Constellations

Wow, I have so much to say about the lectures. This week’s guy, Joshua Cole, says amazing things that can only come from God himself. More to come on everything later.

Today was the first time we did a local outreach. I would have loved to have picked the option to sing at the local coffeehouse, but I didn’t really put time into putting anything together, so the rest home it was! (We had three options: coffee shop performance, rest home, or Kid’s Club)

The rest home in Matamata houses elderly people who aren’t entirely sound of mind. As soon as I walked through the door, my heart began to break for these people who had been cast off. One woman could only speak clearly one word at a time. She would say to me “lovely, lovely” and then begin prattling off, repeating syllables and sounds like she was carrying a conversation, completely unaware that no one could understand the words she was saying. One man wandered the halls with drool dripping down his face like a wide-eyed baby. When I walked into the open room, one woman, Eileen was her name, just silently took my hand and slowly led me around the home, going in circles, like a goldfish unknowingly discovering its bowl for the hundredth time. I talked to Richard who can’t even remember his children’s’ names and thinks Patsy Cline is still alive.

The mental state of some people, like Ira, who is literally a different person every time YWAMers visit (her characters range from loud lawyers to satisfied housewife) actually provides a bit of comic relief until you realize that this is real life. Not some movie plot aiming to get cheap laughs, but people who have literally lost their minds.

It was sobering, and I’m not gonna lie, I was a little relieved to be back on the bus and on the way to the base.

Tonight we decided we were gonna finish all the movies we’ve started over the past two weeks. The Gap (the place where we hang out and watch movies) gets locked up at 10, so we have to be outta there. Unfortunately, we usually don’t start a movie until 8 or 8:30. So we always have 15-30 minutes left in a movie when we have to shut it down and get back into our cabins/cottages. So tonight was the night. We finish The Lorax, Star Trek, Prince of Egypt, and Tarzan. BAM.

And then we went star tipping. If you don’t know what that is, find someone that does. It’s basically the most fun you’ll ever have.

By the way. The stars here. Are incredible. And so different from the ones back home. Different constellations altogether. And since there’s no city for miles and miles and miles, just lots of mountains and cows and sheep, you look up and see thousands of stars in one glace. It puts perspective on the saying “count the stars”.

 

Peace out, girl scout.