From Racine, WI to Belmont, Jamaica. My friends, we have arrived! We got in safe and sound at the Donald Sangster International airport in Montego Bay. The "MoBay" airport is typically known as the more 'touristy' airport, as there are many flights coming in daily and the north coast is the heart of the tourism industry, which Jamaica thrives on.

Today we were able to meet some folks from the church at a Bible Study led by our very own team member, Patrick! It was great getting to know some of the church members and begin experiencing what life is like in this rural community. We just finished our orientation meeting and time of worship and are all very tired and looking forward to a good night of rest.

Tomorrow brings a new day and new opportunities to serve God. We'll be going to a home for mentally and physically disabled children and visiting homes throughout the community of Belmont. We're looking forward to an awesome day to kick off our ministry!

Signing off from Jamaica for now,

Your Grace Church Mission Team.

Yesterday was an amazing, action packed day! We started the day by visiting some church members who are too old or sick to make it to church anymore. With Pastor Richards leading the way, we met some amazing individuals who have been part of the Belmont church for many, many years. One woman who really stood out to us, Milicent, is a young 95 years old and was one of the founding members of the church. We had the opportunity to sing with her, pray with her, talk with her (as she is still very sharp) and in turn be blessed by her amazing example of a Godly woman. Pastor (or "Pasta" as it sounds like the Jamaicans call him with their accent) gave her communion and joked with her as we were all blown away by her strength and testimony.

After we visited several homes, we had a traditional Jamaican lunch, Patties with cocoa bread, and headed off to Westhaven Children's home. Located a good ways into the hills of Jamaica, Westhaven is an oasis for about 80 children who are all mentally and/or physically disabled and are now wards of the state. The staff and funding is minimal, but the facilities are well kept and the children are in good spirits. At the same time, there are not enough resources to really give these children the love and individual time they crave. We had a BLAST visiting with these children and loving them like Christ would! Touching little ones that most would not dare to touch, carrying some around, hugging them and singing with them were some of the activities to name a few. The crowd favorite was Dave playing as the children sang along, knowing all the words. It was very humbling to say the least.

As we talked last night we are already feeling the powers of your prayers and we ask that you continue.

Taylor with a friend who did not want to see us leave.

We took a group picture with our new friends at Westhaven.

Friday was yet another awesome day! Starting the morning with a traditional Jamaican breakfast of Ackee and saltfish with fried dumplings (aaaaaand maybe some french toast. . . not so traditional) was a great beginning. We're really starting to dig in to the culture and even starting to understand the language a little. Well, ok, very little. :) Our first of two days of our children's program was Friday and although not as many children showed up as we expected, the ones that did come had great one-on-one time with us and they all were going to invite their friends out for Saturday.

Ina di aftanoon (in the afternoon) we got involved in some service projects. Some helped clean up around the community and some painted parts of the church. Of course intertwined in the afternoon was some soccer and playing with the children. Many of us found out how hard it is to get oil-based paint off of us.

Friday evening we had a game night for the community. The children played bingo, chutes and ladders, and monopoly as well as some card games while the men sat outside and played the manly game of dominoes. Dominoes is usually played outside of bars and clubs and is a gambling game that men play by slamming down the "bones" to show their superiority. It's been a great ministry of the Belmont church to get men to play dominoes in a church environment and offer a devotion afterwards. This gets men more comfortable with coming to church in a non-threatening environment and gives the church men and the pastor a time to minister to them.

We finished our evening with a time of group reflection and prayer to thank God for our week so far and to ask Him to bless the rest of our week. Thank you again for your continued prayers. We're looking forward to our day Saturday and church Sunday morning!

Lynn gets some help from some of the children in cleaning up trash around the Belmont community.

Heather gets her hair done by some of the girls while Naomi and Tabitha lend a hand.

Terri plays a game of monopoly with some of the children for game night at Belmont Baptist Church.

Another awesome and fun filled day! We started the day once again with the children's program in the morning. As expected, the children from Friday brought their friends back for the festivities. We spent the morning, and much of the afternoon, playing sports with them and putting together several crafts related to the Christmas holiday. The children were ecstatic to have an angel (or two. . . or more) and make a baby Jesus in the manger for crafts. There were so many soccer balls on the playing field all day that nobody left for lunch and just played all day long.

In the afternoon Pat volunteered to paint a new sign for the church. So he spent the better part of the afternoon on a ladder and ended up with a little sunburn on his calves. It turned out perfect and is a sign of what God has done through this partnership that will last for many years to come. Pastor wanted us to take it easy and finish up early since we had Watchnight service at 10pm. But we ended up playing and talking with the children and others from the community just as long as planned, if not later.

At 10pm we came back to church for the Watchnight service which is a traditional New Years Eve service in Jamaica. Many people want to start their new year out right and often means being in church at midnight when the new year starts. There were a LOT of people at the service and about two dozen committed the new year and their lives to Christ that night! There was no better way to end 2011 and start 2012 than that!

Pat painting the new Belmont Baptist Church sign!

Sunday was our last full day of ministry with the Belmont community. We started our morning with church after finishing up with the Watchnight service around 1am the night before. So we were all a little tired, but we were blessed to share some songs with the church and Pat and Terri brought a message of hope for the new year. The church was blessed from this message and we spent some time saying our goodbyes and giving our thanks to the church for being such a blessing to us this week. It was hard to say goodbye (as had been the case all week) but we know in our hearts we'll see them again someday.

In the afternoon we went to the St. James Infirmary. An infirmary is basically a nursing home without the care and facilities that we would expect to see in the states. There is adequate care and facilities, but just enough to take care of their needs and not enough to give them the attention they deserve. We spent several hours there singing with them, hugging them, and simply lending a listening ear for their testimonies to us. We were all very blessed by our time with them and, again, were sad to leave them.

Your prayers have been felt as we have been serving this week. Thank you so much!

Lynn talks with an elderly woman at the infirmary who ended up getting a new Bible Sunday afternoon.

Monday was our day to relax and celebrate what God has done for, through, and to us this week. We spent the day hanging out on the beach, visiting the shops and seeing what it is that drives this country. . . tourism! After our day we had our first (but certainly not last) taste of the famous jerk chicken that Jamaica is known for. While finishing up the evening with an extended time of worship and debriefing, we all agreed that we were certainly blessed to have spent the week SERVING the people of Jamaica rather than spending it doing what tourists do while they visit. Tourism is Jamaica's number one income, but we KNOW that our time laughing, playing, crying, eating with and worshiping with the people of Belmont was worth so much more than any tourist could provide or experience! Thank you for your prayers this week. Tuesday we will be back with you and we are so very excited to share all that happened this week!

Today we said our final goodbyes to Pastor and to all that have been with us and helping us serve this week. It was difficult to say the least, but we know that it's not goodbye forever. We stopped by the church and went to Garland Hall Children's Home before heading to the airport. It was great to be around the children one last time before we left. We spent time playing ball with them and just talking and hanging out. They loved it and so did we! Again. . . it was very hard to say goodbye, but home awaits us with all that the new year and our new found perspective on life has to offer. See you very soon!

Pat gives Kendra one last scruffy hug