We Don't Say Goodbye, but Rather See You Soon

After being home for a few days and getting adjusted back into our hectic lifestyles, we can't help but think about all the people we encountered over the previous week and the lives that were touched. We are reminded of how fortunate we are to be able to travel to different parts of the world and share the love of Christ with others. Each student I see around campus makes me think back on meaningful memories from our trip to Jamaica. I can't tell you how much it means to see our team using social media to tweet/retweet/favorite/post on Facebook about experiences from the trip and how much they already miss our time on the island. I'm encouraged and reminded as a leader of the impact that a mission trip can have on the individuals serving. Who would have thought three years ago that dreaming of serving in the Caribbean would turn into something so powerful as this. I'm very blessed to have the opportunity to lead such a unique group who left as individuals and returned as a united family. My desire is for more students to be able to experience a mission trip, whether it is ours or one of the many other ones offered by Greater Atlanta Christian School. Is it too soon to begin planning next year? I can't wait to see what is in store for us and the Jamaica 2014 team. Here is one final photograph from our trip that I hope many will remember for a lifetime. Yeah mon!!!!

                   -Coach Martin

Jamaica 2013 #Family

Encouragement: Seeing the Lord Work Through Our Team in Many Ways

Today was our final day here in Jamaica and we had a chance to see how beautiful the Lord's creation truly is. We departed the house and drove to Cornwall Beach in downtown Montego Bay. We lathered up with sunscreen and boarded the Island Dreamer catamaran for our boat tour. The boat ride took us out into the Caribbean Sea and we watched planes fly in overhead. The water got to depths of 200feet and higher!! The boat then turned and headed back towards the shore, and we reached the prime snorkeling spot 900 yards out. We all put on our masks, gear, and fins, and got into the water. There were 4 waterproof cameras and so those pictures will be developed upon our return. It was amazing how we could see coral reefs below us followed by schools of colorful fish. The coral would be a few feet below us then drop off to very deep areas. Each kid kept their life vest attached as a safety precaution. After getting back onto the boat, we cruised the Bay and stopped at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville aqua park. The students had a great time with all the floatation devices. We finally headed back to Cornwall Beach and spent the rest of the afternoon on that beach with the iceberg.

The Jamaican sun is a tad stronger than what we are used to, so we all got PLENTY of it. We cleaned up at the beach and headed to Margaritaville for dinner. They pieced together tables on the rooftop overlooking the water and we had a great final meal on our trip. It was nice to sit back and reflect on how blessed we were to be able to come here. Upon returning to the house, several bottles of aloe were used and we are hoping to be in less pain to travel home.

Tonight's Devotional Group: Caity Barker, Andy Irwin, Ethan Langston, and Landon Tabor

Our theme for the devo tonight was encouragement. We read verses regarding different forms of encouragement throughout the Bible. (Proverbs 12:25, Acts 20:35, Ephesians 4:29) We then went around the room and all said something encouraging about every member of our team. It was interesting to hear everything our team has done this week and how much we have impacted each other.

Andy Irwin: “Tonight was a night filled with Aloe, burns, and bonding.”

Caity Barker: “Throughout the course of the week, we have gone from a mission team to a family.”

Ethan Langston: “Being within feet of the Jamaican coral reefs was an experience I’ll never forget.”

Reminder that our flight time is 1 hour earlier, so we will be landing at approximately 6pm. We hope to be through security and customs in 30 minutes. We will turn phones on once landing. Thank you for your prayers during our trip and keeping up with our travels. See everyone Friday evening in the International Terminal in Atlanta!

Community: Together As One

The day started with us heading out to Canaan Primary School located in the town of Dumfries. This is the same community that we played volleyball earlier in the week and is also the school that we visited last year. We arrived and the team lead the David & Goliath devotional. The principal gave a brief introduction of our visit and then allowed us to speak and sing to the students. The students then spoke their school motto, prayed, and we were dismissed to the field for recess. The GAC team had parachutes, kites, soccer balls, and open hearts for serving the children.

After departing the school, we headed to the town of Falmouth, which is the home to Jamaican Olympic runner and world-record holder, Usain Bolt. This town is also important for the country of Jamaica because it is a popular cruise port. Today, the largest ship in the world (Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas) was docked and we drove through town to see it.

We returned to the house for lunch and departed for the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf. This was one of the nicest properties we have seen in Jamaica (property, location, lush green grass, housing facilities, and personnel). Our boys scrimmaged the students and went on to win 5-3. During halftime, all the students participated in an Easter egg hunt with candy. There was a nice misty rain that helped keep our team cool. We played another soccer game against ourselves and the final score was 4-4. This was a very humbling experience and we hope to learn some sign language to allow for better communication next year with the students.

Tonight’s Devotional Group: Grace DeBoer, Jack Zuckerman, Sam Harte, and Will Kenworthy

We started the devotion by reading some verses about community. The verses were Isaiah 42:6-10, Romans 12:3-10, Hebrews 10:24-25, 2 Corinthians 8: 4-5. We connected the verses to the theme of community and led a group prayer.

Shortly following, we led teams of 4 up the stairs one at a time to take part in an obstacle course that we created in one of the rooms.  Each team had a team captain (picked by us) that was allowed to walk through the course using their feet.  However, the rest of the team had to get through the course without using their feet (hands, knees, etc…).  We saw everything from the captain giving piggyback rides to the participants crawling on their knees and hands with their feet up.  At the end, they all had to get into a chair to stop the clock.  There was one more catch; NO TALKING. 

The groups worked furiously to complete the challenge they were given. Many groups chose to walk on their knees, carry piggyback, or make a human wheelbarrow. Many stepped on obstacles and were forced to pay the price. The best team clocked in with the staggering time of 1:26 min. Overall, we were able to bond together and understand a sense of strong community.

