The service was awesome and everyone in the congregation was so nice, inviting and appreciative of the work that we were there to do. Sunday we attended Church at Memorial Moravian. John, seeing firsthand the devastation that the two storms caused but also seeing the beauty in God’s creation. Some days we ventured out and explored St. Our group was the first group in, which meant we were the demolition crew removing wood paneling from the interior walls of the school rooms, laminate tile squares from the floors, ceilings that had water damage and classroom desks and chairs as well as all sorts of debris as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.Įvery morning, Pastor Jeff Carter led us in devotion and prayer, and in the evenings after work, we typically ate outside while talking, laughing, sharing stories, planning the next day’s work and learning more about each other. The days started out earlier than I expected with wakeup calls from the local roosters well before 6 a.m. I settled in after a long day of travel excited for what the next several days would bring. Thomas, we met the other volunteers who had already been there a day, as well as Pastor Alicia and Pastor Connor who provided details on where we would be staying, the area we were in and the work to be done. While these things happened, I did my best to remain positive knowing that it was God’s plan and he would get us there in HIS time. Our trip began with a flight cancellation and additional delays which were frustrating and resulted in our trip being cut a day short.
I have been on several mission trips in the past, each of them different and special in their own way. Thomas serving Memorial Moravian, the school and community was such a blessing in so many ways. CLM Module 1.5: To equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ ….CLM Module 1.6: Reviewing the Sample Covenants.Living Our United Methodist Beliefs (65).OPW4 - PA: Pastoral Care & Attention (2).An Orientation to Pastoral Work OPW 2019 + 2020 (191).
It is available from numerous sources online, and a recording of Paris Reidhead’s voice is here: įor more historical information, please consult: It is a colorful and dramatic retelling – and not terribly accurate in terms of how it turned out – of the decision of two young Moravian missionaries to sell themselves into slavery in order to reach the lost. This is an excerpt from the sermon “Ten Shekels and a Shirt” by Paris Reidhead biographical information is here. If someone with such a strong faith, willing even to be sold into slavery to serve Christ on the mission field, how might your faith and life be different?
Who in your life had had a similar deep commitment to Jesus Christ? One of these two men is David Nitschmann, the Moravian leader whose strong faith in the midst of a storm that filled Wesley with fear made such a dramatic impression on John Wesley on the voyage across the Atlantic to Georgia. And this is our only reason for being…that the Lamb that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering! This became the call of Moravian missions. They linked arms, raised their hands and shouted across the spreading gap, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!” Was this extreme sacrifice wise? Was it necessary? As the ship slipped away with the tide and the gap widened, the housings had been cast off and were curled up on the pier. As members of the slave community they would witness as Christians to the love of God.įamily members were emotional, weeping. The Moravian community from Herrnhut came to see the two lads off, who would never return again, having freely sold themselves into a lifetime of slavery. The miserly atheist planter would not even transport them. They sold themselves to the British planter for the standard price for a male slave and used the money they received from their sale to purchase passage to the West Indies. Two young Germans in their 20’s from the Moravian sect heard about their plight. I’m through with all that nonsense.” Three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic, there to live and die without hearing of Christ. If he’s shipwrecked, we’ll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he’s never going to talk to any of us about God. The owner had said, “No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2000 to 3000 slaves.