That's a Wrap

We would like to thank all of you who followed this blog and prayed for us! Your partnership for the sake of the gospel of joy has enabled us to go further and longer than we ever would have on our own. May Father reward you all for your faithfulness.

Thursday morning, June 30th, we had a time in the morning to digest and unpack the trip and all we had done and seen. It was an important time in the Spirit as we came to see things from God's perspective. Later we had a time to pray of and encourage each other, sort of an abbreviated "Barnabas" circle.  Afterward we got one last chance to walk around the base and absorb as much as we could of the beauty and people. We packed up and were on our way to the airport by 9:30AM PST.

At the airport there was a final last test of our patience. Lines, lines, lines and just when we thought we would pass out more lines. We waited to check in for about and hour at least and then waited to go through customs to exit the country for another hour, which pushed us right up to the limit to make our flight to Charlotte, NC. It was a smooth flight, thankfully, but one that was running behind schedule. When we finally got off the plane we only had about 1 hour and 5 minutes to go through immigration and customs, re-check the couple checked bags we had, go through the TSA checkpoint and then get to our plane to board. We thought it would be impossible. All of us were in a scramble, some going this way others going that. Miraculously we all ended up at the gate to board our flight, coming in pairs of two. they held the flight an extra ten minutes for us, because our team of 18 was large enough to make that sacrifice. An extra miracle was that Brandon lost his boarding pass for this flight so had to go through the extra step of getting another boarding passed printed in the already impossible line of checkpoints we had to go through.

But through it all we managed to keep spirits lifted up and encouraged by the grace of God. After two flights full of great and divinely blessed conversation/interaction with other passengers we touched down PDX on time around 10:20PM exactly 2 weeks later from the time and place we departed!

Some of the team getting ready for take-off on the way home

Our team was really encouraged by the compliments we received from the YWAM staff, that felt refreshed by us and quickly bonded to us. Even the TSA agents enjoyed us, saying "you guys made my day." Now if that isn't favor I don't know what is. Great team. Great purpose. Great God.

Thanks to all.

We had a little trouble getting pictures loaded on our last blog. The picture we are posting now go with Lee's last update yesterday. We can't believe we are leaving tomorrow. Two weeks went fast, but a lot has happened. Tonight is our last night at the base and we will be leading a church service on the base. Every Wednesday the base has "Community night," and we will be doing the worship and teaching for it. We also will be sharing some of our testimonies from the trip. Please pray that our team can be a blessing to the YWAM staff and other teams staying here. God has taught us a lot on this trip! Thanks for your continual prayers!

It's been a joy waking up early each morning and having devotions as a team. It's easier to get up early when you look out your window and see a beautiful sunrises like this.

Our team led Monday morning devotions at the public school near the YWAM base. Amanda, Taylor, and Lee led them in some fun songs, and then Jake shared the Word with them. There were so many kids in a small school building. It was a joy to share briefly with them.

Granville School of Safety: Maggie, Lucy, and Taryn shared in front of all the girls. They did a great job. We also had worship with all the girls. Some have come our of horrible situations, and have had really hard lives. It was awesome watching our team interact with the girls and just love on them. We were able to pray for a lot of them, as well as, just sit and listen to them. We also talked to the director. There are so many women there in the small facility. Their government helps fund it, but they are pretty overwhelmed at the school.

Anna and Taylor pray for a young girl at Granville School of Safety.

Jorden interacting with some of the girls at Granville.

Our visit to "West Haven" was a special day for all of us. The kids were very sweet. It was definitely stretching and out of our comfort zones, but they loved playing with us and they had a lot of joy. We also were able to pray for some of them. We helped feed them, and played games with them for a bit as well. A few of them loved cricket, so we bounced the ball towards them and they would swing as hard as they could. It was an honor to get to serve there.

Our last work day on the YWAM base (Maggie, Christy, and Kendra). We raked lots of leaves and dug out several drainage canals that were clogged from heavy rain storms. It was hot today, but turned into a tropical rainstorm by afternoon!

Chad & Brandon

Lee & Anna

We've spent lots of time in a bus together. Usually making up songs as we travel!

Our rest day at the beach in Negril, Jamaica.

Lucy and Brandon take a turn jumping off the cliff. The cliffs were on a very beautiful setting.

