The End of Another Meaningful Week--Jamaica 2015

Not many international mission teams can say that the President of the United States followed them out of the country, but we can! President Obama is the first sitting president since 1982 to visit Jamaica; he is on the other side of the island in Kingston but we got to view some pretty big government planes at the Montego Bay airport. He is making a 2-day stop in Jamaica on his way to Panama for a large summit of Caribbean leaders to discuss security, energy, and many other topics. Feel free to read more about his Caribbean trip: President Obama in the Caribbean

Today was our free day to celebrate our work this week. We traveled into downtown Montego Bay for the dreamer catamaran. The boat pushed away from the beach and we sailed into the Caribbean Sea with the coastline still in sight. When we got to the area where we would be snorkeling, a fin emerged near our boat. We were excited to track a dolphin swimming right around our boat! Once most of us geared up, we got into the water for a nice snorkel over reefs and with Jamaican fish.

After snorkeling, the catamaran took us to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville on the water and we had 1 hour to play on the aqua park, slides, and look around the restaurant store. The ride back to the beach was choppy at times due to an incoming weather pattern but the sunshine was nice. We headed back to the house to shower/clean up and get ready for dinner. Before dinner, we did some last minute shopping at the Whitter Plaza and the team picture below was taken by our bus driver Chris. 

At the end of our dinner at Margaritaville, we took some beautiful pictures of the ocean and of our team broken down by grade levels. It is a tradition each year that I get a picture with the seniors, and these guys have been tremendous leaders this year!

SENIORS

JUNIORS

SOPHOMORES

FRESHMEN

It has been a great trip and we are ready to come home and see our loved ones. A few reminders for our return flight tomorrow:  Delta 360   Departs Montego Bay at 12:03pm. Arrives in Atlanta at 3:55pm. INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL. It will probably take us at least 45 minutes to get through immigration, security, and pick up our bags. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

We Are All the Lord's Chosen People Regardless of Age

Home phone number where we are staying: 304-945-7384

If you need to reach your children the last day and a half, you can use that number. Students will be getting their phones for 1 hour before dinner each evening and they will be collected all other times due to overuse of technology/distractions.

The morning started off by going to St. James infirmary. This is our 4^th year visiting the infirmary and it is amazing the number of people still there. The property is divided up into men’s and women’s cabins, and that is how we divided our team.  The girls engaged in the laying of hands on the women, singing, reading scripture, and praying for them. Some of the women included Gloria, Florence, and Marissa. These women sang along with Amazing Grace and their favorite passage included Psalms 23. It was a wonderful opportunity for our team minister to the elderly of Jamaica. Our guys did the same in the men’s cabin.

 

Earlier in the day, our seniors had asked if we could do a meals mission this trip and we would need to come out of pocket on money. I was blessed by their servant’s attitude and so we had $300 in our team funds that could go towards supplies. Pastor Doug and Jerry went to a wholesale market to buy us $300 worth of rice, beans, and cans of mackerel. After lunch, our team did shifts on the assembly line for getting the meal bags ready. We then headed to the Salter’s Hill community to distribute the meals. Each bag contained 1 5-pound bag of rice, a small bag of red beans, and 5 small cans of mackerel. Our team was able to put together 59 meal bags total. The families live up in the hillsides and our team scaled the slopes to reach these appreciative families.

After we finished handing out meal bags, we journeyed up a winding hill to an orphanage called the Robin’s Nest. The organization that we have been working with was instrumental in the building of this orphanage that overlooks Montego Bay. There was a high school group working on painting and mortar, and our group got a tour of the facility and to speak with some interns. The orphanage is smaller than Blossom Gardens, and has functioned without a water pipe. Brother Jerry had helped in the wiring and infrastructure of the house.

Below you see a picture of a very old Baptist church that sits up at the top of the mountain where the Robin's Nest is located. Many slave rebellions occurred throughout Jamaican history as the people sought their independence, and this is a historical artifact that has survived almost 300 years. 

It has been a long but successful day serving various communities around Montego Bay. In the evening, we will be heading to a church in Riverside for youth revival night. Everyone should sleep well tonight!

I will begin posting return information for Friday and alert everyone if any changes occur. Tomorrow will be our excursion day with a catamaran for lunch and our farewell dinner at Margaritaville on the beach.

