We have returned from Negril to Fairhaven for a few hours before we take off. Just thought we would give you the flight information just incase you are picking us up from the airport!
We are on JamaicaAir and leave here at 4:00 Jamaica time (2:00 California time). We will arrive at home at 8:05 California time at LAX. We look forward to seeing your beautiful faces!
The weekend was an amazing time of relaxation and reflection for our team and we enjoyed the sun, beach, and each other.
We look forward to seeing you or talking to you all soon.
We love you,
Team Jamaica
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Negril or bust!
Hey everyone, this is Garrett once again here to update you on our day. A few announcements before I update you all on our amazing last day of official service in Jamaica. 1. We will be leaving for Negril tomorrow morning and will be staying there for the rest of our trip. Sadly we will have no internet while staying there so this seems to most likely the last blog from Team Jamaica (I am sure someone will do a wrap up blog so breathe easy readers). 2. We arrive in 
LAX at 8:05 on the 2nd so please remember to pick us all up. Please. (GG the team is on countdown mode until we all get to meet the woman behind the amazing blogs).
Now for the blog, as I stated earlier today was our last day and all of us were in disbelief that this amazing trip is coming to an end. We continued our routine of going to schools in the morning and singing some songs as well as performing skits for the little tykes. The two skits we performed
were a nerd version of David and Goliath as well as an orange skit that represents the world’s painful toll on a person’s heart and the healing that Jesus and only Jesus brings. Both of these skits were performed to perfection due to the amount of times we have practiced and performed them and it was nice to leave it all up on stage for one last time. After the morning devotions to the school kids we headed back to our home away from home and while some chose to recharge with a nap, others elected to 
take advantage of the few precious moments of sunshine and head to the beach. After our afternoon break had expired we headed to the after school program we have been helping at and enjoyed exploring our artistic side through crafts, as well as play a few games (the kids favorite being heads up seven up). When the clock expired we were done and we left the after school program knowing that we had done some good in the name of someone who had done more good for us then we can ever comprehend (you know that guy, sweet beard, walked on 
water, and let’s not forget He died on a cross for us). Luckily for us just because our official ministry had ended that did not mean our adventure had. While driving back to Fair Haven we were forced to find an alternate route home due to the rapid rainfall that had caused former streets to become raging rivers. Luckily for us all our driver Chris is extremely talented and maneuvered through the streets/ rivers with ease and we even had some entertainment on the drive back thanks to some visiting tourists. Day turned to night and soon we 
found ourselves enjoying our last supper at Fair Haven that the amazing cooks had treated us to. After dinner most of us walked downtown to do some last minute shopping for ourselves as well as those we have been separated from for three weeks. Once we arrived safe and sound back at Fair Haven from our shopping spree, our leaders sat us down for a particularly unique team meeting. Instead of recapping the day like we usually do, we each shared our favorite memories of one another throughout the trip. This lasted for quite some time as we all have many 
great memories from these three weeks and when it finally ended each of us felt greatly appreciated by our fellow team members. So this is the end, from here our trip moves to Negril as we relax and hopefully enjoy the sun (yes it is still pouring here….for the third straight week). I think it is fair to say that we all have had an amazing time over here and will leave this country better than when we entered it. To the families and friends out there who cannot wait to see us, I 
assure you the feeling is mutual and we all cannot wait to enjoy your company again. As I wrap up this blog I would like to thank each of you who read and posted on this blog whether it was once or daily. To know that we are loved and supported while we are far away from both family and friends has kept us going throughout these three weeks. I ask that as always you keep us in your prayers as we enjoy our final days in Jamaica and travel home, also please continue to pray for the people of Jamaica who we have been able to get to know through this 
trip.
One Love,
Garrett
LAX at 8:05 on the 2nd so please remember to pick us all up. Please. (GG the team is on countdown mode until we all get to meet the woman behind the amazing blogs).Now for the blog, as I stated earlier today was our last day and all of us were in disbelief that this amazing trip is coming to an end. We continued our routine of going to schools in the morning and singing some songs as well as performing skits for the little tykes. The two skits we performed
were a nerd version of David and Goliath as well as an orange skit that represents the world’s painful toll on a person’s heart and the healing that Jesus and only Jesus brings. Both of these skits were performed to perfection due to the amount of times we have practiced and performed them and it was nice to leave it all up on stage for one last time. After the morning devotions to the school kids we headed back to our home away from home and while some chose to recharge with a nap, others elected to 
take advantage of the few precious moments of sunshine and head to the beach. After our afternoon break had expired we headed to the after school program we have been helping at and enjoyed exploring our artistic side through crafts, as well as play a few games (the kids favorite being heads up seven up). When the clock expired we were done and we left the after school program knowing that we had done some good in the name of someone who had done more good for us then we can ever comprehend (you know that guy, sweet beard, walked on 
water, and let’s not forget He died on a cross for us). Luckily for us just because our official ministry had ended that did not mean our adventure had. While driving back to Fair Haven we were forced to find an alternate route home due to the rapid rainfall that had caused former streets to become raging rivers. Luckily for us all our driver Chris is extremely talented and maneuvered through the streets/ rivers with ease and we even had some entertainment on the drive back thanks to some visiting tourists. Day turned to night and soon we 
found ourselves enjoying our last supper at Fair Haven that the amazing cooks had treated us to. After dinner most of us walked downtown to do some last minute shopping for ourselves as well as those we have been separated from for three weeks. Once we arrived safe and sound back at Fair Haven from our shopping spree, our leaders sat us down for a particularly unique team meeting. Instead of recapping the day like we usually do, we each shared our favorite memories of one another throughout the trip. This lasted for quite some time as we all have many 
great memories from these three weeks and when it finally ended each of us felt greatly appreciated by our fellow team members. So this is the end, from here our trip moves to Negril as we relax and hopefully enjoy the sun (yes it is still pouring here….for the third straight week). I think it is fair to say that we all have had an amazing time over here and will leave this country better than when we entered it. To the families and friends out there who cannot wait to see us, I 
assure you the feeling is mutual and we all cannot wait to enjoy your company again. As I wrap up this blog I would like to thank each of you who read and posted on this blog whether it was once or daily. To know that we are loved and supported while we are far away from both family and friends has kept us going throughout these three weeks. I ask that as always you keep us in your prayers as we enjoy our final days in Jamaica and travel home, also please continue to pray for the people of Jamaica who we have been able to get to know through this 
trip.One Love,
Garrett
P.S. The beard growing has sadly ended due to Tyler and Sam electing to shave their masterpieces. Final results have been posted for your viewing pleasure.
