Our team safely arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport this afternoon after a slight delay on our flight from Miami. After loading up our bus we headed into Kingston. Last year our Salem Bible Church youth team flew into MoBay so this gave us a chance to see a whole new side of the island! Since only a couple of us were on the trip last year, our first stop had to be Scotchie's! We had some great Jamaican Jerk Chicken at Scotchie's and enjoyed our drive out to Hartlands and Old Harbour Bay. Tyler, Caden and the other guys drove with George, our PPM leader for the week, while the girls stayed with Carl (our bus driver) and the luggage on the coaster. We had a chance to stop at Hartlands and see the school, church, and our ministry area. We're eager to get out there tomorrow and begin ministry! Tonight has been full and we're all tired! We worshiped with the Old Harbour Bay Baptist Church this evening and had a full orientation meeting. We're already excited about what God's going to do this week and we thank him for this opportunity. We're working on uploading a video greeting from Justin and hope to have it up tonight. God bless!

Our team taught some sports and games to the students of the Hartlands Primary School this morning! We had a great time connecting with the kids and we're looking forward to returning tomorrow as we continue our ministry in this little farming village!

Chloe digs hard as our afternoon focus was on digging trenches that will help establish a firm foundation for a sidewalk that we're building this week. Aaron, our work leader, showed us how to make a pick ax with logs and sticks! This is rural Jamaica at it's finest!

Today our team continued our partnership with the Hartlands Primary School and spent time in the classrooms reading, mentoring students, and helping with studies. We also did some more sports with the kids at the local field. Our work project is coming along well as we were able to lay a row of block today that will establish the foundation for the sidewalk we're working on. Tomorrow we'll be at the school in the morning and in the afternoon we're visiting a couple of homes to minister to the elderly. Please continue to pray for protection and provision for our team as we serve. God is so good!

More pictures to come tomorrow!

Our team continued our ministry at the Hartlands Primary School this morning. Although we were absolutely attacked by mosquitoes at the play field, our time with the students has been rich and fulfilling. We pray they're learning a lot from us both spiritually, academically, and through our sports ministry. Our work is going well also on the sidewalk and we hope to finish tomorrow! This afternoon we spent some time at the May Pen infirmary. You can see Jake here talking with one of the residents. It was a great opportunity to love on some elderly and mentally disabled persons and we thank God for the ministry time we had at the facility. Tonight we're joining the Hartlands church for worship, led by our team!!!

Despite the challenge of mosquitoes we had a great finish to our time of ministry in Hartlands at the Primary School and church. Our team finished pouring the concrete for the walkway that will help the children stay dry and safe from the flooding when it rains. Today we're heading to Ocho Rios for some fun in the sun!!

Today we had the opportunity to go to Ocho Rios, a cruise ship town on the north coast. Our team enjoyed God’s creation, shopped, swam, and relaxed after our hard week of ministry. We went to Dunn’s River Falls, a national park which features a gradual waterfall that flows into the ocean. After Dunn’s River we had a wonderful time of debriefing and worship and enjoyed a fine meal overlooking the sea. We’re now back and safe at the Old Harbour Bay Baptist Church and will begin our journey home tomorrow. We’ll post some photos from the last couple days tomorrow!