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!