Madre, Padre and Brookes: I cannot wait to see you all and catch up with everyone. Dad I am hoping that you
will be able to drive back with me and I will call you once I am at Phin’s to see if that worked out. Love you all.
Sarah: For starters, happy belated birthday and like I said we will celebrate it when I am back. It has been great to read all of your comments and like always you never fail to make me laugh. Hope all is well and I look foreword to seeing you and catching up.
Joe: It is great to hear from you and I cannot wait until I get to see your beautiful face this summer when you visit.
Jillian: I can’t tell you what a pleasant surprise it was to get your comment and I can’t wait to see you when I am home. Hope you had a blast at Ball and that you are doing well.
Mel: Sorry I did not get the blog address to you before I left and it was great to see you managed to find it anyway. Hope you are doing well as I am sure you are and it will be great to see you when I am back.
Mrs. Tag: We were travel buddies until you forgot to take me to Hawaii…twice. But no worries they have these huge fist-sized spiders here and I made sure to capture one for you so you would have a piece of Jamaica. It was great to hear from you and I can’t wait to see you when I am back so we can continue to harass each other. Hope you are not worrying about JD too much.
Madre, Padre and Brookes: I cannot wait to see you all and catch up with everyone. Dad I am hoping that you
will be able to drive back with me and I will call you once I am at Phin’s to see if that worked out. Love you all.Sarah: For starters, happy belated birthday and like I said we will celebrate it when I am back. It has been great to read all of your comments and like always you never fail to make me laugh. Hope all is well and I look foreword to seeing you and catching up.
Joe: It is great to hear from you and I cannot wait until I get to see your beautiful face this summer when you visit.
Jillian: I can’t tell you what a pleasant surprise it was to get your comment and I can’t wait to see you when I am home. Hope you had a blast at Ball and that you are doing well.
Mel: Sorry I did not get the blog address to you before I left and it was great to see you managed to find it anyway. Hope you are doing well as I am sure you are and it will be great to see you when I am back.
Mrs. Tag: We were travel buddies until you forgot to take me to Hawaii…twice. But no worries they have these huge fist-sized spiders here and I made sure to capture one for you so you would have a piece of Jamaica. It was great to hear from you and I can’t wait to see you when I am back so we can continue to harass each other. Hope you are not worrying about JD too much.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Stefene's Birthday, Devotions, and Rainmakers
Hello family and friends! This is Lindsey bringing you today’s update. It is getting closer and closer to our final day here in Jamaica and I think that it 
is beginning to hit some of us that we are almost done here (at least for now) and just a few days from now we will be heading home. We have started calling Fairhaven home and feel as though we have become a surrogate family to each other throughout our time here. We have shared many laughs, hugs, some tears, challenging times, encouraging times, and so much more together. It is going to be a shock 
no longer waking up each day to these 9 beautiful faces that I get to see each morning and each night before I go to sleep. Sam is amazing (he has added this in when I was taking a break from working at the computer and hoped that I would not proof read before I posted… Oh Sam). We are looking forward to these last few days together. Okay, enough of that, it is finally time to fill you in on our day.
This morning we started bright and early with
our team devotions here at home at 7:00am. We left at 7:45 to head back to Catherine Hall to do a devotion for the crazy 5th graders there. We once again did our skit about sin and how easy it is to get caught up in it. The kids seemed very interested, and once again enjoyed the songs. As soon as we finished there, we headed over to a prep school in Flankers. The prep school is similar to our pre-school age kids in the US. They were small and precious (see picture).
We headed back home after our second devotion and spent a little time at the beach before heading in to prepare for the rest of the day. On
our way home we were driving through Chris’ neighborhood when he saw “Mama Celeste.” We picked her up to drive her into town on our way home and learned that she is the oldest lady in the neighborhood and helped raise Chris and many of his school buddies. She was set on having her picture taken with Jen, so here is one of the many.
After a few hours at home, Chris took us to
a little jerk stand for lunch on our way up to the Peace and Justice center in Flankers. It was a tiny little place and we definitely were the only non-Jamaicans there.
The community center was a little different for us today than yesterday. We had 11 kids yesterday, so we were excited to head to back to hang out with them, but as we opened the door into the room we could barely fit inside.
I counted 29 kids today by the time they all arrived. We make some rainmakers/shakers, which were fun to create with the kids, but we quickly learned that beans could easily sneak out of the rainmakers (especially when they were used to hit other kids) and end up all over the floor. We once again sang some songs with the kids and played a few games of hangman. During the time that we were in the community 
center, it began to pour and we had to take a different route home because the roads were flooded (apparently the rainmakers actually worked). The rain continued throughout the rest of the afternoon and we were sad because we had met a Rasta Man, Scratchy, last night who told us that he wanted to learn more about our Jesus today at the beach. The rain kept coming down and kept us from heading out to look for him.
This afternoon we spent most of our
time preparing for Stef’s birthday. We decorated while she took a nap and came up with our surprise plan for her. We woke her up and told her to get dressed up because we were going to be taking a team picture, and then we all headed down the “hip strip” and surprised her by going to the Chinese restaurant that she has been eyeing since we arrived in the Jamaica. After dinner we headed home real quick to get out cake that the amazing ladies (Leoni and Sonya, who work at 
Fairhaven) made for Stef. We brought Stef into the room and shared with her all of our wonderful homemade birthday signs as well as giving her our team card and gift. We provided some music for a dance party in the family room and played some card games before we took off for that night swim that she has been waiting for. We are all so thankful for the amazing girl that she is and we are so incredibly lucky that we have gotten to spend this time with her as well as 
spending her 21st birthday with her!