It is hard to believe we have only 2 nights left of our trip. Tomorrow is our cultural/free day and we'll be out in the sun/on the water for most of the afternoon. One piece of important information...our returning flight to Atlanta will be leaving 1 hour earlier and our estimated arrival time is 6:02pm on Friday evening. We will have to go through customs and retrieve baggage, but should be out in the INTERNATIONAL terminal between 6:30-7pm. 

Success: Everyone Has Their Own Definition

We said goodbye last night to our driver Artnell who was visiting the states for a few weeks to see family. We were greeted this morning by Michael and he was full of energy for the ride. Along with his spirit, we were enlightened by the ritual boys music medley for the bus ride. We headed up to Martha Brae and helped Pastor Kelly on his house. It was built several years ago with plywood and has since been destroyed by termites. He had some plans made and the renovations will be improving his family's quality of living plus doubling the living space. It was a warm day and the team worked hard moving cement blocks and building a trench to lay foundation. One of the toughest things about the Jamaican ground is the presence of roots. The team also got to view a children's home on the church property which is run by JAmericans. The goal is to start housing children over the summer but the paperwork process is difficult in this country. Once a few children are placed, then the parish will continue sending kids until they physically can't house anyone else.

The temperatures rose throughout the afternoon but we had nice bursts of breezes while in the hillside. After lunch, the team headed to Doctor's Cove beach for some time to cool off.

Tonight's Devotional Group: Brandon Bradley, Blair Zakas, Lane Langston, and Madi Licata
The theme for tonight was success. A quote that we saw on the wall of the children's home was "We live simply so others can simply live". God didn’t put us on this earth so that we can be successful in things that don’t matter. He does not care about money, cars, sports, etc. He cares about us giving the attention that he deserves. We are successful in all of the little things such as putting smiles on the faces of the people that we are here to serve.

Luke 6:20 says: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

"Our group talking about real success instead of what most people think success is really relates a lot to how we are serving in Jamaica. Serving is so much fun!"

                          -Madi Licata and Blair Zakas

"Don't worry everyone...we found the Kool-Aid!!!"

                          -Brandon Bradley

Strength: We Sometimes Become Weak But HE is Strong

A new day and another set of experiences for our team. We departed the house to head to the Wee Care  basic school in downtown Montego Bay. We arrived and led some interactive worship/praise songs for the 3-5 year olds. Our group also role-played the story of David and Goliath as a part of the devotional. They taught us some of their praise songs and hand motions. We finally had some time to interact and play with the kids before they had to head back to class. 

We then had a chance to tour the St. James Anglican Church. This church was hosting a funeral last year so we didn't get to see the interior. This is the oldest church in this parish, and still operates with daily functions. The students got to see stained glass windows and historic pipe organs and bells. After touring downtown, we stopped by our usual picture spot to take some photos!!!

                     

We returned to visit the St. James infirmary for an afternoon with the men and women patients. This facility has been opened for over 70 years and houses the elderly and those with physical and cognitive disabilities. The students toured multiple buildings singing and praying over the patients. It was a humbling experience and we got to see some of the patients who we prayed for last year.

We concluded the day with a trip to the straw market in downtown and to a local gift shop. The students were able to buy coffee, gift items, and the boys traditional "Maica X" bracelets.

Tonight’s Devotional Group: Tori Khan, Emeritus Morris, Tayler McPherson, and John David Parker

We talked about have the strength and perseverance to stay with God through this week and in our personal lives.

“I personally was touched and shed tears when Mary (woman we met at the infirmary) was singing ‘Oh Happy Day’ with Mayla, Andy, and I. “

-Tori Khan

“I am glad that the group came up with a strength activity. The competitors’ efforts (especially BB and Landon) perfectly captured our message that those who give all of their strength the whole way through will succeed.”

-Emeritus Morris

“We used our devotional tonight to show our group how we need to use our strengths to the best of our abilities. Even those who are weak physically or mentally can be the strongest of people as long as they have their faith in God. “ 

                        -Tayler McPherson

“Still can’t find the Kool-aid…”

            -John David Parker

Unity: The Calm Before the Storm

Sunday is the day that the Lord has made, so we will rejoice and be glad in it. We were reminded at church that every new morning is something special and tomorrow is not promised to us. We visited the community of Martha Brae and attended church with Pastor Kelly. We will be returning to this community later in the week to work on his house and play our annual basketball game. The team prepared a song for the congregation and did a great job leading today. The service lasted roughly 2 hours with a combination of music/worship & the message.

   

We headed back to the house to eat a late lunch and change for volleyball. This rematch would occur in the community of Dumfrees. Last year, we played a best out of 3 game. We won the first game but the fatal ice cream scooter was our downfall. This year, we went up quickly and won the first game. The Jamaicans stormed back and won the next two games; our students quickly called for a best out of 5. Through some very intense points and rallies, our GAC squad emerged as victors in game 5 and will look to defend our title next year =) While most of the team played and cheered for volleyball, some of our girls tirelessly played with the Jamaican children. The weather was overcast with some nice afternoon sprinkles so no one has gotten burned yet! Following our game, Pastor Doug did a devotional with the community to conclude our time in Dumfrees.

Tonight's Devotional Group: Sydney Foxworthy, Rachel Chupp, Taylor Wright, Savanna McKellar, and Mayla McCray.
Tonight we talked about unity. Our main focus was to make us unified as a team, not only here in Jamaica, but also when we get back home. We played games and had a lot of fun together.

"I feel like this team is already so close and I can't wait to see how the rest of the week goes." -Sydney Foxworthy

"Today was really a great way to start off the trip. Everyone has such good attitudes and we all really work well together." -Rachel Chupp