Remember to use the house line listed above if you need to reach us!

Befriending the Motherless and Fatherless

We visited Blossom Gardens, which is the largest orphanage in Jamaica and is run by the national government. The children range in age from babies to younger grades. They can house up to 60 children at one time and had 42 kids as of today. This orphanage will transfer children to other orphanages throughout the country or even foster homes when available. Many of the children were abandoned, abused, or neglected, while some of them are temporary residents due to custodial battles. Because of the children's situations, no photographs or videos were allowed to be taken. So I will do my best to paint a vivid picture of our morning. Here is a link to the website of orphanage: Blossom Gardens

The orphanage was on a hillside overlooking downtown Montego Bay and the Caribbean Sea. There was a refreshing breeze coming in from the ocean. Our group arrived and started playing on the playground with children who were aged 2-6 approximately. GAC Elementary PE teacher Kristy Shelton had donated tshirts, jump ropes, and kickballs from JumpRope for Heart and the children enjoyed playing with the supplies. We were able to leave the items as a mission-based donation from GAC. I have included a picture below from online, and this picture represents the joy of the children we were with today. Several of our students also took turns with the babies, from helping with hair braiding to feeding time to rocking them in our arms. I was taking mental pictures of how much love our students were pouring out on the orphans.

Later in the day, we headed into downtown Montego Bay to the famous St. James Street. Our group had the goal of handing out devotional books with the story of Romans and salvation. We walked single-file down the street and eventually wound up at the straw market, where several of the students were able to find Jamaican souvenirs. More souvenir shopping was done at night for those who didn't want to barter at the market. Many of the students have had their first encounter of a true Jamaican grocery story and paying bills in JAM (Jamaican dollars). The weather was great today and we are looking forward to a busy day tomorrow!

Lending a Helping Hand to Families in Dumfries

Our morning started off earlier today as we headed back to Dumfries to help out a family of the church community we visited with yesterday. The matriarch has lived with her son in the red structure below. A construction team recently built a 16'x16' living space for her so she can move next door to her son. You can see the below and after photos...our kids did a complete coat of primer to get the building ready for a future group to put exterior color on. After the first painting stop, we moved closer to Bethel Baptist Church and completed a smaller 10'x10' coat of primer. The family is also members of the church community and graciously offered our team some coconut water to try!

The Jamaican sun was hot today. After we finished up painting, we returned to the house for lunch and to get ready for an afternoon at the beach. Because it was Easter Monday, the beach was pretty crowded with locals since most businesses and schools were closed. Happy to report that everyone used their sunscreen and reapplied generously! As a trip leader, I had the opportunity of teaching a few of our girls how to float, kick their legs, move their arms, and making progress toward being swimmers!!! We might practice again in the pool at the house before our catamaran/snorkel adventure, but I was very proud of Blair and Brianna! Tomorrow we will be headed out to the largest orphanage in Jamaica and will have a chance to connect with youngsters. These children will be sent to various smaller orphanages or possibly to foster homes. We plan on using supplies from GAC's Jump Rope for Heart to have a great time with the Jamaican kids!

Easter Sunday: He is Risen

Regardless of what part of the world you live in, we can find a way to celebrate one of the best events in the history of the Christian religion. The sun rises early here and we had plenty of time to get ready for church service and our afternoon activities. We returned to Bethel Baptist Church in the community of Dumfries. This is a special place for our team, as we helped build and paint an apartment addition for the pastor and have worshipped with them for 4 strait years. Church service had an Easter theme and we sang a collection of songs, including Up From the Grave He Arose. Some of our students had prepared music for service and they did a great job performing for the Jamaicans. It is amazing to see students use their talents to bring God's glory to others.

After church, we ate some lunch on the bus and got ready to play against the community volleyball team. This tradition started 4 years ago and the Jamaicans have gotten exponentially better each year. Our students played hard and it was a great way to reach the community members through sports. While the game was being played, many of our team members played with the children who had been in church earlier in the morning.

 

We concluded our evening back at the house with dinner, some pool time, and team time, where Coach Edwards taught the team a concentration game which made for some great entertainment. We will be up a lot earlier tomorrow morning with painting on the agenda, and we are looking forward to a great day tomorrow!