Tomorrow is sadly our last day of scheduled ministry here in Jamaica. We are looking forward to the day and all that it will bring. Please pray that tomorrow we will be as excited and willing as we were on our very first day here. I know that we say it each day, but the support and love from each one of you does mean so much to us and we are so lucky to have each of you in our lives.
is beginning to hit some of us that we are almost done here (at least for now) and just a few days from now we will be heading home. We have started calling Fairhaven home and feel as though we have become a surrogate family to each other throughout our time here. We have shared many laughs, hugs, some tears, challenging times, encouraging times, and so much more together. It is going to be a shock 
no longer waking up each day to these 9 beautiful faces that I get to see each morning and each night before I go to sleep. Sam is amazing (he has added this in when I was taking a break from working at the computer and hoped that I would not proof read before I posted… Oh Sam). We are looking forward to these last few days together. Okay, enough of that, it is finally time to fill you in on our day.This morning we started bright and early with
our team devotions here at home at 7:00am. We left at 7:45 to head back to Catherine Hall to do a devotion for the crazy 5th graders there. We once again did our skit about sin and how easy it is to get caught up in it. The kids seemed very interested, and once again enjoyed the songs. As soon as we finished there, we headed over to a prep school in Flankers. The prep school is similar to our pre-school age kids in the US. They were small and precious (see picture).We headed back home after our second devotion and spent a little time at the beach before heading in to prepare for the rest of the day. On
our way home we were driving through Chris’ neighborhood when he saw “Mama Celeste.” We picked her up to drive her into town on our way home and learned that she is the oldest lady in the neighborhood and helped raise Chris and many of his school buddies. She was set on having her picture taken with Jen, so here is one of the many.After a few hours at home, Chris took us to
a little jerk stand for lunch on our way up to the Peace and Justice center in Flankers. It was a tiny little place and we definitely were the only non-Jamaicans there.The community center was a little different for us today than yesterday. We had 11 kids yesterday, so we were excited to head to back to hang out with them, but as we opened the door into the room we could barely fit inside.
I counted 29 kids today by the time they all arrived. We make some rainmakers/shakers, which were fun to create with the kids, but we quickly learned that beans could easily sneak out of the rainmakers (especially when they were used to hit other kids) and end up all over the floor. We once again sang some songs with the kids and played a few games of hangman. During the time that we were in the community 
center, it began to pour and we had to take a different route home because the roads were flooded (apparently the rainmakers actually worked). The rain continued throughout the rest of the afternoon and we were sad because we had met a Rasta Man, Scratchy, last night who told us that he wanted to learn more about our Jesus today at the beach. The rain kept coming down and kept us from heading out to look for him.This afternoon we spent most of our
time preparing for Stef’s birthday. We decorated while she took a nap and came up with our surprise plan for her. We woke her up and told her to get dressed up because we were going to be taking a team picture, and then we all headed down the “hip strip” and surprised her by going to the Chinese restaurant that she has been eyeing since we arrived in the Jamaica. After dinner we headed home real quick to get out cake that the amazing ladies (Leoni and Sonya, who work at 
Fairhaven) made for Stef. We brought Stef into the room and shared with her all of our wonderful homemade birthday signs as well as giving her our team card and gift. We provided some music for a dance party in the family room and played some card games before we took off for that night swim that she has been waiting for. We are all so thankful for the amazing girl that she is and we are so incredibly lucky that we have gotten to spend this time with her as well as 
spending her 21st birthday with her!Tomorrow is sadly our last day of scheduled ministry here in Jamaica. We are looking forward to the day and all that it will bring. Please pray that tomorrow we will be as excited and willing as we were on our very first day here. I know that we say it each day, but the support and love from each one of you does mean so much to us and we are so lucky to have each of you in our lives.
Mom, Dad, Shannon, and Kev: See you or talk to you all very soon! Hope that everything is going well and I miss you all! I love you very much.
Joey: Hope your class finished well…I think it’s over now? I am looking forward to lunch on Monday! I miss you lots! I will talk to you soon. smooches! (the team has started using that, and I love it!)
Audrey, Kristin, Mari: Thanks for the love girls! I will talk to you all soon. (Most likely on Sunday on my drive up north). Love you all!
Everyone else: Thanks so much for all the comments and love.
Joey: Hope your class finished well…I think it’s over now? I am looking forward to lunch on Monday! I miss you lots! I will talk to you soon. smooches! (the team has started using that, and I love it!)
Audrey, Kristin, Mari: Thanks for the love girls! I will talk to you all soon. (Most likely on Sunday on my drive up north). Love you all!
Everyone else: Thanks so much for all the comments and love.
Love,
Team Jamaica
Songs, Fish & Markets
Hello, family and friends. This is Stefene bringing you the latest news of your beloved Team Jamaica. Thank you so much for all your love and support, it brings so much joy to our team to receive all of your encouraging comments. When I was asked to write the blog tonight, I decided to write it in my own style. So here it goes. . . 
