After spending a day traveling to Minneapolis, spending the night in a hotel, all to catch an early flight to Jamaica, the team has arrived. The travel was not without a minor scare as the flight out of MSP was delayed a little over an hour. The layover in Atlanta was only scheduled to be a little over an our, so our pulse was racing a little. But our God is good and we made the connection and arrived in Jamaica almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

After a quick drive to the hotel we settled in and started to enjoy the AC of our hotel rooms. We munched on some pizza and had our orientation meeting and then prepared for worship tomorrow. Of course the night would not have been complete without a chance to try out the swimming pool. It was a perfect way to cool off before what is sure to be an awesome week of ministry.

Sunday is the day for worship and we woke up this morning to find a slightly overcast day in Jamaica. The cloudy skies will not dampen our enthusiasm for worshiping our God today.

With half of the group heading to Roehampton Baptist Church and half heading to Belmont Baptist Church, we knew that we would have the opportunity to impact more people for Christ today, along with worshipping with more of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Being able to participate in the worship service with the local church provided us with the opportunity to experience how the Jamaican church worships the same Lord. With exuberance and excitement in their voices they taught us some new worship songs today. Both Courtney and Matt had a chance to share their testimonies, Pastor Allen preached a well received sermon and ""Rob's band" led some songs as well.
After the service and a large lunch we headed out into the community to invite children to VBS the remainder of the week. This also gave us the chance to meet some of the locals and share with them what we were doing in Jamaica this week.

The evening was spent in a choirs-in-praise concert that included choirs from over 10 different churches in the area. We had a chance to join in and share some of our favorite songs as well. The concert was a success, but we were tired after 2 1/2 hours.

It was indeed a long day, but we feel fulfilled in what the Lord has done through us this day.

Courtney shares her testimony during the service as Belmont Baptist Church.

Pastor Allen shares the message at Belmont Baptist Church

Monday was our first full day of ministry not connected to a day of worship. We woke up this morning excited about the possibilities that the Lord has placed before us.

We returned to Belmont to spend the day with our friends from the community. The morning started with VBS at Belmont Baptist Church. Even though the program was slated to begin at 9:00 a.m., we have to remember that we are on "Jamaica time." The kids from the community were just starting to trickle in at the official start time and we have a chance to play some small games with them. As the morning progressed, more and more kids arrived. By the time VBS ended at noon, there was a good and exciting group on hand hearing the message of Christ.

The afternoon was scheduled for sports ministry, but just before we were going to begin the skies opened up and the rains poured onto the land. That however, did not prevent some of the team to enjoy playing in the rain and sliding across the field. The local Jamaican kids enjoyed watching us get muddy and soaked from the safe and dry location under the roof of the church.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon doing some home visits to local shut-ins in the community. Several of the team visited a woman who could not walk, but "scooted" across the floor of her home. Others visited a blind man, who received the life-saving message of Jesus Christ for the 1st time.

With all the kids and adults we had the chance to build relationships with, we came home back to the hotel tired and exhausted from the day. We can't wait to see who we will have the chance to interact with tomorrow.

This morning started similar to yesterday morning. After our trip up to Belmont we had the chance to lead the community kids to Bible stories and songs as part of VBS. With a few more kids then yesterday we excitedly shared and led songs for the day.

After an amazing lunch in the community provided by our local cooks we had the opportunity to work as an intercessory for God's blessings to rain on the community of Belmont and the people living here. Through our prayer walking we prayed for the church and their ministries, for homes and families, and for schools as we passed by. There is nothing that God's hands can not impact if we ask Him.

After prayer walking we traveled a little ways by bus to the Westhaven Children's Home. Westhaven is an orphanage for children with mental disabilities and Down Syndrome. Even if we were a little nervous when we arrived the children easily put us all at ease as they greeted us with hugs, smiles, and open hands. We spent time playing ball, cricket, dancing and sharing Christ's love with them even though we were unable to use many words.

The evening started with a Bible Study lead with the leader of the Georgia team. He challenged the team with an engaging study.

The evening ended with dinner at a local favorite, Jerky's. There is not much better than ending the day with some jerk chicken and festivals. Wonder what a festival is? Ask one of the team members and they will tell you.

Miller helps a young girl from Westhaven Children's Home get to the area where the dance will be.

Keenan shows off his soccer skills with some young Jamaican players. Maybe we'll see them in World Cup 2018.

One of the projects that the team is workong on this week was the removal of an old retaining wall that was falling down and the building of a new block wall. Here you see Matt working to take the old wall down.

A couple of the many kids that have been attending VBS.

Some are wondering who the wettest and mussiest was from the other day in the rain. Believe it or not it was not Keenan. Quinn takes the honors, hands down.

Today was our final full day of ministry. We were challenged last evening to make sure that we give it our all as we never know how we might be able have an impact even in this last day.

The morning of VBS had the largest number of kids of all the days. It was exciting to see so many faces singing the songs that we had been teaching all week long,

While most of us were helping with VBS the rest of us got an early start on the painting of the church exterior. The exterior was painted a darker brown to help hide the dirt that would be kicked up from the soccer field across the street.

The others continued working on the retaining wall as well. Pastor's wife shared the significance of the tearing down of the wall that had been built by their ancestors who were slaves. The building of the new wall speaks to the liberation from their past and their moving forward.

In the evening we had a final Bible Study and closing worship. The worship was a time of sharing thanks for all that God had done for us during the week. Some of the local youth shared their appreciation by giving a key chain gift to each member of the team. They shared that it was all they could afford, but they wanted to express their thanks through some measure.

We finished the day by saying good-bye to our new friends with hope of seeing each other again soon.

Our final day in Jamaica was a day of recreation. We spent the day on the beach at Doctor's Cave and shopping along the Hip Strip in Montego Bay. We had a great day and would like to tell you about it. Please be sure to ask.