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.

God has been so faithful to our team! We are just had a couple days rest after working hard all week. We were able to go to the beach on Saturday, and then today we went to church, and rested around the YWAM base. A couple team members have been sick off and on. Please continue to pray for God's protection over the team as we serve the last few days here! Tomorrow we are going to be leading a devotional in a public school. We will be working with several different ministries this week. Below is the recap of the house we completed Friday!



The house Paula and her four children lived in before we arrived in Jamaica to build her a new home. It was eye-opening for the team to see how this family was living. There was just enough room in her house for two mattresses on the floor.

The home God enabled us to build and provide for her family (24'x14'). We started Monday and by God's grace were able to give her the keys to her new home on Friday. Our team worked really hard. Not only did they work hard, but they also made deep friendships with the people from the village. Many tears were shed when we left on Friday. God really worked in and through our team! Thanks for your prayers! Please continue to pray that this family would grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus, and that Jesus would transform many lives in their village.

Paula sharing after we gave her the keys to her new home. We had a special ceremony where we stood in a circle and each team member asked a blessing over her new home, and when it got to her we gave her the keys to her new home.

Jorden Hinds puts the finishing touches on their new bunk beds. God provided enough funds for our team to purchase a few things for her house as well. We bought a bed for Paula, and for her children, a gas stove, and a refrigerator.

We built the new home right next to Paula's moms house. While we were building our team had the idea to paint her mom's house. We asked her, "if you could paint your house any color what would it be?"and she said, "bright pink!" So while some of the team continued building the new house, others took a day to paint her house. She was really excited about this. I wish words could express how special it was to see everyone working alongside one another. Even the little kids were getting in on the action. Meranda did a wonderful job on the painting crew!

Update Time

Hey everyone!
Amanda here. This is my first blog post of the trip, so I am glad to give a shout out and say hi. Unfortunately, I was sick the first couple days of the building project and so stayed behind at the YWAM base. Through that time here, I was blessed to get to know a lot of the staff. They are AMAZING. Every person here has a total heart to serve and reach the nations with the love of Christ. It's incredible, and we are SO privileged to be here.
In regards to the housing project, the past few days in Lethe have been some of the most impacting days ever, for each of us. We have learned how to work together as a family with love, patience, and an appreciation for everything we have back home. While we miss our families and things about our lives back in the States, it feels as though we have been a part of that community for years. The friendships that have been developed, not only among our team members but between our students and the people of Lethe, are deeper and have made a greater impact on each of us (at least), then anything we could have imagined. Pictures cannot possibly capture the love we now have for those living there, and the way those children have captured our hearts is not something that will die away anytime soon (if ever). Even as I write this, tears fill my eyes as I reflect back on their beautiful smiling faces.

In other news... Briana's birthday was yesterday, so Taryn and I teamed up with Teko (one of the staff members) to make sure a total celebration (dance party+brownies) took place before bed. It was a lot of fun and a birthday celebration I am sure she won't forget anytime soon.

Tomorrow I will post some photos of the actual finished home, the initial place this family was living in, and give an account of what our last day was like. For now, our presence is being requested at the birthday party of someone we don't know, on the YWAM campus for diversity purposes :) and we were just informed we are to sing a song for him. Pray for us! Haha. Love and miss you all.

The birth of a home June 20th-21st

On Monday we arrived in the village around 8:00 AM. This is the village where Paula, also known as Onesha, lives. The road to the village is rough and at some points impassible without 4-wheel drive. Our van made it most of the way up and then we had to pull over and walk about 1/2 mile into the village, which was well received by all. The foundation and cement floor had been finished and all the materials we bought already brought to the sight so all that was left was for us to get started painting, sawing, nailing and creating. The village conditions were typical of most third world countries characterized by survival: bottles and food packages strewn about, barefoot children in torn clothes, houses made from whatever was available and a mixture of curiosity and suspicion from the some of the adults.

We decided to move at a medium pace, not only on account of the intense heat but also because of our emphasis on cultivating relationship with the families of the village and involving them in as much of what we're doing as possible. We divided the group up into four teams: framing, roofing, painting and service\endash consisting of checking up on the teams water supply, sunscreen, other needs and playing with the children who lived there.

It was surprising to us that we are impacting a whole community. We figured that just the woman, Onesha, and her children would be there. However, when we showed up on Monday slowly the whole community from the village showed up and watched for a while and then many of them started to join in and help us hammer nails and paint boards and saw 2x4's. It was an answer to prayer to have such a good start to the project and the relationships.

I think some of the men were among the most impacted. Like was said in an earlier post, Jamaica is in a desperate fatherless state\endash men have forgotten what it is to be a man and don't know who they are. But seeing our community with so many men serving and protecting and honoring and loving our sisters has been a stark contrast to their "survival at all costs culture." You could see in their eyes something come to life as they watched us and talked with us and began to serve alongside us. Yes this is much more than some house for a woman in need. This is a community of Jesus followers showing a community in bondage and confusion who Love really is, showing them a new way to be human. Please continue to pray for people of peace to be raised up among this village community. We met one person of peace already. His name is Marco, 19 and works (sometimes, like all the men, when work is available or if they want to) at a water bottling company. After praying with one of our team he recommitted his life to Jesus and we got to minister to him more today, even had him pray for one of his friends to be healed. We need these forerunners to be set on fire for God to continue to bring the community of God's Kingdom to the village.