What a glorious morning
Lindsey and Kristin waking us up
With heavy eyes, we roll out of bed
Breakfast time, grab a plate and a cup
Cinnamon rolls, bananas, cereal and more
Some eggs, some bacon, and orange juice galore
Wash those dishes, and onto the bus
I got the bug spray, so don’t you fuss
We were off to lead devotions
Teach kids songs and all these silly motions
We shared a skit about getting caught up in sin
The only way to be free is to let Jesus in
Then Garrett came up and explained it all
He shared that we all mistakes and sometimes we fall
But the person we should look to is our Lord and Savior
He will help us stand firm in righteous behavior
Then off we went again, with our bus driver Chris
We had errands to run, lunch being the top of our list
Some good Jamaican cocoa bread
Beef and chicken patties
We ate till we were full,
Don’t worry we’re not turning into fatties
We then went to a community center for local youth
We sang songs of love, and God's truth
We danced around and then it was craft time
We made beautiful fish, that glittered and shined
We ended our time with a fun little game
called heads up seven up, it was anything but lame
What a glorious morning
Lindsey and Kristin waking us up
With heavy eyes, we roll out of bed
Breakfast time, grab a plate and a cup
Cinnamon rolls, bananas, cereal and more
Some eggs, some bacon, and orange juice galore
Wash those dishes, and onto the bus
I got the bug spray, so don’t you fuss
We were off to lead devotions
Teach kids songs and all these silly motions
We shared a skit about getting caught up in sinThe only way to be free is to let Jesus in
Then Garrett came up and explained it all
He shared that we all mistakes and sometimes we fall
But the person we should look to is our Lord and Savior
He will help us stand firm in righteous behavior
Then off we went again, with our bus driver Chris
We had errands to run, lunch being the top of our list
Some good Jamaican cocoa bread
Beef and chicken pattiesWe ate till we were full,
Don’t worry we’re not turning into fatties
We then went to a community center for local youth
We sang songs of love, and God's truth
We danced around and then it was craft time
We made beautiful fish, that glittered and shined
We ended our time with a fun little game
called heads up seven up, it was anything but lame
We were sad to leave, but promised to returnWith more games and songs and some time to learn
Then off we went to go souvenir shopping
At the Jamaican craft market where there is lots of bargaining
We bought some cool stuff
And made some great friends
And vendors would call to us
And vow they were the only one with the latest trends
With the lowest prices, or so we thought
We learned quickly, to look around before we bought
You would be proud to see the skills we gained
To buy what we wanted without our pockets being pained
Sam and Garrett found a unique little shop
That didn’t look like any others, out of all it was top
The girls buying jewelry, the boys buying who knows what
We all had fun going from little hut to hut
Everyone selling just about the same stuff
A couple hours and we all had enough
Listening to our tummy’s we decided to go
It was close to dinner time and we were running low on dough
So we drove back home for some amazing food
Beef stew, corn and buttered fish to put us in a better mood
Once dinner was done we were off again
A walk into town to run into old friends
To talk about Christ or just hang out
We run into those who sing, scream and shout
Available and willing to be God’s tools Knowing that every person we run into are His precious jewels
People we run into are always saying
How we are different, we are so friendly
We met a man named Scratchy who came up to us
He wanted to hang out and learn something about Jesus
What a wonderful night, we all headed back
So tired and exhausted it was time to hit the sack
Praise God for these opportunities, these moments
He is our strength and guide despite our weakness
Doing His work brings joy to the heart Struggles and laughter, they all play a part
So be confident to know that God is so real in us
Then off we went to go souvenir shopping
At the Jamaican craft market where there is lots of bargaining
We bought some cool stuff
And made some great friends
And vendors would call to us
And vow they were the only one with the latest trends
With the lowest prices, or so we thought
We learned quickly, to look around before we bought
You would be proud to see the skills we gained
To buy what we wanted without our pockets being pained
Sam and Garrett found a unique little shop
That didn’t look like any others, out of all it was topThe girls buying jewelry, the boys buying who knows what
We all had fun going from little hut to hut
Everyone selling just about the same stuff
A couple hours and we all had enough
Listening to our tummy’s we decided to go
It was close to dinner time and we were running low on dough
So we drove back home for some amazing food
Beef stew, corn and buttered fish to put us in a better mood
Once dinner was done we were off again
A walk into town to run into old friends
To talk about Christ or just hang out
We run into those who sing, scream and shout
Available and willing to be God’s tools Knowing that every person we run into are His precious jewels
People we run into are always sayingHow we are different, we are so friendly
We met a man named Scratchy who came up to us
He wanted to hang out and learn something about Jesus
What a wonderful night, we all headed back
So tired and exhausted it was time to hit the sack
Praise God for these opportunities, these moments
He is our strength and guide despite our weakness
Doing His work brings joy to the heart Struggles and laughter, they all play a part
So be confident to know that God is so real in us
Stretching and pulling, we’re stepping out and learning to trust
Everyone encouraging each other and growing lasting bonds
Our team is doing well and it won’t be long
Until we come home to you all
So for now we must go where God has called
Everyone encouraging each other and growing lasting bonds
Our team is doing well and it won’t be long
Until we come home to you all
So for now we must go where God has called
Ps:
To GG from Jen- GG, Jen brought the Glass Castle and she just finished it. . . she said that it was AMAZING and can’t wait to see you at the airport!
Pss: Andrew! Happy birthday!!! I really wish I was there to celebrate with you, I hope that it was a blast! I love you bud! See you in just a few days! -Tyler
Psss:
Dad, Mom, Sarah, Josiah, Jacob, Sheri, Shayna, Sianna, Samara, Jared and baby Shanen-I miss you and love each of you and can’t wait to come home and share with you all the things God is doing and has done in me. You are in my thoughts and prayers everyday and I know I am in yours as well. Did you guys get my car? How’s all that going? Well, I love you and waiting anxiously for your comments:)
Tommy-one word for you: RIDICULOUS:), thank you for the gifts. They get more and more interesting each day. I really can’t wait for you to explain each of them to me, they have been an encouragement to me:)hope to hear from you soon-miss you!; Chelse-I miss you and love you and I will see you when I come back in like four days!
To GG from Jen- GG, Jen brought the Glass Castle and she just finished it. . . she said that it was AMAZING and can’t wait to see you at the airport!
Pss: Andrew! Happy birthday!!! I really wish I was there to celebrate with you, I hope that it was a blast! I love you bud! See you in just a few days! -Tyler
Psss:
Dad, Mom, Sarah, Josiah, Jacob, Sheri, Shayna, Sianna, Samara, Jared and baby Shanen-I miss you and love each of you and can’t wait to come home and share with you all the things God is doing and has done in me. You are in my thoughts and prayers everyday and I know I am in yours as well. Did you guys get my car? How’s all that going? Well, I love you and waiting anxiously for your comments:)
Tommy-one word for you: RIDICULOUS:), thank you for the gifts. They get more and more interesting each day. I really can’t wait for you to explain each of them to me, they have been an encouragement to me:)hope to hear from you soon-miss you!; Chelse-I miss you and love you and I will see you when I come back in like four days!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Church Day!
