Feeling at home

As I sit here looking out the window at the sun setting over the Caribbean Sea, I'm reminded just how awesome God truly is. He is a God that is so amazing that it seems impossible to know Him, yet I feel as if I'm coming closer to Him everyday. As we are praying for God's perfect will for our lives, I'm blown away by the fact that He knows everything about me, even what is yet to come. We are beginning to feel more and more at home here in this quaint town of Whitehouse, Jamaica. The customs, though different, are coming more into view. (Though it will take a long time to understand them all, if ever!) The people are friendly, and the country so beautiful. The kids at My Father's House are becoming more comfortable with us and beginning to trust us more and more. We've both had some opportunities to minister to the kids here in tangible ways. The teenage girls are beginning to open up to Dulcie and ask advice. And God is using her to help reinforce some of the lessons Mama Penie has been teaching them. We've been challenged as their competiveness comes out during summer camp activities, and as typical kids, the arguments fly. Helping them remember to act and talk as Jesus would is something we do everyday...Especially with our own kids. But this has been a great week overall.

We may not be doing the type of ministry that is in your face evangelism or doing skits on the streets, but we are helping to instill Godly principles in the lives of 30 kids. Day to day life-living ministry is much harder to do than one day events, in my opinion. Even when I'm tired and frustrated, I must teach and live Godly standards. Jesus impacted the world by impacting 11 men day to day for 3 years. Those men in turn, took the world for Christ. Some may look at what we're doing as "fun stuff", and in a sense it is, but it is also a lot of hard work. The devil recently tried to discourage me by telling me we weren't doing much, but God has reminded me that we are impacting the lives of 30 children.

I'm beginning to see different doors that God may be opening for us to minister to some of the adults in the neighborhood. A few weeks ago, we walked through the house across the street that some Jamaican men have been renovating and we met a man named Elvis. The house has been empty for about 5 years, so it needs a lot of work. Anyway, Elvis and his friend were kind enough to show us through the house. Every time that he is there, he makes a point to stop and talk to us. Sometimes it's just a simple hello or to ask for water, but I believe there's a reason. I am praying for an opportunity to talk more significantly. Only the Lord knows.

Currently we have a team from a Four Square church from the Dallas, TX area with us. There are 20 of them. What an awesome group! Dulcie and I had the privilege of driving to Montego Bay to help pick them up. They have been a real blessing to the house, and have such a heart of servanthood. We are hoping they will be able to help us unload the container, as it STILL has not come. Jim is having to go to MoBay several days a week to work on releasing it. Please pray they will release it soon, as the drive is very tedious, over the mountain on very narrow and windy roads. Not to mention the stress of dealing with corruption in the governmental departments. But God is working, and we are praying it will be here soon.

We had the honor of attending a sport's day on Saturday. One of the local churches hosts this every year. There were over 400 people split into 4 teams: red, white, blue and purple. We were on the purple team. They do foot races, bag races, egg and spoon races (for all ages, even us adults). They also play football(soccer), cricket, cheerleading, volleyball, food eating contest, pop drinking contests, etc... It is an all day and night event. Our girls helped the girls from My Father's house in the cheerleading event. They won first place! We were so proud of them all. A few of the kids won some of the races. It was really a fun day, but was too long for us to stay the whole time. Plus, it was really hot!

Our kids continue to amaze us. They are doing great. When asked if they miss the states, their reply is always, "just my family and friends". Alyssa said she missed McDonald's, but only sometimes. Jaycee misses air conditioning. Overall they are adapting very well. Levi really made us proud this week. On Sunday morning before church, Penie passes out tithe to the kids based on what their allowance is. Levi did not have any chores this week as it was one of his off weeks. Dulcie asked him if he had gotten his tithe and his reply was, "Mom, I didn't think it was fair for me to get tithe when I didn't work." Remember that he is only 5 years old and already has a concept of: I didn't work so I shouldn't get paid. He received double tithe. What a kid!

As you can tell, we're having a great time. Please keep praying for us and check out our pics on www.jaminjamaica.com. See ya soon.

Back to routine?