After day two of construction we have four walls up, one internal dividing wall in, all the rafters made and painted, and the trim painted. We'll probably finish most of the construction tomorrow and go into town to buy some basic furniture items for the two room house.

Lee shares with Marco

Ryan on the framing crew

The team raising the first wall.

Some of the village shows up to help

Jake the gentle loves on some kids

Andrew and Christy with some of the children from the village.

Saturday June 18th-Sunday June 19th

We rose at a leisurely hour Saturday morning to allow enough time for everyone to adjust their sleep schedule and catch-up from what was lost during travel. After a late breakfast we had a team devotional and many of us briefly shared about what God was speaking to us (each morning before the day gets started we are doing a short devotional time in the Scriptures led by a different team member each day and in the evenings we are studying through a short study about Father's heart for the nations). After our devotional we set out for two outreaches at homeless/crisis shelters.

We arrived in downtown Montego Bay at Open Heart's Charitable Mission around 11:30am and spent sometime hanging out with people who began to gather for the meal we were serving. These were Jesus' people, in need of hope. Suddenly, after we had started some conversations we were instructed to load back in the van and were off to another similar mission, though we would come back later. We drove about 10 minutes away to the Bridge of Hope Center, that housed around 30 or so people in crisis circumstances, many of which had mental disabilities. All the residents gathered outside and Lee led out in some worship songs and Ryan shared a brief devotion from the beatitudes. Then we spent a while just talking with the residents and loving them with out attention and listening ears. 

We said goodbye and headed back to the Open Heart's Charitable Mission and began to lead a similar time with some worship and a short devotional time. This time we actually served them some chicken and rice with some cabbage and spent time in and around the mission engaging with people. One woman, sitting across from the mission on the street, told Kendra, "something is pouring out of that place [the mission]," so she sent her daughter, 8, over to see 

what was happening. The Love of God came in that place, and many people received the truth that they are loved and not alone. Please continue to pray for communication. Many of us had difficulty in understanding those we were speaking with. 

Sunday we geared up for church and headed out in our Sunday best, dresses for girls and nice pants and collared shirts for guys...hot! We loaded in the van and drove downtown to a church called "Sold Out." It was somewhat charismatic in nature and very loud with... exuberant, shall we say, worship–lots of clapping anyway. It was a short service weighing in at about 3 hours. Afterwards, we took a half day at the beach. Incredible beauty unfolded before our eyes: the blue-green water, the majestic clouds and even some snorkeling, almost hard to believe we were there.


Well, we rise bright and early tomorrow to set out to begin building the house for Paula though the Homes of Hope program. We surveyed the property the house will be built on Saturday. It's probably only about 10-12 miles from the base we are staying at but it takes 45 min-1 hr to drive there because of the poor roads. It's out in the bush, which increases the adventure all the more. 

Taryn praying with a woman named Rose, 49 and mother
of 10, in a very difficult situation at the Open Hearts
Charitable Mission.

Jorden being his welcoming and gentle self, at the Bridge
of Hope Center, and loving everyone.

The team at the base dressed for church and ready to go.

Arrived safely in Montego Bay

Our flight from PDX to Charlotte was delayed an hour so we ended up flying out about 11:15pm PST. It was a pretty turbulent ride the whole way so each of us got an hour of sleep or so at the most. Luckily we had abundant grace and were able to catch our connecting flight from Charlotte to Montego Bay with about 20 minutes to spare. We arrived in Montego Bay at half past nine after a roller coaster-like landing!

We made it through customs without any hangups with the exception of Briana who managed to get taken aside because of some confusion with the customs officer. Thankfully after having all of her luggage thoroughly searched she was allowed through with everything intact. Communication is key.

Later we saw a little of the city on our way to the YWAM base and received a warm welcome from the staff here. We got acquainted with and settled into out accommodations and had lunch and dinner together, meals duly welcomed after not eating breakfast and having no sleep. We all did our best to stay awake today in order to sleep well tonight. After dinner we laid out a tentative schedule for the next few days. Tomorrow (Saturday the 18th) we are serving food and building relationships at a homeless shelter/drop-in center and leading a devotional/worship time there as well. We're praying for divine appointments. We start building a home for a woman named Paula Young, a single mother of four, on Monday and should take us 3-5 days to complete, with other ministry opportunities at schools and children's homes happening alongside.

It is pretty warm and humid here! There were a few cloudbursts today...which temporarily caused the humidity to spike.

Here is the view of Montego Bay from the front of the main building on the YWAM base.
This photo was taken as the sun was setting about 650pm (CST) tonight.

Only one day left until we leave...

The Real Life team is preparing to fly out to Montego Bay, Jamaica on June 16th 2011. We depart from PDX a little after 10:00pm PST and have a brief stop in Charlotte, NC and then we're scheduled to arrive in Montego Bay at just before 10:00am CST.  

Our team of 18 will be building a home for a family in need, serving at the Youth With A Mission base in Montego Bay, serving at orphanages, facilitating assemblies in local schools, prayer walks and taking Father's Love to the streets and those in need.  

Please remember to intercede for us that a door of effective ministry would be opened for us and that we would walk in great boldness and power!

Real Life Jamaica 2011 team 

Front (L to R): Lucy, Brandon, Lee, Brianna & Christy. 

Middle: Taylor, Kendra, Amanda, Taryn, Meranda, 

Anna & Andrew. Back: Jacob, Chad, Ryan & Jorden. 

Not Pictured: Madison & Margaret.