Hello everyone! This is Kristin. Today was our last Sunday in Jamaica. We spent our last two church services, in the morning and evening, at Fai
th Baptist Church in Flankers. The pastor of this church, Delroy Campbell, has been the person in charge of organizing the local school devotions that we have been a part of these past few weeks. It was fun for the team to be able to attend Pastor Campbell’s church since they have had the opportunity to get to know him in the last two weeks, and it was exciting for Lindsey and me to see a few familiar faces from our visit to his church last year. Pastor Campbell is a very entertaining guy and he loves to tell jokes. He has such a great heart and all of the kids at the schools love him!
Rolling out of bed at 8am this morning seemed to come way too soon after our late night out d
ancing! As the team slowly and groggily made it out to breakfast, Lindsey and I were wondering if our decision to keep the team out late was the best thing, especially on the night before church. :) But everyone agreed that our entertaining evening out was well worth the lack of sleep. Our morning started like every other Sunday morning with a wonderful breakfast of baked oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, and fruit: a breakfast that we have all come to love and I am sad to say that it was our last Sunday morning breakfast here at Fairhaven. :( After our bodies were nourished, we headed off to church and participated in the 
Sunday school hour with songs and a skit. Today was missionary Sunday at Faith Baptist and we were happy to be a part of it and serve the congregation with a testimony from Stefene and two special music songs, one sung beautifully by Samantha and the other by Tyler and myself. If you remember from a few nights ago, we met a guy named Michael while walking along the “hip strip” in Montego Bay and invited him to church. We were not sure if he was going to come, but he ended up showing up this morning. It was 
encouraging for us to see that we made an impression on him. He did tell me that he enjoyed being around us and appreciated that we are real and genuine. God can use us to show Christ’s love by simply making ourselves available to have conversations with people we meet. My hope and prayer is that this is just the beginning for Michael and he will continue to pursue and seek out his interest in God and the Christian faith.
After church we came home to have a
late lunch and we spent the afternoon playing some more Phase 10 (my new favorite card game), napping, and getting ready for the evening service as well as our day tomorrow.
We headed back to Faith Baptist Church this evening for another service in which Grace, Tyler, Stefene, and Jen sang a song and Katie and Sam shared short testimonies of what God has been teaching them while here in Jamaica. Tonight was Jen’s first time singing in front of a group of people and she sounded great, and
Sam and Katie were an encouragement to us all! During church, while trying to avoid being eaten by all the bugs, we were also being entertained by our new friend O’Brian as some of us attempted to sign to him. O'Brian is a deaf child to one of the woman at the church. In the group picture we took at church tonight, you can see O’Brian being silly in the front with Stef and Grace as well as with Tyler in another picture.
After the service, we came home and had a late dinner of quesadillas with rice and beans. It is our nightly ritual to sit down each evening and read the blog and the comments, so once again we read all of your commen
ts. Thank you for your support and encouragement! It is so comforting to know that all of our loved ones are thinking of us and praying for us back in the states. We love you all! As we begin our last week in Jamaica, I would ask that you pray for continued strength and endurance to finish strong for these last three days of ministry. We are all tired and many of us are beginning to feel weary, emotionally and spiritually. May our anxiousness to be home to see our family and friends not keep us from the plans God has for us during this last week!
Much love and blessings to you all!
A few last things:
Sami’s mom: Your precious daughter is doing great! Her thumb is feeling much better and she is no longer in the brace. We’re taking good care of her!
Jen’s mom: Jen and the rest of us are all wondering if you would please bring GG to the airport. We are growing quite fond of her through her comments and are dying to meet her!
To my family: I miss you all! I’m excited to move home when I get back. Sissy, I’m excited to spend the summer with you! I’ll see you all soon!
Kip: You should be nervous, because my tan is looking good. I hope you are working on yours too! :) There’s too much to say….I miss you…I’ll talk to you in 6 days, see you in 8! :-) more than you know
Levi: Thank you for all of your comments! I hope you aren’t too lonely with all of us gone. Thanks for your letter, it was a great surprise! Keep trusting and depending on Him!
th Baptist Church in Flankers. The pastor of this church, Delroy Campbell, has been the person in charge of organizing the local school devotions that we have been a part of these past few weeks. It was fun for the team to be able to attend Pastor Campbell’s church since they have had the opportunity to get to know him in the last two weeks, and it was exciting for Lindsey and me to see a few familiar faces from our visit to his church last year. Pastor Campbell is a very entertaining guy and he loves to tell jokes. He has such a great heart and all of the kids at the schools love him!Rolling out of bed at 8am this morning seemed to come way too soon after our late night out d
ancing! As the team slowly and groggily made it out to breakfast, Lindsey and I were wondering if our decision to keep the team out late was the best thing, especially on the night before church. :) But everyone agreed that our entertaining evening out was well worth the lack of sleep. Our morning started like every other Sunday morning with a wonderful breakfast of baked oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, and fruit: a breakfast that we have all come to love and I am sad to say that it was our last Sunday morning breakfast here at Fairhaven. :( After our bodies were nourished, we headed off to church and participated in the 
Sunday school hour with songs and a skit. Today was missionary Sunday at Faith Baptist and we were happy to be a part of it and serve the congregation with a testimony from Stefene and two special music songs, one sung beautifully by Samantha and the other by Tyler and myself. If you remember from a few nights ago, we met a guy named Michael while walking along the “hip strip” in Montego Bay and invited him to church. We were not sure if he was going to come, but he ended up showing up this morning. It was 
encouraging for us to see that we made an impression on him. He did tell me that he enjoyed being around us and appreciated that we are real and genuine. God can use us to show Christ’s love by simply making ourselves available to have conversations with people we meet. My hope and prayer is that this is just the beginning for Michael and he will continue to pursue and seek out his interest in God and the Christian faith.After church we came home to have a
late lunch and we spent the afternoon playing some more Phase 10 (my new favorite card game), napping, and getting ready for the evening service as well as our day tomorrow.We headed back to Faith Baptist Church this evening for another service in which Grace, Tyler, Stefene, and Jen sang a song and Katie and Sam shared short testimonies of what God has been teaching them while here in Jamaica. Tonight was Jen’s first time singing in front of a group of people and she sounded great, and
Sam and Katie were an encouragement to us all! During church, while trying to avoid being eaten by all the bugs, we were also being entertained by our new friend O’Brian as some of us attempted to sign to him. O'Brian is a deaf child to one of the woman at the church. In the group picture we took at church tonight, you can see O’Brian being silly in the front with Stef and Grace as well as with Tyler in another picture.After the service, we came home and had a late dinner of quesadillas with rice and beans. It is our nightly ritual to sit down each evening and read the blog and the comments, so once again we read all of your commen
ts. Thank you for your support and encouragement! It is so comforting to know that all of our loved ones are thinking of us and praying for us back in the states. We love you all! As we begin our last week in Jamaica, I would ask that you pray for continued strength and endurance to finish strong for these last three days of ministry. We are all tired and many of us are beginning to feel weary, emotionally and spiritually. May our anxiousness to be home to see our family and friends not keep us from the plans God has for us during this last week!Much love and blessings to you all!
