2010 Mission Team Updates

Saturday, March 20, 2011
Today we enjoyed ourselves on the beautiful island of Jamaica. After a full week of work, several of our Jamaican brothers took us to the parish of Portland. Portland is on the Eastern/North Eastern coast of Jamaica. We left this morning around 9:00am and headed straight to Port Antonio. We shopped at the market for a few hours before turning back and going to Boston for Jerk Chicken. Next, we arrived at Long Bay Beach. Our intention was to take a momentary stop for pictures and then continue to Reich Falls; however, it was obvious that everyone wanted to simply stay and relax on the beach, and so that’s what we did. We had a great day, and we ended the evening with a night of games and fellowship. The Big Boy and Girl winners for the day were Jeff and Halie.

It is hard to believe that the week has come to an end. In a month’s time we hope everyone is still thinking about this week in Jamaica, and maybe even planning to return next spring break. For those of you reading, thank you for your prayers this week, and please continue to pray for our safe return home tomorrow.

Friday, March 19, 2010
It is difficult to believe, but we have already finished our last work day in Jamaica. The work week was filled with tremendous projects — and some of the projects we didn’t even have on the agenda until we arrived here! Today we were all over the Morant Bay and SoHo areas. The Soho roof crew continued their work all day today and all but finished it. There is only a small amount of work to be done by Brother Thompson next week. Matt’s crew went back to Sister Pearl’s house to complete the porch and floor renovation. They finished the work just before dinner time tonight. Brother Michael took another group to deliver food in the Soho area, and the rest of the group members went to a local private school, named Providence. One of the church members, Tamara, is a teacher there. What started out as a small art project in Tamara’s classroom turned into a school-wide painting day. With Patti’s artistic help, we painted rainbows, ackee, flags, aquarium scenes, office signs, gardens, and the list goes on. Hopefully all the teachers and students are happy with what we created. After dinner tonight, Brother Michael took a small group of team members to a Bible class at the Soho church. It was very encouraging to see so many women and children there tonight. We ended the evening with a terrific devotional. Gregory led singing with Jamaican songs, and everyone had a chance to share their favorite memories of the day. Congratulations to the Big Boy and Big Girl winners tonight: Caroline M. and Chris!

Tomorrow we will relax and spend some time in Port Antonio and Reach Falls. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel tomorrow and prepare to come back to the United States.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy St.Patrick’s Day from Jamaica! (Although none of the Jamaicans seemed to understand this day of green and pinching!) Today was a day of many accomplishments. We finished painting the church today. This huge job included the inside, outside, 2 classrooms, all the doors and iron gates, and even the church lettering. It was quite the feat! The group at SoHo continued to work on the roof and are coming very close to finishing. Today we also sent a group to work on Sister Pearl’s home. The plan was to redo the floor, but what the group found was a lot more work than expected. They spent the day removing the old floor, the support beams, and even bits of concrete! The group will return tomorrow to continue their hard work. The group had a late, but amazing, lunch in Yallahs! Everyone enjoyed their Jerk Chicken and Festival bread. A few people were even brave enough to try a Juice Patti. After returning from lunch the group spent time relaxing, playing with some of the local children and having a soccer game on a sand field that overlooked the sea. Tonight we enjoyed a wonderful church service lead by Daniel’s singing and Steve giving the lesson. The night was made perfect by our dear Jamaican friends teaching us Jamaican games that everyone enjoyed! We ended the night with a short devo and a tired group of hard workers. Congratulations to Big Boy Farron and Big Girl Patti!!

Tuesday, March 16, 2011
Our second full work day in Jamaica has come to a close. We are all taking showers and drinking another water or Gatorade, eagerly looking forward to bedtime. Today was filled with hard work. The church group continued the work by finishing the exterior paint and painting the entire interior of the church building. We also finished painting the murals in the children’s classrooms. Everything looks fresh, bright, and inviting. The Soho group continued working on the roof project, and will probably finish by tomorrow or Thursday. Finally, Brother Michael took seven group members around the Morant Bay area and delivered much needed food to various church members. According to the members who went, the experience was awesome. The plan is to deliver more food tomorrow. We had an early dinner and played a few games afterward. We tried to call it an early evening (since everyone is filthy and tired), so we wrapped up the evening with a devotional. Congratulations to the Big Boy and Big Girl winners of the evening: Matt, Hope, and Amanda!

Monday, March 15, 2010
Today started with a great breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, dumplings, and several more delicious treats. Once the breakfast was finished, we loaded up on sunscreen and began our first full work day. Eleven of our group members plus Brother Thompson and Marlon went up to Soho to begin removing the roof of a home. They spent the entire day taking turns working; the group members who were “taking a breeze” spent time with the local Jamaicans and played with the children. The majority of the group stayed at the church building today. We painted the outside of the church building, cleaned and painted the two children’s classrooms, and started painting a mural in one of the classrooms. Thanks to group member Patti Ross, she and several other team members have created an awesome wall mural that the children will surely love. The work ended for the day around 5:00pm. After a quick clean-up, the group came together for dinner and relaxation time. Of course, four square was the game of choice this evening. During our devo, the Big Boy award was given to Marlon, and the Big Girl award to Erica. Tomorrow will be a lot of the same: continue the work in Soho and continue painting the interior of the church.

Sunday, March 14, 2010
Our first full day in Jamaica was a busy, yet relaxing one. We started out the day with church. Half of the group went to SoHo to attend Bible class and service while the other remained in Morant Bay. Both services were very uplifting and the Jamaican singing was wonderful, as always. After service, lunch and some down time we traveled to the private beach to enjoy the sea. The day continued with Sunday night service with the two groups switching locations for worship. We enjoyed 4 Square, soccer and many other games before ending the night with a devo. Tomorrow will be our first work day in Jamaica. We are planning on having two groups for the work projects. One group will be going to Soho to remove and replace a zinc roof. The other group will remain at the church for a major paint job including the inside and outside of the building. We are all ready to begin and excited to serve.

Saturday, March 13, 2010
We have arrived in Morant Bay, Jamaica! Our exhausted group of 30 has been on the go since 2 am, so it is time for bed. We arrived in Jamaica at 1:30 this afternoon. After renting the vans and meeting Brother Michael at the airport, Daniel and Adam finally got to prove themselves as Jamaican drivers. They both did an excellent job getting us here safely. The wonderful ladies of the church greeted us with a great dinner, and we spent the remainder of the evening relaxing, playing soccer, and enjoying dominoes. Tomorrow our group will be going to both the Soho and the Morant Bay church services. Several of our group members will have the opportunity to lead worship and children’s classes.