Jake's all smiles after jumping off the highest point (35 ft). The local guys would climb up a platform above the cliff and jump off (over 75 ft high).

Dinner at Scotchies; Jamaican style. We had a lot of fun on our day off.

Sitting on the left with out team is Nick & Ashley with there two children Judah & Moleeq. Nick has been our host at the YWAM base and the one that led the Homes of Hope project. Our team has enjoyed becoming part of their family. We decided as a team one night to send them out for a special date-night while we watched their boys. They were really blessed and had a wonderful dinner together.

The YWAM staff has been converted to BEAVER fans!!!! GO BEAVS!

Recap Saturday June 25th-Tuesday June 28th

Saturday:
After completing the house for Paula and her children we got to take a day off and go to Negril. We spent sometime on a beautiful white sand beach that stretches for about 7 miles and relaxed in the warm, salty jewel blue Atlantic. A few people rented jet skis...girls just want to have fun you know. Later that day we went to a place called "Rick's Cafe" and some of us did some cliff jumping! to all of you concerned parents don't be alarmed it's supervised by lifeguards and there was no real danger. Probably one forth of the team jumped off the high place which was about 35-40 feet above the water. It was a thrill to conquer the fear. I could feel God speaking to my soul about the parallel between loving and trusting and saying yes to Him and the never-going-back-reality to jumping off the cliff into the ocean. Later we went to a market and a few people bought souvenirs. to finish the day we went to a restaurant called "Scotchies" named after the scotch bonnet pepper that grows in Jamaica. It was authentic Jamaican jerk chicken and pork and plenty hot. It's been fun to be able to minister to whoever comes across our path even during our days off. 


Sunday:
We went to a church in Montego Bay called "The Meeting Place" a ministry of "Trumpet Call Ministries International." Quite a name, and an apt one. Trumpets are loud and the church service was blasting the ear drums of all. It was a awesome worship time and the word ministered to us all. Later we went to a more authentic Jamaican craft market to get more of a taste of the city and its people. We took the rest of the day to hang out around the YWAM base and encourage one another and spend time with the Lord.


Monday:
Back in our normal routine of team devotions at 6AM, breakfast at 630 and ready to go by 715. Today we walked down to an elementary school and led a worship and devotional time and prayed over the students. Jake shared with the children about having a mature relationship with Father and being an example in the things of God (1 Timothy 4:12). It was a brief but good interaction. We headed back to base and after about an hour wait we loaded up on the bus and headed for "Granville School of Safety," a home for abused/troubled girls between 8-17 years of age. That was a hard place, greatly in need of the hope and redemption of the Gospel of the Kingdom. We came in and did some worship and Maggie, Lucy, Jake, Brandon and Taryn shared words of encouragement/exhortation and testimonies. Later we got to just hang out with the girls, about 70 in all, and talk and pray. It was a really important time to sow hope into their lives. You could see in their eyes a longing to hope battling the fear of being hurt and broke one more time. God only knows their stories and the awesome destiny He has purposed for each one. We came back and finished the day with dinner and our team time in the evenings. We processed the events of the day, prayed and studied through a packet we brought with us called "Xplore," a six-part lesson on God's global purposes and heart to reach the ends of the earth with the Gospel.


Tuesday:
Our morning event was cancel so we all got extra time to ourselves in the morning. I was so encouraged to be part of a team that makes the most of extra time to read the Scripture and pray with each other. Later in the morning we loaded up in the bus and headed for a place called "West Haven," a home for mentally and physically handicapped people from small children to adults. It was way out in the bush. The hard to deal with people isolated in a hard to reach location. This was an interesting and different day of ministry. There wasn't a whole lot of verbal communication. However, there was a lot of love demonstrated through holding them, spending time with them, feeding them and playing games. It was obviously stretching for most, if not all, of the team. But we have been praying for God to teach us how to love like He loves. One thing was clear: they wanted love not sympathy. After we left West Haven we journeyed back to the village where we built Paula's home for a final opportunity to encourage them and say goodbye. We had to walk pretty far this time because the bus we were travelling in wasn't able to make it up the road that leads to the village, most of the time four wheel drive is required. When we had finished saying goodbye we headed back to the base and chilled until dinner. We are preparing for our final full day here in paradise. Most likely we'll be doing some heavy labor here around the base because some things we had planned fell through.