For fifteen years, we have welcomed teams to our center to love and serve our children, staff, and the community. We have welcomed vision teams, education teams, medical teams, and general mission teams. Travelers have participated in community outreach, where they shared rice with war widows, held vacation bible school for children in the community, and visited local hospitals where they prayed with patients and their families. They have witnessed children from the center choosing to be baptized in the ocean and experienced worship and devotions together. Some of our early travelers will remember staying at The Covering. It was truly special waking up and hearing the children early in the morning as they started their day.
While travel has always been an important part of The Raining Season, its absence has also been felt when it was unsafe to travel. In 2014 and again in 2020, travel was halted for an extended period during the Ebola outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic. It was disappointing that trips were canceled after months of planning, but we were grateful that our children and staff were safe, protected, and remained healthy. During this time, we also saw our supporters step in to give back, allowing TRS to stockpile months of food and safely go into lockdown. In 2020, we also saw travelers who had their trips canceled find unique ways to give back. This included one affected traveler who raised enough money to fully sponsor four children for an entire year and the story of a traveler whose trip was canceled, but whose family gave back to TRS through a special art project that blessed our staff.
As we look back on fifteen years of travel, we wanted to share a fun memory today. In January 2011, a team led by founder Erica Rust traveled to our center. While they brought supplies including backpacks and clothes for the kids, they also filled their bags with a fun surprise – costumes! The kids got to dress up in costumes, including princesses, animals, and superheroes, for a special party where they played games in their costumes. Back in 2011, many of the children in our care were much younger and not as many teenagers as today, so the excitement was high for this special day. They had so much fun running around in the costumes. We are forever grateful that the children at The Covering can be kids. They can focus on their education and make fun memories.
We are so grateful for the sacrifices our teams make to travel to our center. It is so encouraging to see how travel impacts not only our kids but also our staff, the city of Freetown, and our teams. Lives have been changed forever, and God’s kingdom has grown.
2025 travel dates have not been announced, but our staff and kids are eager to welcome the next team to the center. Are you interested in traveling with The Raining Season? Email travel@therainingseason.org to learn more.
Many blessings,
The Raining Season