry and I have neither the time nor the in to start working with the youth. I am trying to be patient. In the mean time I am learning even more from the culture of the islands about what it is to be hospitable. The people of the church have welcomed me in with open arms as I try and fill in for their pastor who is gone for almost a month. While he and his family are gone I am living in their house using his car and trying to run his church. It is great experience and I am loving it but again it is not what I was prepared for or expecting.

I have the opportunity to lead two bible studies one for a seniors group and one for a mixed group of people from college age to middle 50s. These two groups have become my family. Most of the people that I have been working at the church or at Uncle Henry's house are in one of these groups. Also the church has set up a nightly dinner schedule for me. Since the pastor is away others are taking me out to eat or treating me in their homes for a meal. It has been a great way for me to get to know the people of this church.

The love that I feel from the people who have been charged with caring for me is huge. The love that I see from the church for Uncle Henry is unfathomable. So as much as this summer has begun as something I could not expect I know that I am in good hands and that God is still teaching me.