El Fin

As I sit here writing the final blog entry and think back on our time here, I can’t believe the two weeks have gone by so quickly. We were exposed to new foods, new culture, new people, and new surroundings, but something that was not new was the group of people that shared the same faith that we do. Those are the people that we got to know during our time here. We had so many gracious people that prepared food for us. That made things so much easier for us and for that, we are extremely thankful. We had many people plan out the entire two weeks for us. That made things so much easier for us and for that, we are extremely thankful. These kids had the opportunity to go to a different part of the world and share God’s love with many children and for that, I know, they are extremely thankful. So as we sit here today packing and cleaning, we prepare to get back to the “daily norm.” Some of us will be preparing for our first year of college, final year of high school, or second year of teaching. As we sit here today and think about the friendships that we made, the memories that we have, we look back and see the gracious hand of God as he continues to shower all of us with blessings. As we heard yesterday in the sermon from former Prep student Ron Pile, remember to pray. We were reminded that God is our best friend and we should talk to him. Talk to him not only in times of need, but also in times of happiness and thankfulness. Today, we pray for the many people with whom we became friends with. We are thankful we had the opportunity to make new friends and see old ones. Today, we pray as we are thankful for the opportunity we had to come to Antigua and share his word. Please keep in your prayers the congregation of St. John’s Lutheran as they continue on their mission to bring God’s Word to as many people as they can. Pray for us that we have safe travels back to our families and friends. And as we were reminded yesterday, God promises plenty when prayer is practiced. We have much for which to be thankful.

Thanks for following.

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

Day 14

Today was the last full day here in Antigua. We began the day with the most important thing: church. This was another amazing experience. I am not sure how many of the kids have done something like this before. I know I haven’t, and I was incredibly thankful that we had the opportunity to do so. All our kids had some part in the service whether it was playing piano, steel pans, or greeting. It was a good opportunity to show them the importance of becoming leaders in the church and helping out in whatever way they can. After the service, we stayed for a little bit of the Spanish service at church. It is yet another way St. John’s works to bring the Gospel to people. After church we came back home for a short time and did a little bit of cleaning so that it would lighten our cleaning load for tomorrow. At three o’clock, we headed back to church for our final outing. Today, it was Shirley Heights. In my opinion, it didn’t get any better than this! There were some pretty incredible views and I know a lot of photos were taken here. Some people walked on a trail that gave many more good views while other relaxed as they watched the sun set one final time in Antigua. There was a steel drum band playing at Shirley Heights and Kareem told us that was how they were supposed to sound because our steel pans were not completely in tune. This place was packed. Our group got everyone going as we started a conga line followed by a dancing circle as we showed off our Midwestern moves. We listened to a band play some music for a little bit, but then it was time to head out so we could get to the Johnston’s for the cookout. At the Johnston’s we ate a lot of food, played some basketball, soccer, volleyball, and visited. It came time to say the goodbyes. It was a bittersweet time as we were saying goodbye to people we had never met as of two weeks ago, but now, they are people with whom we can surely call friends. Hopefully we will get a chance to meet up with them soon, but we know there will be a time when we all will be reunited with each other eternally.

Day 13

As Vacation Bible School came to end, we began the final days here in Antigua with our final pan practice before the youth service on Sunday. We have come A LONG way since first picking up the sticks for the first time. We were reminiscing about some of our first practices and how awful we were. There was one point where we finished a song and Kareem just kept saying, “no no no no no no…what was that?” We feel pretty good about how far we have come in a short amount of time. We have received compliments from people about how quickly we picked up playing the steel drums. In my opinion, I think that can be attributed to the music program at Prep (obviously apart from the talents with which the PT students have been blessed.) The music department at Luther Prep generates an incredible love for music as well as prepares them to be leaders in music in the church someday. After we finished pan practice and running through the youth service, we went on an island safari in the afternoon. Originally, the tour was only supposed to be an hour long but the company increased it to two hours without even notifying us. I think that speaks a lot about the tour company. We made three stops on the tour. The first stop was at Waling’s Dam. There we walked around and saw the dam and took some photos. The second stop was at the donkey sanctuary. Unfortunately, none of us adopted a donkey (which was possible), but did get some great pictures as we roamed the living quarters. The third and final stop was Devil’s Bridge. This was a pretty fantastic place! Right on the Atlantic Ocean, this rock formation offers opportunities for some great pictures. After we took our time walking around and watching the waves crashing against the rocks, we headed back to school. After we reenergized with some dinner, we headed up to the Johnston’s humble abode to do some yard work and some other work in preparation for the final barbecue on Sunday.

