Ned Erickson: Mission Emanuel Day 3 RECAP

Tate Heisler - Guest Writer

Tate Heisler Day Three Recap

During day 3 of Mission Emanuel, we Fellows only continued to experience deeper the beautiful gifts Jesus had waiting for us in Cielo.

Per usual, we woke up to an incredible breakfast at our hotel (well, I’m not a big breakfast fan, but I have to say there were some great choices). Each morning of the trip one of the Fellows gave a brief devotion to encourage us as we began our work days. This morning was Abbey, and she talked to us about joy, and challenged us with a question: What kind of treasures are we storing? Earthly, or eternal?

Our driver, José, then took us over to the mission, where we began to set up an event for Mission Emanuel’s schoolchildren. We had been semi-preparing for this event on and off for a couple months (through multiple brainstorming sessions), although I have to say, most of it really came together in these last moments beforehand.

The event was set-up sort of like a Young Life club; it began with a goofy skit and ended with a talk pointing to Jesus, with a bunch of fun group games sandwiched in between. The only major difference between our event and the Young Life clubs I’m used to was that these kids were ages 3-7, not to mention that they only spoke Spanish!

Luckily, many of our Fellows had varying degrees of Spanish speaking abilities, plus we had an incredible translator named Emmanuel who could fill in the gaps.

The kids were incredible. Morgan touched on this yesterday, but I truly struggle to find words that properly describe the joy it was to run around and spend time with these kids. They were so quick to love us (as strangers!), and easy to love back. I really cherished spending time with them and wish so badly that time could’ve been prolonged. To put it simply, they are each a gift.

Tate slayed it

I had the awesome privilege to get to give the “talk” at the end of the event (with the help of Emmanuel, of course). I told the story of Samuel anointing David in 1 Samuel 16: “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart [1 Samuel 16:7b].”

After the event was over (though I wished it had never ended!), we spent the rest of the day helping move wheelchairs to the place they would be picked up for transport to Haiti. Well, most of did that. Patrick and Tucker continued to help lay brick for the retaining wall because truly they were the only two Fellows who were good at it!

Next, we came back to the hotel to relax and wash up before dinner at the mission, followed by church in Cielo.

Church was a blessing. To those who have never experienced church in another country, let me tell you that it is an intensely wonderful thing to see firsthand how the power and magnitude of the gospel truly transcends all culture and language. How easy it is for us to forget this when we don’t leave our bubbles. Jesus loves everyone, from all nations! “All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name [Psalm 86:9].” This time, Ned had the honor of being a guest speaker, and Emanuel helped him give a wonderful sermon on what it means to put your trust in Jesus. Worshipping beside my Dominican brothers and sisters that night is an experience I’ll never forget.