off to church....

Good afternoon.  We had a couple of power outages so far today so it has been hard to post.We had breakfast at 9:00 and we cleaned up and headed to church at 10:00. It took an hour to get to the church. but it was worth  the long drive. We experience a traditional  Jamaican church service. The music was uplifting and very moving. There was no pianist playing and you didn't even miss it. There  were about 20 members that raised the roof with their voices. We had the honor and   privilege to witness a young man get baptized. What was so awesome about it was that we walked to a river not far from the church. He was baptized by immersion. This was a very moving experience to watch. Deb and Corey read scripture. Susan gave the children sermon.  Our whole group got up and sang a song. We also shared communion with each other. We were treated with water or juice and a treat after the service ended. It was pretty awesome that they thought of us.

We loaded at 2:00 pm for our hour ride home. For dinner we had the traditional meal that Jamaicans have on Sunday. Rice, beans, chicken and calaloo. It was very good. Lots of relaxing time tonight before our hard week ahead. The kids are spending the beautiful evening playing basketball with the local kids.

BoroBridge Methodist Church

attending services.......

attending the baptism down by the river

 

pick up basketball game at York Castle High School

they came back hot, tired and happy

sunday dinner as prepared by Miss June, our hostess
we will all gain weight while we are here!!

June is also a gardener

 

there are so many beautiful flowers here!

I am updating the pictures in the morning again........everyone is still sleeping. Work hard-play hard!! We have heard rumors of a tractor and bucket today.......we will see!!  It will be a long week of hard work but we are well rested now. All is well:)

Day 2- Relaxation time!

Ocho Rios

Today started out at about 8 o'clock with a breakfast of fried dumplings, baked beans, and toast with peanut butter. It was once again a very delicious meal! So far on this trip, there has yet to be a disappointing meal. Morning quickly lead to an interesting start at the local market. There were hundreds of shops to go to, and many interesting sellers to converse with. It was very overwhelming at first to walk through, but we got used to the constant sales pitches coming from every direction. Or as used to it as we could... After about two and a half hours of shopping around, our smaller groups met at Burger King for a very American meal. After dropping our bought goods back off in the van, we took a short trip over to the beach that was only a couple minutes walk away from where we ate. For many of us, it was a return to the ocean, but for a few it was their first time seeing it. It was a great experience for everyone though. The sand was as white as could be, and the view looked as if it was from a post card. The water was very warm, especially compared to our normal Minnesota temperatures. After a good four hours of swimming and playing in the water, most everyone was pooped out. After washing sand off, and changing clothes, we managed to pick ourselves up and make the trek to a local restaurant where we had some Jamaican pizza. That also, was a very very good meal. All in all, it was a very successful and relaxing day.

ahhh, this water is refreshing

 

 

 

football....water style

 

jumping for joy at the beach

 

 

circle of friends

 

 

 

 

pizza at Johnny Crow...the ending of a great day at Ocho Rios

 

 

Good morning...I posted some pictures of yesterday.  It is difficult to get enough bandwidth at night so  keep checking back.  We are having breakfast at 8 and leaving at 9 for a day of shopping and the beach:)  We are going to a craft market in Ocho Rios....local handmade items and some t shirts, etc.  There are also some nice shops around.  Should be a fun day.

For all you parents and grandparents out there, you would have been so proud of your kids yesterday.  They worked like troopers and we worked hard!! Wheelbarrow loads and bucket loads of rock and dirt moved into the playground area for fill.  We have more of the same on Monday. Black dirt will be added Tuesday and slides installed.  No complaining and lots of laughs and smiles.  They treat each other so well. Very fun............

Have a great day!!

Day 1- First day at the work site

 

 

The day began at 7:15 AM. We had a wonderful breakfast. Our work-van arrived at 8 AM to take us to our work site. As we embarked on our 45 minute journey to the work site, our Jamaican driver infomed us on new trivia about Jamaica. Some of the new information that we found interesting were that there are so many students, the school day gets split into two shifts. The first one starts at 7 in the morning and runs till noon. The second shift starts at noon, and runs to 5 PM. Another bit of information that we all found interesting was that the average income for a Jamaican family is around 50 dollars a week.