Day 12

Today was a great day! This blog post is coming to you from Jake. Today was a blast, we were blessed with the final opportunity to teach the young children about the love that the Lord has for them! We also invited them to church, hoping to see many of them there. After a successful morning at the church, we headed to the beach for the last time. It was a fun time. Most people got in the water for a bit and then relaxed in the shade. After the beach, we came back to the house to shower and get ready for karaoke at Castaways. That night was a blast! We arrived via a big bus and were ready to jam. To kick things off, Bekah and Laura sang together and from there, the songs just kept on coming! The night was capped off by a lovely duet performed by Mr. & Mrs. Danell. They sang “Baby” by Justin Bieber - it was done very well. We then made the trek back to the house and all collapsed into our beds for the night. It was a fun filled day and felt good to finally get some sleep. 

Day 11

Hello to everyone from Antigua! Today’s blog is written by Alana and Betsy, as Tutor and Phil deserve a day off. We headed off to our fourth day of VBS, and the theme today was “The Flight.” The story was Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus and all the students were visited by Emily Margraff (an LPS alum and one of the new teachers at St. John’s) dressed as Saul. The kids loved her dramatic acting! After devouring our lunch of homemade pizza, we broke into small groups, each with an LYC guide and walked into town to do some shopping. Many souvenirs were purchased including steel pans, six soccer jerseys (guess who), and numerous bracelets. Many of us also stopped by the ice cream shop Ron Pile works at, Gelato, and enjoyed some gourmet ice cream. It was a great afternoon! After walking back up the hill to the church, we had another pan practice and practiced singing our songs for the youth service on Sunday. For supper, we were served an authentic Antiguan meal of ducana, cooked spinach, breadfruit and salt fish. Ducana is a mixture of sweet potatoes, coconut, sugar and flour that is baked in aluminum foil and tastes something like oatmeal. After dinner, we came back to the house accompanied by our two friends Laura-Lee and Lesroy and enjoyed the evening playing games and listening to music. The most eventful part of the evening was the slaying of a whole whopping five cockroaches (a record high for one day). There was morning and there was evening, the 11^th day.

Day 10

It was another exciting day on the beautiful island of Antigua! VBS continued as usual with Day 3, themed “The Ticket: A Necessity”. The lesson mirrored Jesus’s crucifixion, and just as the ticket is the key to an earthly destination, so also Jesus is the key to our dream destination of heaven. For lunch that day we had another beautiful rendezvous with the beloved schwarma; a mixture of chicken, lettuce, special sauce that we can’t describe, and a whole lot of love wrapped in a flat bread shell. After lunch followed an afternoon where we were free to do what we wanted. Some took catnaps while others walked up the hill to the Johnston residence for a wi-fi session. Around three o’clock, we noticed quiet meows coming from an old projector box on the patio. The Sternhagens’ pregnant cat had crawled in and gave birth in this beat-up rusty box. Amongst all the “ews” and “aws”, we watched six kittens being born! We had made a unanimous decision to name them after the six PT kids, so our legacy can continue on this island. In the evening, the group was off to Family Bible Night at the church. I (Phil) wasn’t feeling so golden and decided to hang back and hold down the fort. Overall, it was a very eventful day for everyone.

Day 9

Greetings from Antigua! There has been a little bit of author switch-up, and this blog entry is brought to you by Phil Waldschmidt. Today was a fun day! We started it off with Day 2 of the Eagle Express. The theme of the day was “Jesus, Our Trusted Pilot” and revolved around the story of Jesus overcoming temptation in the desert. Overall, the day went swimmingly. Speaking of swimmingly, after VBS we were off to the beach! Jake stayed home to hold down the fort and tend to his wicked sunburn. This beach was right down the hill from the Sternhagen home. Although there wasn’t much sand, it made up for it with the beautiful water and sublime weather. We even had our own little scuba adventure finding several treasures like conch shells and pieces of coral. After the beach we came home to a spectacular KFC dinner (sidenote: KFC is significantly better here than in the states. It is described by the Antiguans as “The Best Chicken in the World”, and we would agree). In the evening, we went to “Caribbean Cinema” to catch a movie with the LYC members. We had a couple options, and after deep consideration, we went with “White House Down”. Good movie and a good time had by all.


Please "enjoy" the picture of the "horse spider" that was found in the bible study room we had been in at school all night last night.