Friday

Did you know that Steve’s brother turned green? This is just one of the many funny stories we all enjoyed tonight as we prepared to leave our Jamaican home. Our day today was full of great fellowship and a bit of excitement. Everyone has mixed emotions about leaving, we love and miss our families back home, but we also love and will miss our new Jamaican friends.

The weather was quite wet today, especially during our VBS. But God’s plans will not be thwarted. Our story team was presenting the Gospel to the students. Several students stayed for a while afterwards to ask more indepth questions, so we know they were listening (with their ears, of course).

We were able to get the full Jamaican experience tonight when the lights went out for a while. Luckily, in this age of technology, everyone pulled out their cell phones, and lit our way out into the moonlight. It only took about 15 minutes for the lights to come back on, and everyone was happy again.

It will be good to be back home, sleeping in our own beds, showering with hot water, and eating Mexican food. God had a plan for our week, sometimes it matched our plan, sometimes it did not. In the end, we hope that we will be able to hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

See you on American soil.

Wednesday/Thursday

Sorry we weren’t able to blog yesterday (Wednesday). Here in Jamaica, the internet is not a “for sure” thing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

To catch you up, yesterday was a great day, not without its challenges, but great overall. Aric has been invited to teach in chapel each morning. The focus of his message has been Joshua, about how the students can be good leaders and how they CAN have a successful life. Joshua 1:7 says “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to follow all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”

Work continued on the various construction projects we began on Monday. The screened in porch is almost finished, the inside of the students chapel is almost completely painted, more ballisters have been poured, and one room of the clinic has been completely splattered (their answer to drywall). When it came time for VBS to begin, we had to herd the students, like cattle. Resistant at first, they were all very engaged in each activity that took place.

Today was our day to rest. We had a grand adventure at YS Falls, swimming, diving, and zip-lining our hearts out. After the falls, we enjoyed Jamaica’s version of pizza on the beach. It was surprisingly similar to American pizza – quite delicious.

Please pray for our team tomorrow, as we are presenting the gospel story to the students during VBS. Some of the students will be out on a field trip, so please pray that the students who really need to hear the gospel will be present.

It is hard to believe that we only have one more full day here at CCCD. When the week began, Saturday seemed so far away, but now it is upon us. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” May God bless our last full day with the students and staff. May His name be praised in everything we do.

Tuesday

Wow! It’s hard to believe that it’s Tuesday already! We had a great day today! Aric shared a verse from Isaiah, where Isaiah was explaining how God had anointed him to preach the Good News. Aric reminded us that each member of our team was hand selected by God to be here preaching the Good News to the students at CCCD.

Construction continued and the work groups did a great job. They will all have lots of skills add to their resumes. Steve and Aric had the privilege of sharing some of their life stories with the students in the classrooms. This afternoon VBS went well, better than yesterday in fact. Games is down on the soccer field outside, and it began to sprinkle so games ended early and we combined the groups, which made all of us finish early. It was nice for us to get ready for our dinner a little early tonight. We went to the “Big Tree” and ate dinner over a camp fire and climbed the tree. The rest of the evening was filled with fellowship and relaxation. Please continue to pray for the students to be open and willing to listen when God touches their hearts this week.

Monday

Wow! Our first day of work, and we will all sleep well tonight. We began four construction projects this morning that included screening a porch, painting the inside of the chapel, making ballisters for the hand rail of the escape stairs out of the back of the school, and working on the second story of the clinic that we tore down our last trip here.

The screening went well and they got most of the frame up and will screen the porch tomorrow. Painting made some good headway and finished about a third of the chapel and intend to finish tomorrow. The clinic team spent the morning sifting sand for the mortar that we will need tomorrow. Today was mostly the prep work for the rest of our work this week. When most people need to add a hand rail onto stairs or a ramp, they go down to the local hardware store and buy what they need. Here at CCCD, home made is the way to go. The ballister team was popping finished concrete ballisters, supports for the hand rails, and prepping the forms for the next set to be poured.

Today was also our first day of VBS with the students. Our story time was all about
Elijah and the prophets of Baal, how God showed His power by igniting soaking wet wood to allow the burnt offering to occur. In games, the kids built cup and paper towers. We danced our hearts out during music time, and decorated tissue paper crosses with our crafts group.

Tomorrow morning and each morning after for the time we are here, Aric will have the opportunity to teach the students during their daily devotions

Overall, it was a good day. We pray that God was glorified, and that hearts were touched.

Saturday/Sunday

GREETINGS FROM JAMAICA!!! Wow, we have done so much in the one day that we have been here. We got off the plane, and through customs without a hitch! Sammie got pulled aside, but was let go before they looked in her bags, praise the Lord. We ate in Montego Bay and then began the beautiful drive to Knockpatrick. Saturday evening we got to hang out and get used to the “Jamaican” way of life.

This morning we went to “Jamaica Deaf Village” and went to “New Life Church for the Deaf”, sounds familiar, right? We were one of three mission teams at the service this morning, as well as the normal attendees. It was a wonderful worship service. We spent the afternoon preparing for VBS and fellowshipping with the students and staff. EVERYONE has been communicating to the best of their abilities, which is really inspiring.

So far the food has been delicious! After dinner tonight, we joined the students for chapel, at which Aric preached. The students really seemed to be enthralled by the notion of a Deaf pastor and were engrossed in the message. Then we spent a long time hanging out with the students. During this time we had a dance class wherein Brad showed us his wonderful dance skills. So far we have enjoyed our time here, and look forward to what God has planned for the week. Now we are off to bed because the sun comes up at 5:00am.

Saturday/Sunday

GREETINGS FROM JAMAICA!!! Wow, we have done so much in the one day that we have been here. We got off the plane, and through customs without a hitch! Sammie got pulled aside, but was let go before they looked in her bags, praise the Lord. We ate in Montego Bay and then began the beautiful drive to Knockpatrick. Saturday evening we got to hang out and get used to the “Jamaican” way of life.

This morning we went to “Jamaica Deaf Village” and went to “New Life Church for the Deaf”, sounds familiar, right? We were one of three mission teams at the service this morning, as well as the normal attendees. It was a wonderful worship service. We spent the afternoon preparing for VBS and fellowshipping with the students and staff. EVERYONE has been communicating to the best of their abilities, which is really inspiring.

So far the food has been delicious! After dinner tonight, we joined the students for chapel, at which Aric preached. The students really seemed to be enthralled by the notion of a Deaf pastor and were engrossed in the message. Then we spent a long time hanging out with the students. During this time we had a dance class wherein Brad showed us his wonderful dance skills. So far we have enjoyed our time here, and look forward to what God has planned for the week. Now we are off to bed because the sun comes up at 5:00am.

Getting Ready

Welcome to the MMBC and NLDF Jamaica Mission Trip 2010 Blog.

We are so excited to see what God has planned for us as we travel to the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf in Knockpatrick, Jamaica.

Our team of 20, both Deaf and Hearing, will be helping with ongoing construction projects, running a Vacation Bible School, and fellowshipping with the students and staff of CCCD.

This is our second team trip to the Knockpatrick Campus and we are very excited to reconnect with the students, teachers, and staff.

Please pray for us as we finalize our preparations and travel on Saturday, June 12th to Jamaica.