Wow! What an awesome week we've had. As I've said in the last post, we had a team here from the Eastgate, Cincinnati area for a week. They left on the Saturday before Father's Day, and Jordan, Jim and Penie's daughter came home from an extended stay in the states. It was good to see her again. Hannah and Alyssa have connected with her and are having a blast.
On Wednesday, we had the privilege of going to Negril with Jim and Penie for dinner and a visit to the chiropractor. Negril is 7 miles of beautiful white sand. Dad, you would LOVE it there! We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant overlooking the beach, and then took a stroll up and down the beach. It was sooooo relaxing.
Father's Day was great for me. My four kids all gave me a homemade card, and my lovely wife wrote me a beautiful letter. Then the church here recognized all the fathers (a total of 4) with a pen and our choice of two gifts. I wasn't expecting anything, so their token was really special. The gifts weren't much in American standards (I got a comb and shampoo), but the idea and love that came with them is what touched me. Then to top it off, they had a cake for us! YES! After church, we just kinda laid around and rested after having the team here. I was going to take my family to a nearby pay beach, but the weather turned nasty, so we'll put that off for another time.
Yesterday was a bit of a rough day in the house for all of us. We were ALL tired and a bit grouchy, so we took time out of our day to pray and ask the Lord to help us show the love of Jesus. After that, we went to the other extreme of being loud and silly! Boy, the power of prayer! We all were in bed earlier than usual.
Today was great, though. During team competition, the teams did two major games. While one team was doing an obstacle course, the other two went on a scavenger hunt at the beach looking for conk shells, sea urchin shells, hermit crabs, etc... They had to find 1 lizard, 2 crabs, 3 clam shells, and so on up to 10. They had a great time and it kept us busy all day! Every team did the obstacle course, but the Mighy Lions came out on top. StarFire won the scavenger hunt, but PowerStrikers are still in the lead overall!
Dulcie got to go on an adventure with Penie today...grocery shopping. As you ladies know, shopping for an entire family is alot. Imagine a family of 26 plus the 6 of us! They went to another town called Savanna-la-mar. Dulcie said that one man approached her and began to rub her arm over and over while saying, "hello, whitey". She replied "hello" and pushed the cart away from him. I guess he got the hint, cuz he left her alone. That was a first for her. Thank God he was with her. I was in charge of the house most of the day while they were gone, because Jim was in Montego Bay. One of the social workers showed up...I was a bit nervous at first, never having had to deal with that before, but it went great. He was only here a few minutes to see a few of the kids.
Tomorrow is a really big day because the container from the states is supposed to arrive. It is a tractor trailer filled from front to back, top to bottom with supplies for the home and some to give to other ministries. When it gets here, we only have two hours to unload it. I guess I'd better get my sleep tonight! All of us here at the house (kids included) will have to help, as well as a group of college boys from Taylor University who are down. We've been getting the house in order so that all available space can be used. We've been getting rid of old clothes and shoes, and skates, etc... to make way for the new. The next few days will be really busy!
On Friday, we have another team of 20 coming down for a week from Texas. They will be giving us a little "break", as they will take over team competition for us. Perhaps we'll get some new ideas from them as well. Hopefully, we'll get to see more of the island while they are here. The day they leave another team of 20 arrives from Cincinnati, so the next two weeks will be busy.
We're still loving it here, but a few of our kids are beginning to get homesick. Please pray for them. We know we're where God wants us, but that's hard for kids to grasp sometimes. I know they'll be fine with the prayers of the saints covering them. We are still battling the bug bites, but Praise God it has not been as bad as when we first arrived. I guess they're getting tired of us! My driving is getting better as well, but I haven't driven in the city yet! I'm really enjoying everything about Jamaica. To my mother's surprise, I don't really miss the fast pace of city life. These kids keep me too busy to think about it. All I really miss about the states is my friends and family.
I have posted some pictures on KBM's website. www.jaminjamaica.com click on the photos link, then click Bushhorn internship. I will post more pictures periodically. Please keep us in your prayers. We need them! Love you all. See you soon.

