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.
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