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!!!