The Lakeshore Project: A Lakeshore Sabbath

Saturday was a time of physical preparation as everyone arrived at Lakeshore and gathered their teams and equipment. Today was a time of spiritual preparation for the week as we spent time worshipping and hearing the Word. This Sunday at Lakeshore was very special because it was the first time for the Lakeshore church to meet in their new building. They had intended to begin using it earlier, but God had other plans, so we were able to be with them on this historic day.

Some rain had come through the area last night, but this Sabbath day opened bright and clear, though a bit cooler than yesterday. We had a later breakfast, at 8am, after which we headed over to the church for a Sunday School message from Pastor Vandermeulen. He spent the time emphasizing the importance of hearing the Word preached. This was an excellent introduction to the service. With the excitement of Pastor Don preaching in this beautiful structure, after 9 years of meeting in a quonset hut, it would be easy to be distracted from the real significance of the service. So Pastor Vandermeulen's emphasis on preaching as the very Word of Christ was a good refocusing for us.

The service was such an encouragement as we worshipped together with the congregation and community of Lakeshore. Pastor Don's enthusiasm and joy in preaching the Gospel was a blessing to us as well. He had also invited some members of the community to celebrate this occasion with us, and after the service we provided a luncheon at the Mercy House for all those who attended the service. It was a further opportunity to encourage fellowship, especially amongst the Lakeshore church members and visitors.

After the luncheon was concluded, the young people went down to the beach for a couple hours. The weather had been slowly been cooling down through the day, and by mid afternoon it was a bit chilly. This did not deter some of the adventurous kids from venturing out into the water! Others walked on the beach and played games. We then returned to the Lakeshore camp, had dinner, and went back to the church for an evening service. After the service ended, we had an administrative meeting. After the day of rest and refreshment, we recapped the plans for Monday morning, and Laszlo again reviewed the focus for our week. It was good to be reminded of why we are here and what we plan to accomplish.

There were some smaller team meetings after the general meeting, and then the youth gathered for their nightly time of singing and discussion. Everyone is gearing up to hit the ground running bright and early tomorrow morning. For most of us, bright and early means 5.15am. For those on the kitchen crew, this means 4.30 or 4.45am. Whenever I begin complaining, even just to myself, about the early wake-up times, I remember the kitchen crew and am instead thankful that they are so faithful in providing us food all week!