The kids at New Vision had a wonderful time when the C3 church was here. They focused their ministry on celebrating the lives of the children and teaching them to celebrate who God has made them to be. We had an awesome birthday party to celebrate all of our lives at the beginning of the week, had a bonfire where everyone was uplifted and edified, and ended with a lesson on purity (and the girls had makeovers!) They blessed the home tremendously, not only with their lessons and their love, but with many wonderful donations. It was an absolutely amazing time for all of us!
We've also been busy with normal routine activities in a home of 26 kids, plus our own 4! Doctor visits, dentists visits, counselling sessions, shopping for birthdays, going to devotions, Youth Group, church, Missionettes, choir practice...the list goes on and on!
We've also been able to take some great days off, which is much needed on a regular basis or we'll go crazy! LOL. We've gotten to see some amazing parts of this island! We've been to places that most tourists never see and met some very loving and interesting people. We scoped the Blue Mountains, visited the coffee farm that is known to have THE best Blue Mountain Coffee in the world!, four wheeled the mountain roads, visited beautiful waterfalls on a day when NO ONE was there but our family, visited the location of the origin of Jerk Chicken (AMAZING FOOD!), and visited the beach where we found a star fish which measured 12 inches from the end of one arm to the next! Not to mention the wonderful times we've been having with our missionary friends, or should I say "family"! They are the best and we love them all very much! And the best part of it is that most of it was free! Thank you Jesus!
As we are coming up on our 1 year date of living in Jamaica, we realize that most of the ministry, and the most effective, is that of the day-to-day touching of the children's lives. While we've had our moments of defiance and disobedience, most of our time here has been very positive. We are just loving on these kids to the best of our ability and using daily events to show them what God's Word says. Basically what we do with our own kids. And in the lower times, we are reminded that we're doing a good job, every time one of the kids gives us a hug or tells us they love us! That makes it all worthwhile! So, while we are looking forward to a 2 week vacation in July, we are glad to be here and love these kids more everyday!
