The People Connections - "You're That Deb!"

Meet Deb from Colorado. I knew who Deb was before I actually met her.

Deb walking along the shore of Gaulding Beach

     Serving over the Christmas holiday in 2013 David and I got to work with a team from the First United Methodist Church of La Grange, Illinois. These eleven were a group who ranged in age from high school to retired.

     On the team of volunteers were two lovely couples. (in photo standing at either end of the truck) The wives, both named Sue, also happened to be retired elementary school teachers.
     The work for the week was on the Hatchet Bay home of Mr. Ken Clark. The two ladies were not sure if they would be as helpful away at the job site so they asked for us to find them work to do closer to home, at the camp. There is always plenty to do around Camp Symonette and the garden was also in full swing at the time. The two Sue's spent a couple of days tending to the tomato plants that need to be staked and tied.

     As the days even in December can still be hot and challenging, the ladies were invited to help in another task to get out of the heat and the sun.
     Boxes stacked in a back room had been shipped from Colorado. Anyone who has ever spend time in the classroom would recognize inside was a collection of a lifetime of teaching. These boxes were full of primary school reading books and phonics teaching games. Clearly, this was a task just meant for Sue and Sue to tackle. They ooh'ed and aah'ed as we opened the boxes holding the educational treasures. They reminisced about the books and jumped in right away to organize them into the correct levels of education. Sue and Sue were so excited to help the after school program with this new library for learning. They even purchased sticker to help in creating a system to keep the books on the proper shelves and in the correct category. We labeled the shelves and created a key that would work for both children and adults to keep organized.
     A former volunteer, who also spent a career in education, had sent these several boxes of essential reading resources to BMH to help with their after school program. All of the boxes had shipped through Agape Flights, a ministry in Florida that supports missions throughout the Caribbean Islands. Each box was labeled with the address of Deb from Colorado. Sue and Sue both commented how great it was for Deb to share this wealth of resources with the children who come to BMH. They wanted to send her a personal message of thanks and tell her what they had been able to do to organize the collection.
     Fast forward 10 months later and David and I arrive back in Eleuthera. We are there to learn more about what the next two years will bring and to work a bit with the current teams at camp. As we begin to get to know the group and chat in the breezeway. We learn Deb is the very same person who had volunteered the summer before and had packed her library mailed to BMH.

"Your that Deb!" I exclaimed.

This was Deb, the same person who's gift to BMH we had unpacked and organized over the Christmas holiday. What a small world. And here I was, able to share with her in person how much Sue and Sue were blessed to work to help her gift reach the hands of the children.

Just more proof - there are no coincidences