GAC Returns to Montego Bay, Jamaica

It's that time of the year again when spring break rolls around and students & teachers have some time away from campus. Families choose from an array of options...family vacations, college visits, rest, and mission trips. I'm so blessed by our group of 15 students and 3 chaperones. After arriving in the country, we were pleasantly surprised by no line in Jamaican customs...which is very RARE. We were picked up by our pastors outside the airport and have settled into our home for the week. Everyone is doing well, and we started off our week of evening devotions/team roundup. As a group made up of students from all grade levels and experiences on mission trips, the challenge has been set  to focus on others before ourselves this week. Looking forward to the week ahead and all that is in store for our group!

The Process of Building & Growing a Family

Our final day in Jamaica consisted of a 2-hour drive through the Jamaican countryside to the southern coastline. We visited the Black River, which runs through 44 miles of the country before it empties into the Caribbean Sea. We boarded a river safari and encountered Jamaican wildlife from birds to crocodiles. A few even swam right up to our boat and the river guide discussed how they interact with them in a safe, trainable manner. Following the ride up the river, we visited a baby sanctuary where younger crocodiles are kept to avoid them getting eaten in the river by adults.

 Our afternoon concluded with a drive back to Montego Bay and our farewell dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. It was a great way to bring our week's worth of activities to a close.

Tonight's devotional was very special as it was led by our seniors: Landon Tabor, Mayla McCray, Savanna McKellar, and Grace DeBoer. Between these four students, they have been on the Jamaica mission trip for a total of 12 years!!! I have been blessed by each of them and they concluded the week of devotions with a challenge to grow our Jamaica family when we return to school.

Landon: "After 4 years of being on the Jamaica Mission Team, I have grown so close to everyone who has ever come with our team. I had an incredible 4 years leading with these 4 seniors and I love them all so much. I have told our whole team thank you tonight for making our last trip as memorable as possible. I have grown with all of guys on this trip and consider all of them to be my brothers. Lane helped me beat 2048 and for that I am eternally grateful. I love you all who have helped us with the Jamaica Mission Trip and remember, 'We never have problems, just situations'. "

Mayla: "Tonight we wanted to remind everyone that our mission team is not only a team that serves together but a family that is always there for each other. Family is not an important thing. It’s everything."

Savanna: "The seniors closed out our trip on a fun, united and light-hearted note. This was a great conclusion to a productive trip. I will definitely miss the unique bond that GACS mission teams develop and share."

Grace: "We wanted to end our trip by creating a funny reminder of our tight bond we have formed throughout this incredible week. Whether we are lifting multitudes of children onto our back or hiding in the bus from questionable men, we have stuck together through it all. To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there. I have been so blessed by this group and I am happy to have spent my last year with this family in Jamaica."

Fulfillment/Achievement

Day 5 started off with a return visit to the Canaan Primary School located in the Dumfries community. We have visited this school the past two years and led a devotional/played in recess. This school serves grades 1-6, and then students head to high school. Dr. Hill shared the message about the power of words, and left a powerful challenge to the school.

After visiting the school, we met at the church to eat lunch and gather meal bags that had been packed the night before. The bags were distributed throughout the community and consisted of beans, rice, and mackerel. It was truly eye-opening for our team to get out into the hillside of Jamaica. It was estimated that our group walked 4-5 miles in the sun for about 2 hours. It was quite rewarding and fulfilling to help families provide for the upcoming week.

We then made our annual stop during visiting hours at the St. James Infirmary. We started off in the women's ward at the base of the property and finished at the men's ward at the top of the hill. Many of the faces encountered were still there from last year. There was much pain and suffering, but our group continually reminded the residents about the power of God's love.  

As you can tell in the pictures, the team received some true Jamaican sunshine today. The team devotional for the night was based on fulfillment and achievement. It was led by Austin Cushing, Damani Bailey, Emily Gilreath, and Blair Zakas. They have shared their thoughts and reflections from the day below.

