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CANVASBACK EXTREME - YAP SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST SCHOOL

On March 20, 2010 the Canvasback Extreme youth team led by the Chairman of our Youth Committee, Chris Howell of Baltimore, Maryland together with general contractor Troy Espinoza of Vallejo, California flew to the island of Yap to undertake a 10-day project to complete much-needed renovations at the Seventh-day Adventist School. A group of ten young people were selected to participate in the project which included the renovation and re-tiling of three classrooms at the middle school.

The young people who participated were: Alden Hirata (Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy), Kelli Kam (La Sierra University), Cameron Purdey (Pacific Union College), and Doug Stowers, Camille Bascetta, Christina Dorn, and Kristen Henderson (all four from Walla Walla University). Also joining the team were Michael Spaulding (Willamette University) and Jessica Frye (Beaverton High School). Completing the team was Tanner Elliott of Portland, Oregon.

The classrooms were in deplorable condition. Most of the floor tiles had peeled up leaving the floors very unsightly and uneven. Much of the interior woodwork had suffered significant termite damage, leaving gaping holes in the walls and ceilings. Additionally, most of the electrical boxes in the walls had rusted out due to the high humidity levels, leaving electrical outlets hanging out with bare wires exposed.

 The Canvasback Extreme youth team tackled these projects with great enthusiasm and had all the floor tiles stripped from two of the classroom floors on their very first day of work. By day number two, the third classroom had been stripped clean and new tiles had been laid in the first classroom. The walls and ceilings were repaired with new plywood sheeting and all three classrooms were given fresh coats of white paint. The rusted electrical boxes were replaced with plastic boxes and safely secured in the walls.

When the students at the Yap school saw their beautiful new classrooms they excitedly exclaimed to their teacher, "We want to keep our new classrooms looking nice! We must always take off our shoes now before entering inside!" Those simple statements made it all worthwhile for our youth team!

 

 

In addition to refurbishing the classrooms, the Canvasback Extreme team led a Week of Prayer program for the high school grades each morning and shared praise songs and personal testimonies with the students. The theme for the Week of Prayer was "Peace in the Midst of the Storm" and spoke of the God who calmed the storm and walked upon the waters. Each presenter shared that He is the very same God who can calm the storms in our lives today. The theme song that was chosen to share each day with the young people was "Still" by Hillsong, a powerful song that speaks of the God who is in control in the midst of the storm. The words of the song delivered a powerful message of hope to the students and student missionaries at the school who were still reeling from the tragic loss of one of their teachers earlier in the school year. Many had questioned why God would allow this tragedy to happen, and whether or not God even existed. The tears on their faces and the hands that were raised toward Heaven as the song was being sung showed how God was touching the lives of the young people and bringing them comfort from this storm.

Still
Hide me now
Under Your wings
Cover me
Within Your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father you are King over the flood
I will be still and know You are God

Each Canvasback Extreme team member wore a shirt that depicted an image of God's feet walking on the water with the caption above stating, "Paslag Mag Nang Ni Ir Got" which is a translation in the Yapese language meaning "Be still and know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10).

In addition to leading a Week of Prayer, the Canvasback Extreme team also led a Vacation Bible School program for the elementary students each day. The singing and laughing of the children could be heard all around the school campus and brought great joy to the members of our team who led in the worship and games with them. Chris Howell remarked that one of the highlights of the trip for him was hearing the students singing the songs throughout the day as he walked around the school grounds. "The songs that had been shared were in the hearts and minds of the students throughout the day. What a joy to see seeds that had been planted beginning to grow!"

Canvasback Extreme knows how to work, but we also know how to have fun! Lots of it! The team had lots of opportunity to go swimming and snorkeling in the clear pristine waters of Yap and saw amazing arrays of fish and corals that are unparalleled anywhere else on earth. We went out on several sightseeing excursions on the island and had our pictures taken with the famous stone money, the largest and heaviest money in the world. We also had the rare privilege of visiting the Forbidden Island, an island that is closed to outsiders and only accessible by special invitation from the island chief. While on the Forbidden Island our team got to observe beautiful cultural dances as performed by the ladies of the island as they wore colorful traditional costumes. There were lots of opportunities for picture-taking as we were given rare glimpses of the culture of the people on the Forbidden Island.

The young people also had opportunity to observe surgeries that were being performed by our team of orthopedic surgeons in the operating room. They also assisted in the dental clinic. This was especially exciting for members of our team who aspire to become doctors and nurses.

The team completed all of the projects that they had set out to accomplish in Yap and managed to perform some additional tasks such as carpentry and plumbing repairs and the installation of some new playground equipment. We had a limited budget for the large projects and praise God that all of our projects were accomplished under budget! God is good!

When asked if he had a good time on the trip, one team member had the simple remark, "When are we coming back? I want to do this again!" Yeah, that sums it up quite well. We're anxious to do it again!

  

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