A few last things:
Sami’s mom: Your precious daughter is doing great! Her thumb is feeling much better and she is no longer in the brace. We’re taking good care of her!
Jen’s mom: Jen and the rest of us are all wondering if you would please bring GG to the airport. We are growing quite fond of her through her comments and are dying to meet her!
To my family: I miss you all! I’m excited to move home when I get back. Sissy, I’m excited to spend the summer with you! I’ll see you all soon!
Kip: You should be nervous, because my tan is looking good. I hope you are working on yours too! :) There’s too much to say….I miss you…I’ll talk to you in 6 days, see you in 8! :-) more than you know
Levi: Thank you for all of your comments! I hope you aren’t too lonely with all of us gone. Thanks for your letter, it was a great surprise! Keep trusting and depending on Him!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Work/Play/Burn Day
Hello family and friends! This is Katie, happy to bring you another update from Jamaica! 
So today is Saturday, which means we will be home in exactly one week! Which is good news for all you parents out there who are missing your children, but bad news for many of our “tans” which we bragged about before leaving home (more on that later). I can’t believe we are already 2/3 of the way done with this trip, time is truly flying. But we still have an exciting week ahead of morning devotions in elementary schools, after school programs, and of course our trip to Negril on Thursday! I know that we are all looking forward to lounging on the beach, playing on water trampolines, and wrapping up all that has happened this trip. Alright, now on to the good stuff.
Our day today started later then usual, I woke up at 9am to find all the other girls already awake and doing productive things, like cleaning or sorting dirty laundry. Today was our “work day” at our current home, Fairhaven, so we were all expecting to get right to work in the morning. However, when we woke up to see the beautiful (but fleeting) sunshine, our wonderful host, Mary, said that we should go to the beach before it rained. And trust me, she didn’t have to tell us twice! As soon as we finished breakfast we all got into our swimsuits and rushed down to the beach. As you may have seen from pictures, the water here is a beautiful
aqua blue and also happens to be just the right temperature. When we got down to “the cove”, our favorite spot to swim, some of us jumped right into the water, while a few stayed on the beach to tan. Eventually, 9 of us made our way into the water and decided to play a game of ultimate Frisbee: boys verses girls. Now you may notice that I said 9 of us, when in-fact, our team has 10 members. This is because Kristin opted out of the game and decided to tan instead (which actually really ended up paying off for her). Anyway, the game ended up being much more intense, and tiring, then anticipated. 
Each team even started making up their own touchdown dances (for some reason the boys always “killed” each other in their dances…go figure) and talking a little smack to the other team. Playing in the water proved to be much more fun than on dry land – every one was leaping in every direction to make catches, or block the other teams pass. The boys may have had the height advantage, but us girls had the strategy. It was so fun to get to goof off and play with the team, and watch everyone get into it. I would love to tell you that we silenced the boys trash talking and won….but unfortunately we lost…barely. It was 13-11 to be exact. We are planning a rematch ASAP.
After our game, we headed back to Fairhaven at about noon to start on our work, and do laundry (which trust me, was a huge blessing). We were all assigned different jobs – Stefene and Jen washed windows, Sami, Grace and I
cleaned the kitchen, Lindsey (aka Lynette) and Kristen cleaned and organized a closet, and the boys touched up some painting on the outside of the building. As we were working it started to rain, yet again, and we were all very thankful that we went to the beach in the morningJ. Throughout the afternoon, we all began to notice that out skin was looking a little pinker then usual. It was not long before we were looking at each other and laughing at how red we were. There were only a lucky few who did not get fried today. Now I know that if other parents are like my parents, you are probably shaking your heads at us right now for getting so burnt. But to be fair, we were only out there for about an hour and a half, and it was before noon, so none of us were expecting to get much of a tan, let alone a burn. 
We have all been coating ourselves with lotion, and plan on those burns turning into tans very soon. So back to the work day….well basically we did some work. It was cool to get to help Mary out; she does SO much for us without complaint, so I am glad that we got the opportunity to do something for her.
After we all finished our jobs, us girls played a couple intense rounds of Phase 10 before dinner, while the
Sam, Tyler, and Garrett wrote in their journals and relaxed. There was also some time for some of our team to go over the music they will be doing in church tomorrow. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a talented team…seriously…I think I may be the only person who doesn’t have musical skills, haha. Right now, as I sit on the couch, I can hear Tyler playing guitar and Kristin singing in the other room – our worship team always sounds so beautiful.
You may be wondering why I am posting the blog so late tonight, well, I promise, it is not just because I am lazy. After dinner, our leaders sat us down to have our usual team meeting, but tonight they had a surprise for us. They told us to get ready because we were going out to immerse
ourselves in more Jamaican culture…a live music performance and dancing. We were all really surprised and excited to get to go have some fun, and experience something new. The live band was really good – my favorite was when they did a Backstreet Boys song - with a reggae twist. I would have to say that the highlight of the night was the last song that we were there for (Lindsey’s theme song, and apparently Jamaica’s favorite song, because they play it all the time here) “Don’t Matter” by Akon. I think it is safe to say that we all had a really fun time listening to the music, dancing around, and once again getting to do something fun together as a team. When we got home and checked the blog, we were shocked to read the post from the woman who randomly met 
Jen’s parents in Starbucks, and now is going to donate to the orphanage we worked at, Blossom Gardens. I can’t even tell you how encouraging that was to hear – it gave many of us the chills to read. We have all been struggling with the fact that we can only do so much – never did I think that our trip would affect people we have never met. God works in such amazing ways, sometimes it just takes my breath away. Thank you so much to all family and friends for your support, encouraging words, and constant comments. Knowing that we have people praying for us at home is such a comfort to us all. Like I mentioned before, tomorrow we are going to church. 
