Jamaica Update

Wow! I did not realize how much God would work in me this week. I have been blessed beyond belief and I really can’t even begin to explain in mere words all that has happened inside of my heart this week, but I will at least attempt it. At the moment I am sitting out on the front patio of the guest house listening to the waves roll in on the beach. It is not the stunning setting that you might imagine or that you see on postcards and in the movies, but it is beautiful none the less. It was trashy when we arrived, however the locals have cleaned it since we have been here and it is now a pleasant place to spend an afternoon walking with a warm breeze blowing in from the ocean.

Speaking of the “locals,” I have grown to love them. They have touched my heart in ways that I never would have imagined. I have numerous things going on back at home but I still will have a hard time leaving my new friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. The children are very loving and trusting. They are beautiful in their own right and have stolen a piece of my heart. I had a hard time learning to communicate with them at the beginning of the week however I have started picking up the native slang that they speak called “patwah” and can now communicate rather well. Their national language is English so speaking with adults and older kids is much easier but I now find myself talking in “patwah” terms as well.

I mentioned earlier that God has blessed me, oh if I could only count the ways. Every time that I have been able to speak God has touched me tremendously. Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to give the morning devotion to the local public school. The kids were very respectful, much more than back in the states. They sang numerous songs and they were all about Jesus…… Praise the Lord!! A public school teaching their kids to love and worship Jesus in everything that they do! Imagine that happening back home – no way!! Somebody would be sued for everything they owned!!! We have been able to do some more construction projects and hopefully been able to help some families out in a small way. We also conducted another medical clinic and painted another church in a town called Orracbessa. As far as fun, me and my dad got to go deep sea fishing today. It consisted of a twenty foot oversized canoe with a motor, a fishing line and our hands, no fishing pole or rig at all, just hands. No luck with the fish but we did have a great experience!

Again I don't have a lot of time to update and all of this information is just barely scrapping the tip of the iceberg. I am hoping that when I get home I will be able to collect my thoughts and tell you all everything that happened. Again thanks for all of the love, support and prayers that you have all given me. I look forward to seeing you all and sharing more of my experiences. As of the moment we are looking at coming back during this summer but if you are interested in joining me please let me know. See you all soon. Much love and God bless!!!

Jamaica

Just wanted to give a quick update on how the trip to Jamaica was going. We do not have great access to the internet so this is the first chance that I have had to update. I hope that I have another chance before the week is complete.

We had a great flight into Jamaica with no problems going through customs with all of our bags. That was a answer to prayers to say the least. After arriving we a 2+ hour ride by van to the place where we are staying, it was definitely an interesting ride. They drive on the wrong side of the road and wrong side of the car, and we had a driver that has never driven in Jamaica before..... like I said interesting! When we got to the guesthouse (the place that we are staying) we had a wonderful supper waiting on us. It consisted of jerk chicken, Jamaican potato salad, slaw, and corn fritters..... it was amazing just as all of the food so far has been. I even tried some fish for supper tonight, and I hate fish, but it was pretty good to. We have a sea side place that we are staying, so we wake up in the mornings to the sound of the ocean and the cool breeze blowing in as well. The guesthouse does not have all the American amenities that we are all so accustom to like hot water, air conditioning, unlimited water supply, bright lights, etc., however it is actually better than what I was expecting.

The culture here is vastly different than ours. To say that some of the team members are in "culture shock" is an understatement, however everyone is getting use to it by now. We have met some incredible people and some new friendship that I hope will last a lifetime.

I have had the blessing of being able to speak three times while here so far. Once each on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and tonight at a midweek youth service. All three were amazing experiences and will never be forgotten. God has truly blessed me through each occasion. We have seen numerous come to Christ while here and one baptism in the ocean. God is definitely moving through out team members and I hope that each and everyone of them are having the same great experience that I am!

We have to date, worked on new stairs for the church, held a medical clinic, rebuilt two chicken coops. made new steps onto the side of a hill for easier access to the chicken coops, participated in some preschool classes, and many other things. We have numerous other endeavors planned as well.

I really don't have the time, or energy for that matter, to write about everything that we are doing right now. But please stay tuned in the future for more details. Please continue to pray for me and our team as we look forward to what God has in store for us the rest of the week. I know that tomorrow is bring a full day of events, I even get to go speak at the public school in the morning Love to all that are reading and God Bless!!

So What's With The Title...........

Well, I'm glad that you asked. I remember a story that I read some years ago about a group of climbers that set out to scale a high mountian. This would be a long trip with grueling days of hard climbing ahead of them. As they set out on their journey they could see the summit, its beauty was something to behold. The snow capped peak set against the blue sky was a breath-taking sight and it highly encouraged all that were taking the trek. It was on days like this that they made their greatest progress. Seeing the top allowed them to press forward toward a common goal, to work together as one, and to direct their thoughts and energy to the summit ahead of them. However, this was not always the case, there were other days. Days when there were clouds in the sky, days when the peak of the mountain could not be seen. It was during these occurrences that the climb became demanding and difficult. Instead of all eyes being focus upward on the same prize, they were cast down toward the ground or outward toward other things. Complains and grumbles were a common replacement for the high hopes and dreams of those long forgotten eye-catching, stunning days.

Man, that sound like us doesn’t it?? When we are able to see that peak, as long as the goal is within sight there is nothing that we can’t do. But as soon as some obstacle gets in our way, as soon as our vision meets resistance then we become discouraged believing that all is lost. Just like the hikers lost sight of the summit we too lose sight of what has been set out before us. And when this happens we start trading our once unstoppable vision for the eyeglasses of an ordinary life.

That, however, is not how life was purposed. We all have been given a vision of the Summit! This is why God sent Jesus to this world, so that we could see Him. The problem with the world today is that the clouds of sin have surrounded us and we have forgotten the majesty of the summit. We all have personal goals and dreams; something that our heart has been set on to achieve. But, all of these visions have something in common, we must strive after them, they will not come to us. In stark comparison, our Salvation came to us! We don’t have to imagine the summit on cloudy days, it has already been revealed to us in the form of Jesus Christ. John 3:3 tells us that “unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

God came near, and getting a vision like that can be like starting a whole new life. We must take our eyes off the grounds of our own lives or off those around us and train them towards Him. We must become like Peter and become eyewitnesses of His majesty. And that is why the blog is labeled as it is, I have glimpsed the peak, I have seen the summit, and because of this I refuse to quit climbing until I reach the top. God has given me a vision that I refuse to let stand idly by as Satan devours the people of this earth. So let no mountain stand in your way, because you have already seen the summit!!