Working Hands, Changed Hearts

For the first time since coming together for training camp, W squad split up for ministry. The boys headed up to Kentucky to work with Samaritan’s Purse for home construction in areas affected by tornadoes. The girls piled into vans and headed to the Adventures in Missions base in Fort Meyers, Florida to help with construction for hurricane victims.

The night before we left, all the girls brought their stuff into the training center for a giant sleepover before Florida (so we weren’t tearing down tents the morning we were leaving). If you’ve ever wondered what pure chaos sounds like, just imagine 60 different alarms going off at the same time, everything from harp music to blaring horns and Fergalicious. After grabbing breakfast and loading the trailer, it was time to load the vans! We loved Shekhinah so much that we rode with them in a van down to Fort Meyers for our ministry!

Hurricane Ian hit Fort Meyers last year and caused devastating amounts of damage. The storm stayed on top of Fort Meyers for almost two days, destroying homes, businesses, churches, and lives. Many restaurants and small businesses never reopened, and over a year later there are still destroyed piers and buildings almost everywhere you go. The AIM team in Fort Meyers has been working to help rebuild homes and the community since the hurricane and are such a light to those around them. Our squads were able to help with construction in homes throughout the duration of the week.

The AIM base in Fort Meyers is a daycare turned base, so there are fun colors and even some old decoration spread out across the property. We stayed in three large bunk rooms on bunk beds (the first real bed we’ve had in over a month, plus they had AC!). There were three personal bathrooms on campus, plus a shower container in the parking lot. The host family had four adorable kids, plus the sweet dog named Gus! All of the base staff were incredibly kind and so filled with the spirit. 

I woke up around 6:30 every morning to get ready before my time with the Lord. Breakfast started at 7:30, and was a luxurious spread of oatmeal, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal, and pop tarts. After breakfast, a few of us typically gathered for some worship before ministry! My team’s ministry was nearby, so we had the sweetest morning walk to ministry every day! We were working on a house for an incredible woman named Mary. Mary takes care of 5 of her grandkids full time, and often watched 5 others during the day. She lived in her house for 26 years, but it was completely destroyed during the hurricane. Ever since, she’s been watching all ten kids in a two bedroom apartment.

Teams before us had already done some pretty incredible work, and my team was able to come in and help finish what they had started. We spent the week measuring, cutting and installing trim, putting in drywall, building vanities, painting and installing doors, and a few other finishing projects. We prayed over Mary, her family, and the home every day, and heard wisdom for our incredible project leader Bill. Bill is a pastor of a local church, and helps to support many churches overseas. He was kind, funny, and an incredible teacher. He had so many incredible stories of faith and of God’s goodness, and I learned so much from him about construction and God. At the end of the week we got to meet his beautiful bride and his granddaughter and God kids. I’ve never encountered a man so radically trusting of the Lord in all that he does. He truly is so special and was such a blessing from the Lord.

Tuesday night, we helped host a dinner at the community center for the people of Fort Meyers. It was an incredibly sweet time of fellowship and getting to know the people in the community. I met so many sweet people and families and hear about their hearts and their lives. A particularly special moment was meeting two incredibly vivacious ladies, Barbara and Sandra. They were full of life and laughter, and so filled with the spirit. They had kind hearts and loved those around them fiercely. Their stories were incredibly inspiring.

Thursday night, we headed to the beach for a worship night. We invited people from the beach to join us, then gathered together to praise the Lord. It was such a surreal experience, seeing people hungry for the Lord gather together to glorify and honor him in all that we did. We were able to pray over people, dance in his presence, and take communion together. The sunset was breathtaking, and another reminder of how wonderful God is and how intentional he is with his design.

By the end of the week, the house was finished! The AIM staff arranged a surprise reveal for Mary to welcome her home after so long. All the other teams came to our house early and stood outside, waiting to welcome her. Our team was inside praying when Mary walked in, completely taken aback by her new home. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as Mary poured her heart out about how much it meant to her. She was incredibly grateful for the act of kindness, and gave all the glory to God. It was a moment I will never forget, and was such a beautiful reminder of why we do what we do. All for God, and all for his people. To show them his love through hard times and good ones.

Leaving Florida was incredibly bittersweet. We had quickly fallen in love with the community and the people. The base felt like home, and we had new friends in the base staff, the precious kids, and in Gus (the dog). As we watched our friends wave goodbye as we drove off, all I could think was “Thank you God”. He was so kind to let us catch a glimpse of his goodness and the story he’s writing in Fort Meyers. His love shines through in the midst of tragedy, and he shows us over and over again that he provides, because when we have him, we have all we need.