Stefene is going to be giving her testimony, the worship team will be going a couple songs, and we will also be leading Sunday school. Please especially lift up Stef and the worship team tomorrow as they participate in a new church service. Much love to everyone – these blog comments really make me want to meet everyone’s parents and friends – you are all so great. One Love.
Mom, Dad, and Kristina – thanks for the comments! I miss you guys, and I’m excited to see you and share my stories! Kristina – how did you and Jenny do in the science fair? I know you guys are mad at me for getting sun burnt – I’m sorry. But I’m doing great besides that, so you don’t need to worry. Love you lots.
Jenise – I miss you so much. I get so happy when I see a new comment from you. I so wish I could call you when funny things happen – there have been so many times that I have wished you were here. I can’t believe you are still in school….muhahaha. See you June 15th. I love you. Ps – tell your sister and Shanae that I really appreciate all their comments…..not.
Malcolm – Sorry I didn’t give you one of these before. You know I love you my little bumpkin. I can’t wait to get home so we can hang out everyday!! Wahoo! Love and miss you.
Linds and Jess – I hope you guys don’t get offended by the joint thing. I think about you both everyday, and you continue to be in my prayers. I can’t even tell you how much I miss you guys. And I’m still tripping out that there are TWO Frannies….what the heck?! Jess, I got your support letter a couple days ago, I loved it, and it made me miss you even more. Thank you so much for doing that. And tell Hefner that if I go 3 weeks with no comment on this from her, she will face serious consequences. You both requested by birthday off of work, riiiight??I love and miss you both so much.
So today is Saturday, which means we will be home in exactly one week! Which is good news for all you parents out there who are missing your children, but bad news for many of our “tans” which we bragged about before leaving home (more on that later). I can’t believe we are already 2/3 of the way done with this trip, time is truly flying. But we still have an exciting week ahead of morning devotions in elementary schools, after school programs, and of course our trip to Negril on Thursday! I know that we are all looking forward to lounging on the beach, playing on water trampolines, and wrapping up all that has happened this trip. Alright, now on to the good stuff.Our day today started later then usual, I woke up at 9am to find all the other girls already awake and doing productive things, like cleaning or sorting dirty laundry. Today was our “work day” at our current home, Fairhaven, so we were all expecting to get right to work in the morning. However, when we woke up to see the beautiful (but fleeting) sunshine, our wonderful host, Mary, said that we should go to the beach before it rained. And trust me, she didn’t have to tell us twice! As soon as we finished breakfast we all got into our swimsuits and rushed down to the beach. As you may have seen from pictures, the water here is a beautiful
aqua blue and also happens to be just the right temperature. When we got down to “the cove”, our favorite spot to swim, some of us jumped right into the water, while a few stayed on the beach to tan. Eventually, 9 of us made our way into the water and decided to play a game of ultimate Frisbee: boys verses girls. Now you may notice that I said 9 of us, when in-fact, our team has 10 members. This is because Kristin opted out of the game and decided to tan instead (which actually really ended up paying off for her). Anyway, the game ended up being much more intense, and tiring, then anticipated. 
Each team even started making up their own touchdown dances (for some reason the boys always “killed” each other in their dances…go figure) and talking a little smack to the other team. Playing in the water proved to be much more fun than on dry land – every one was leaping in every direction to make catches, or block the other teams pass. The boys may have had the height advantage, but us girls had the strategy. It was so fun to get to goof off and play with the team, and watch everyone get into it. I would love to tell you that we silenced the boys trash talking and won….but unfortunately we lost…barely. It was 13-11 to be exact. We are planning a rematch ASAP. After our game, we headed back to Fairhaven at about noon to start on our work, and do laundry (which trust me, was a huge blessing). We were all assigned different jobs – Stefene and Jen washed windows, Sami, Grace and I
cleaned the kitchen, Lindsey (aka Lynette) and Kristen cleaned and organized a closet, and the boys touched up some painting on the outside of the building. As we were working it started to rain, yet again, and we were all very thankful that we went to the beach in the morningJ. Throughout the afternoon, we all began to notice that out skin was looking a little pinker then usual. It was not long before we were looking at each other and laughing at how red we were. There were only a lucky few who did not get fried today. Now I know that if other parents are like my parents, you are probably shaking your heads at us right now for getting so burnt. But to be fair, we were only out there for about an hour and a half, and it was before noon, so none of us were expecting to get much of a tan, let alone a burn. 
We have all been coating ourselves with lotion, and plan on those burns turning into tans very soon. So back to the work day….well basically we did some work. It was cool to get to help Mary out; she does SO much for us without complaint, so I am glad that we got the opportunity to do something for her.After we all finished our jobs, us girls played a couple intense rounds of Phase 10 before dinner, while the
Sam, Tyler, and Garrett wrote in their journals and relaxed. There was also some time for some of our team to go over the music they will be doing in church tomorrow. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a talented team…seriously…I think I may be the only person who doesn’t have musical skills, haha. Right now, as I sit on the couch, I can hear Tyler playing guitar and Kristin singing in the other room – our worship team always sounds so beautiful.You may be wondering why I am posting the blog so late tonight, well, I promise, it is not just because I am lazy. After dinner, our leaders sat us down to have our usual team meeting, but tonight they had a surprise for us. They told us to get ready because we were going out to immerse
ourselves in more Jamaican culture…a live music performance and dancing. We were all really surprised and excited to get to go have some fun, and experience something new. The live band was really good – my favorite was when they did a Backstreet Boys song - with a reggae twist. I would have to say that the highlight of the night was the last song that we were there for (Lindsey’s theme song, and apparently Jamaica’s favorite song, because they play it all the time here) “Don’t Matter” by Akon. I think it is safe to say that we all had a really fun time listening to the music, dancing around, and once again getting to do something fun together as a team. When we got home and checked the blog, we were shocked to read the post from the woman who randomly met 
Jen’s parents in Starbucks, and now is going to donate to the orphanage we worked at, Blossom Gardens. I can’t even tell you how encouraging that was to hear – it gave many of us the chills to read. We have all been struggling with the fact that we can only do so much – never did I think that our trip would affect people we have never met. God works in such amazing ways, sometimes it just takes my breath away. Thank you so much to all family and friends for your support, encouraging words, and constant comments. Knowing that we have people praying for us at home is such a comfort to us all. Like I mentioned before, tomorrow we are going to church. 
