God's Touch Can Be Felt In Many Ways...

The morning began with us taking a tour of downtown Montego Bay and experiencing the local culture. We visited the Anglican Church of St. James, which has been around since the English controlled the island of Jamaica. After seeing Juicy Patty stores and the National Soccer Stadium, we ventured to the MegaMart for some snacks. The best comparison would be an American Costco/SuperWalmart. The students got good practice at converting their American money into Jamaican dollars. After buying some snacks, we drove along the Caribbean Sea back to the house for lunch.

Our afternoon was packed with more excitement than anticipated. The team headed back into downtown to visit the St. Mary's Parish Infirmary. The island of Jamaica is divided into parishes/districts, and each one has their own infirmary. In America, we have retirement and nursing homes. In Jamaica, the elderly and mentally disabled are dropped off to be taken care of by the government. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of financial support and the nurses are overwhelmed. Our students visited various women's and men's dorms, playing music, singing songs, praying for, and loving on these people. 

Our final activity for the afternoon/evening consisted on heading to a small community for a basketball game. It was an amazing outreach experience because many members of the town came out to watch the games. We played a girl's team with our co-ed group, and lost a close game. Our 5 boys though played hard in the nightcap and tied the Jamaican men 37-37. For those who didn't play in the actual games, they had their hands full with the children...and did a great job of loving on them. 

The weather has been wonderful down here. Praying for a great last few days...will update later tonight about today's activities. You don't want to miss out!