Once we arrived at the work site, we were still a bit confused on what we were going to do for the day. This confusion cleared up very fast when we got shown a big pile of dirt (and rocks) and a hole that we had to fill that will eventually become a playground for the nursery school kids. We had two wheel barrows, and about seven buckets to complete this task. Luckily, not too far into the task, we were welcomed with some much needed help from some of our Jamaican friends. In the hot sun, and humid weather, we were very lucky to be relieved by pastor Earl when he brought us fresh watermelon, pineapples, mangos, Jamaican apples and some cold water.

The hot morning quickly bleed into a very delicious meal that we had the pleasure of smelling being cooked all through the morning. Our meal for lunch consisted of fried chicken, rice and beans, and some mixed vegetables. It was super yummy!

Our work for the day came to an end with half the dirt pile gone, most of the hole filled in, and all of us covered in dirt from head to toe. We all have concluded that it was all in a good days work!

Below: a panoramic view of our work site.
next:  the pile of rock and dirt to be moved....
third:we get help from some local jamaicans:)
fourth: smiles and dirt at the end of the day
finally........beautiful poinseitta tree

We made it:)  It was a busy day but we arrived safely.  We were greeted at the airport by Pastor Earl and his son Andrew.  It was a very adventuresome ride to Browns Town........words here can't do it justice.  We got settled in our new home and had a great meal and a team meeting.  The boys are watching basketball, the girls laughing somewhere and the old guys are already sleeping:) 

I have already typed a long blog entry with pictures and then lost it all.  So this will be short.  We are here safe and sound, ready to get to work. Breakfast is at 7:15.  Bus leaves for Eccelston at 8 am....

Our morning scripture was......pray
in the Spirit, pray for everything you need.  Prayers answered!!

Let The Adventure Begin!!!

 

It started out like we had planned.........and then.........

Everyone arrived at the church at about 2:00 am and we were on the road by 2:15.Pastor Sharon said a farewell prayer for us and Verne started up the bus.  So far, so good.

We arrived at the airport about 4:30 and checked our luggage (everyone made weight:) and then through security.  So far, so good.  We wandered down to the gate, excited to get going.  Some people hadn't been to bed and were going to nap on the plane. And we waited and waited. About an hour later we found out there had been a problem.  The fuel truck hit the plane and it was inoperable. No replacement plane was coming to get us and we would all be rebooked..........

 

So about noon, we finally made some progress.  It is very hard to get 14 people on a re-booked flight. At 3:30 today we will be leaving for Dallas and then on to Atlanta to sleep, arriving in Jamaica about 2:00 tomorrow............only about a day late.  There for awhile we thought we might have to call Verne back. 

 

Now that the kids had a nap and we all ate a hearty lunch, the smiles have returned and we are eager to get going.  We have made contact with our friends in Jamaica and they know of our change of plans.  So,we are all fine and the adventure continues:)  

 

 

 

Commissioning Service

Sunday June 16, 2013

 

Thank you Pastor Sharon for a very touching service.  The entire service was designed

to bless our team and send us safely on our way.  After the service we met for a short team meeting. I think there was excitement but also the "what have I gotten myself into" feeling. A trip of faith...........

 

Today, everyone is frantically doing last minute errands and packing.  2:00 am will come awfully early.  Thank you so much Verne for driving us to the airport:)  Hope you get a nap when you get home!!

 

Tomorrow at this time we should be on our way through the Jamaican countryside.  Our destination...Browns Town.  Sounds like home.................We'll post more when we are on our way.

 

Thank you to all those who have helped us on this journey.  This trip has been 6 years in the making.  Many hands have helped, many Pizza Ranch plates have been carried:) We ask for your prayers as we come to really understand the connection between faith and action and prayers for the safety of our team and our families and friends at home.