We all made it! Not without some excitement, of course. Before even arriving to the lodging we went the spend time with the folks at the St. James Infirmary where our bus refused to leave. We had a great time with the residents there while a few struggled to get the bus out of the clay. It became quite a spectacle after a couple of hours. From there we went to dinner and back to the hotel. There were a few late flights and delays but we all made it safe and sound at our hotel. The team is fantastic! Good senses of humor, and relaxed attitude. They will fit right in with the Jamaicans! Continue to pray for us this week and we will come back with plenty of stories on how God has used us to serve the Cacoon Castle Baptist Church and their community. No doubt we will learn a lot from them as well!

Well it's been another lovely day in paradise! The community of Cacoon Castle received us well today. We led the Worship Service and Some of the Sunday School this morning. The people were so beautiful and warm, it was great to worship with them.

"I thought I was coming to give them something, but I didn't know it would be the opposite. I received so much from them," was the comment I heard today. No doubt many of the Jamaicans love Jesus and have a lot to teach us as well.

We began setting up the dental chairs and tools today. A few people from the team put in some long hours completing the setup and met us back at the hotel later. The team is full of hard working people dedicated to serving Christ with all the have this week.

Tomorrow is the first day of the dental clinic. I'm sure there will be many people anxious to have the service. Other projects include: Tiling the church floor, backfilling the pastor's manse (parsonage), painting cement walls inside the church, and pouring concrete.

Thanks for your prayers, more to come...

YAY GOD!!! Droubt is not a problem in Cacoon Castle today. For the farmers in Jamaica today gave them their favorite type of sun, "liquid sunshine", blessing the community with a driving rain throughout the afternoon, but not setting back the team at all! Today kicked off the beginning of the work week in Cacoon Castle. Cotton swabs, drills, picks, hammers, mortar, tile, rock, paint, more rocks, and water, lots and lots of water. That is what took place in the Cacoon Castle community today.

The dental crew kicked off their week by seeing 44 patients today alone, and registering a total of 139 people for dental work to be completed in the next three days with many more registrations anticipated. The dental clinic brightened up the smiles on the Jamaican's faces, not only because of their skilled work on the teeth but also because of the joy and upliftment they brought to the people who had been in need of dental care for months and even years. The spirit of the community was lifted and it definitely did shine through in the smiles!!

The contruction teams successfully began the process of backfilling the pastor's new home so he might be able to pour concrete for the flooring. The crew also managed to tile two thirds of the Cacoon Castle sanctuary as they used hammers to chip up the concrete and then poured the mortar and set the tiles.

Finally the VBS crew left the children begging for more but with glowing smiles on their faces. With face painting, nail painting, rock painting, puppet making and puppet shows the children fell in love with the team and wasted little time in showing off their unique custom paint jobs, right on their cheeks!

God is good and he has blessed all the areas of work at Cacoon Castle. The team is working hard fast and truly beautifying the community in every aspect; teeth, cheeks, and floors!! YAY GOD!!

Well it has been a couple days since the last update but all is going very well. It has rained every day between 1 and 4pm. This definitely caused us to get creative with the ministries in the small church space where there is a dental clinic, tile being laid, and VBS. This picture is an example of that.

Today we will finish painting many parts of the church, backfilling the parsonage, pouring cement, more dental clinic. This may be the last day, but it is sure to be one of the more intense days. We will also share our final school devotion.

The temporary conflict in Kingston has been a topic of conversation for the locals here but there has been no other impact on this side of the island.

We are safe, we are healthy, and we are looking forward to tomorrow's day of recreation at Dunn's River Falls!!

Thanks for your prayers and though we would like to stay here forever, but everyone is looking forward to see you back home as well. We'll see you soon!

Well yesterday was another fantastic day of ministry. The crew worked very hard all day long. The workers at the parsonage were very sweaty from all the shoveling and bucket passing. The Cacoon Castle site had rain nearly all day! Despite the rain, they were able to take over 30 patients before 3pm, the painters finished their work in the bathrooms and outside before hauling buckets of cement to pour a floor for an entire room, and the VBS was a huge success with over 90 kids again! This has been one of the most adaptable and hard working groups ever! They were rewarded today with climbing Dunn's River Falls and enjoying the beaches and shopping in Ocho Rios. Tonight will be our final meeting and tomorrow we will be sad to see them off. We hope to have you back Blaine UMC and the Aakres! Thanks for all the memories!

Grant, Eric, & Josh

(Pickney is Patois for Baby) Helen became very attached to this one!