June 13, 2006

Hello again! What a wonderful week we have had! We began our summer camp program with three teams of kids. Paul's team is called "The Mighty Lions", Dulcie's team is called "Starfire", and Miss Yanique's team is called "Powerstrikers". (Yanique is a young Jamaican lady who works for the Koch's) After a week of competition, Powerstrikers are in first place! The kids are accumulating points to win an ice cream sundae, but the winning team will get to go out to dinner with Papa Jim and Mama Penie. What an awesome treat for them! The kids are very excited and doing great with the games. In the mornings, after family devotions, we go outside to play active games for about an hour to an hour and a half, if it is not raining. After lunch, we have an hour of quiet reading time, followed by another hour or so of inside games. Most games allow the teams to earn points. We also have a weekly Scripture for them to memorize to earn points. We are currently learning 1 John 4:9-10 (last week was 7-8). The kids have amazed me with their enthusiasm in learning Scripture!
On Saturday, June 10th, a team from the Cincinnati area came down for a week of ministry. So Saturday was cleaning day! We worked hard until after lunch, then it was pool time! Once the team arrived, we spent time getting to know their names. Fortunatley, we already knew four of them; two of them are students of mine from CCA! Today, Monday, the team went to some local schools for ministry, while we had camp, and then after lunch, they put on a VBS program for some of the local kids here at the house. Dulcie and I were in charge of snack, while our four kids particpated in the VBS.
Our four kids are doing so well fitting in with the kids at My Father's House! Jaycee has started a friendly "pranking" with some of the teen girls. Hannah and Alyssa have got friends galore, and when Levi isn't playing with the boys, he's with the teenage girls! Of course, there has been lots of pool time and Sunday afternoons seem to be beach day! I'm loving that! (sorry dad!)
Dulcie and the girls have had an on going battle with the bugs! Please pray for them as they have been eaten up pretty badly. At times, it looks like they have broken out in hives, due to all the bites. Luckily, our deet arrived with the team from Cincy.
The food has been really good. Lots of rice and lots of chicken. The kids have been challenged in this area alot, but they are doing great! Today we had chicken foot soup, and yes, it has chicken feet in it...lots and lots of chicken feet. It also has dumplings, green bananas, corn and chicken noodles. I did break down and try a chicken foot, skin and all...I felt like I was on Fear Factor! I did it, but probably won't do it again.
Other than that, things are great! God is good and we are loving our time here. It's hard to believe its been two weeks. We are feeling right at home, except for the driving. I'm still getting used to being on the wrong side of the car and the road! But I'm getting better.
Please keep praying for us! We'll write again soon!

Arrival

Well, we're finally here! It was a great trip! We flew out of Indianapolis at 7:30 am, which meant getting to the airport at around 5:30. We flew to Atlanta and then on to Montego Bay. Thank God our flights went perfectly. Customs in Jamaica went very smoothly and without a hitch. We spent the night in Montego Bay at a beautiful hotel called Hotel Gloriana. We swam at the pool and even made it to a nearby beach for about an hour. On the plane from Atlanta, the pastor's wife (Christine) of Lighthouse Evanglistic church sat right behind me. (This is Jim and Penie's pastor's wife!) She also stayed at our hotel and showed us a quaint little place to eat dinner. God had already started hooking us up with key people!

On Thursday, 6/1, we met up with Jim and Penie and thier intern Steve and made the trip over the mountain. The kids did great sitting cramped around luggage (no seat belts here!)for over an hour and a half. When we got to My Father's House, the kids all came out to greet Momma Penie and Papa Jim. It was great to see them all again. A few even remembered us! We spent the day just playing with the kids.

Today 6/2, we have orgainzed our kids bedroom (we're all 6 in the same room until Sunday, when a few guests will leave), played, swam and just got to know the kids. Paul went to town with Adrian (a Jamaican worker at the House) and Alex (an American who is on KBM's board and here until Sunday)to try and located some reverse and blikner light bulbs for Jim's truck.

The kids are having the time of their lives and already have a ton of friends. They are doing great in the heat and eating new foods. They are so excited about being here and are looking forward to spending the whole summer here. The Jamaican kids are really accepting them well. WE'RE HAVING A GREAT TIME! The real work starts on Monday, so we have a few days to get acclamated. Please keep us in your prayers!