Austin: “Today we visited the infirmary and it was really eye opening. We walked from house to house, visiting men and women in their late 80’s and 90’s. It’s amazing how much joy singing the first verse of “Amazing Grace” or “Lean on Me” can bring to someone’s day, especially someone living in such rough condition.“

Emily: “Today we started off playing with kids at a primary school, and then went off to deliver food in the area from the church that we packed the night before. After delivering food, we went to visit the infirmary and that really gives you a new perspective. I saw one man who was helpless and sick in bed, hardly having any ability to move. Then he began singing and when I found that he was singing a worship song, I almost broke down in tears. Seeing him having nothing, but filled with so much joy brought so much joy to my own heart and that in itself was rewarding enough to come on this missions trip.”

Damani: “When I first signed up for this trip, I did not really know most of the people on this trip. I didn’t really expect to interact with too many people. Now that I have spent time with these people, I can say that I love every single person on the team. I feel like we have grown to be a family and I have made friends that I would not have were it not for this trip. After working together to bring joy to people with so little and glorifying God, I know that this is an experience that I will never forget.”

Blair: “Today we handed out food to the citizens of Jamaica on the streets. It was very eye-opening to see their homes and how different their life-style is compared to how we live at home. We have much to be thankful for and it has been cool to see our team work together and leave a lasting impact on peoples lives.” 

Tomorrow is our final day in Jamaica, and we will be traveling for our culture day. There hasn't been much change to our return flight home on Friday. Information is listed below and I will update again on Thursday.

Delta 304

Depart Jamaica 3:02pm

Arrive Atlanta (International Terminal) 6:59pm

Perseverance: Being Steadfast in Something Despite Difficulty

Day 4 started off with a visit to the Martha Brae Basic School. We visited this community last year to work on the house of the Riverside Baptist pastor. This schools is a lot smaller than ones we have visited in the past, and is located on a pretty busy street in this town. Our group went into the one-room school and led praise songs with the students. The stories of David & Goliath plus Jonah were told to the little kids. Then all the GAC kids paired up with little kids to color with the books and crayons that we brought to donate. The principal/teacher was a friendly lady who was extremely grateful for us spending some time with them today!

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Chukka Adventures. This was a new activity that we tried out this year and it didn't disappoint. We began with an adventure challenge course that involved harnesses, platforms, and cargo nets/swinging. The next activity involved ATV's and a scenic tour of the Jamaica hillside. After a relaxing lunch in the shade, we loaded back up in the harnesses and completed 2 MASSIVE ziplines. We took a bus ride up to a Great House and ziplines from the balcony back down to the Chukka property. It was approximately 1,400 feet in the air with a nice breeze blowing in our faces. The second zip went through the canopy and took us over the Martha Brae river. We then worked our way into tubes, went down a slipslide, and finished with a relaxing float as a group on the river. Our afternoon was such a unique experience and a great time was had by all. Happy to report that no injuries occurred while at Chukka Chukka Choo Choo!!! We also had great tour guides who really looked after and took care of our group.

After getting back to the house, the group worked as an assembly line to pack food bags for the community in Dumfries. The bags consist of beans, rice, and mackerel. Pictures will follow of those bags being distributed on Wednesday.

The devotional theme for tonight was perseverance and was led by Taylor Wright, Parker Stevens, Rachel Gilreath, and Njisane Adesegun. They wrote more about their preparation, so I'll just allow their comments below to give you an idea of tonight's devo.

Taylor: "Today was another reminder of how our team is not just a team, but a family. No matter what we are doing we are always encouraging each other. Perseverance is something that is constantly needed in Jamaica. The weather is hot and the kids we work with constantly want to keep going. We have to think about their needs before ours in order to accomplish what we came here to do."

Parker: "Each person has God given talents, but we need to learn to step out of our comfort zones to express God’s love for others and ourselves.  We need to persevere through the good and bad times to be able to fulfill the talents we have been blessed with."

Rachel: "In our devotional, we talked about persevering through hard times, even though some times may be awkward and out of our comfort zone, we still need God’s strength so we are able to persevere.  I read a verse (Isaiah 12:2) that talked about how we need God’s strength to do anything and to be able to get through hard times because without God’s strength, we can’t do anything."
Njisane: "In Philippians 4:13 the verse talks about putting your faith and trust in God during bad times. In life we are going have to face hardship. God wants us to turn to him and keep pushing through. In the rope obstacle course today, we had to go through a series of difficult challenges. To some people the obstacle course was easy, to others it was difficult but both of them had to face and complete the challenge."