Stefene is going to be giving her testimony, the worship team will be going a couple songs, and we will also be leading Sunday school. Please especially lift up Stef and the worship team tomorrow as they participate in a new church service. Much love to everyone – these blog comments really make me want to meet everyone’s parents and friends – you are all so great. One Love.
Mom, Dad, and Kristina – thanks for the comments! I miss you guys, and I’m excited to see you and share my stories! Kristina – how did you and Jenny do in the science fair? I know you guys are mad at me for getting sun burnt – I’m sorry. But I’m doing great besides that, so you don’t need to worry. Love you lots.Jenise – I miss you so much. I get so happy when I see a new comment from you. I so wish I could call you when funny things happen – there have been so many times that I have wished you were here. I can’t believe you are still in school….muhahaha. See you June 15th. I love you. Ps – tell your sister and Shanae that I really appreciate all their comments…..not.
Malcolm – Sorry I didn’t give you one of these before. You know I love you my little bumpkin. I can’t wait to get home so we can hang out everyday!! Wahoo! Love and miss you.
Linds and Jess – I hope you guys don’t get offended by the joint thing. I think about you both everyday, and you continue to be in my prayers. I can’t even tell you how much I miss you guys. And I’m still tripping out that there are TWO Frannies….what the heck?! Jess, I got your support letter a couple days ago, I loved it, and it made me miss you even more. Thank you so much for doing that. And tell Hefner that if I go 3 weeks with no comment on this from her, she will face serious consequences. You both requested by birthday off of work, riiiight??I love and miss you both so much.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Peace, Love and Blossom Gardens!
The rain finally subsided enough for all of us to bring the children back onto the porch. The newly found freedom from the indoors must have done something to the children’s spirits because suddenly there was chaos surrounding me. In the corner, a child screamed and winced in pain as a nurse attempted to comb through his coarse hair. Two children fought loudly over one of the few toys found in a room full of children. The older, mentally handicapped kids were running around getting into trouble because of a lack of anything else to do, and a lack of anyone who could really understand them. There were fifteen children unattended and without toys to play with, not 
including the four that lay bed-ridden and forgotten in their cribs. I lay there on the mat as young Ava, fully equipped with her soccer ball, climbed all over me energetically pressing on my full bladder. “Jesus loves you, this I know…” I began singing quietly, as she rested the ball on the floor and her head on my chest. “For the bible tells me so…” She looked deeply into my eyes. “Little ones to him belong, they are weak but He is strong…” Her gaze shifted from my eyes as she watched my lips form every word of the song. “Yes, Jesus loves you, yes, Jesus loves you…” 
My voice trailed off as I noticed how captivated she was by the melody. It was as if, at that age—the tender age of two—she completely understood the message behind the melody. As she lay there quietly studying my face, perhaps reflecting, I looked around at the room I had just known as chaotic. In the corner, where there once was a child screaming in pain, a nurse sat alone. With his hair freshly done, and his cheeks stained with tears, he was laughing hysterically at a silly face that Jen was making. The two children, instead of fighting over a toy, were instead taking turns getting thrown on the mat by Sam. Each of the teammates had at least two children under their care, and each child’s face, whether or not it was smiling,
was beaming. I turned my head to the right, and saw Samantha playing with one of the older mentally challenged girls in her lap—the same girl that was deemed ‘difficult’ by the staff because of the ignorance of her condition. I soon learned that Tyler and Stefene were in the toddler’s dormitory showing love and care to those precious bed-ridden youngsters.For the past two weeks, our team has struggled with fleeting thoughts of insignificance. Why are we here? What are we really doing? Now, in retrospect, I see it; we see it. This is what we’re here for. We’re here to do the best thing we can for these kids—show them the love of Christ.
Many of these tiny bodies have gone through so much in their short lives; many of these wounded souls have never seen or felt true love through their inexperienced eyes, or have only received limited doses from the paid staff of the orphanage or from their unprepared parents. Today was our last day at an orphanage. Next week we’re ministering at different schools, and we may or may not have the time to visit Blossom Gardens one last time. It’s really hard to leave each orphanage knowing that we may never see the fruits of our labor. But, I think the Lord is finally showing us that while some of us (including me) may have come to Jamaica with our own version of this ‘mission to the orphans’, God had His plan. He had (and has) a plan that is far more reaching and longer lasting than any of us could have imagined—a plan with everlasting results. 
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (James 1:27 NLT) <-- courtesy of Tyler’s devotion this morning…Later on this evening, we went out again for street ministry. We encountered some we had previously met, and we met some new ones. En route we got some ice cream at a gelato place, we were entertained by a country-singing Rastafarian man, and we moseyed our way down a private beach, singing songs into the midnight sky. We returned to our ‘home away
Shout out time: Dad, Mom and Angel I love and miss you all soooo much. Mom, thanks for showin so much love on the blog comments. Dad, I should tell you that the camera is amaaaazing. It’s pretty much become the “team camera”—many of the pictures you see on the blog and the hundreds of others you will see come from that great generosity you showed before we left . Angel, you should really start getting in shape now so that when we start training together you’ll be ahead of me (cuz I’m not really running that much.) Oh, and I can’t wait to kiss your soft, chubby cheeks.
Ruuuuth, Bundie, Rachbbgirl and my Homie Leigh: Where my girls at, from the front to back?? Haha…you girls are great and I love all the love you show us. Oh and I love you guys too but keep the comments coming!........or else
For anyone else I certainly didn’t forget, but I may not have mentioned, I’ve got nothing but love for all of you!
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