Current blog updates below...

I have started updating the blog now, so just scroll down past the trip information and you can read our current blog!

Trip Info 2010!!

UGA Wesley Foundation

Jamaica Mission Trip- March 5-13, 2010

We’re staying: Casa Maria, Port Maria, Jamaica http://www.casamariahotel.net/

(We’ll have the hotel all to ourselves for the week. Sidenote: the hotel is newly renovated and looks nothing like it did when we used to stay there! We might not want to come back home from the looks of it!)

Emergency contacts:

*Jill Henderson- Associate Director, UGA Wesley Foundation- 404.213.3341

*In Jamaica 876.725.0156 (just dial “1” and then the #, for emergencies ONLY!)

*please check the blog for team updates!

*Caren will also have a cell phone in Jamaica that we can call from if needed.

Flight Info:

Arrive @ airport 5:00AM!!!!

Fri. March 5th

South Terminal- Delta

Flight # DL 357, Atlanta to Montego Bay 8:25am- 11:27am

Sat. March 13th

Delta

Flight DL 362 Montego Bay to Atlanta 3:00pm- 6:06pm

Pick-up around 6:45-7pm, South Terminal (check websites for arrival times as they tend to change a bit this far out.)

We’ll arrive in Montego Bay and have a scenic drive to Port Maria. It’s about a 2 ½ hour drive.

Please feel free to contact us at Wesley with any questions you have!

706.353.1408

Trip Leaders:

Bob Beckwith, Caren Dilts (706.207.6862) William Draper (931.446.0448), Lindsay Duryea (404.583.1167), Mike Nakayama (478.747.1308)

Saturday, March 13, 2010

See you soon!

We are just finishing up breakfast and bringing our bags down. We are so SAD to leave!

Our flight information is listed above on the blog. I think it will take us a while to get through customs and immigration so we should get out to baggage claim around 6:45 or 7. We are sad to return to the cold and rain! Maybe we will bring this heat back with us because it is HOT here!

In Jamaica they say "soon come back" or "soon come" so Jamaica- We soon come! We'll miss you!!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Jamaica Me Crazy Mon!!!

We had a blast in Ochi today! We loved meeting up with the other team!! Everyone had fun walking through the craft market and looking/buying souvenirs. Then we climbed up Dunn's River Falls. Everyone survived unharmed, thank the Lord! But with lots of great stories and pictures!

We had a really fun end to our week with our annual Jamaican Idol! Let's just say we have a really talented team!

We're sad to say goodbye to the land and people we've fallen in love with! We are leaving here around 10 and our flight is at 3. So please pray for safe travel! And also again please pray for Fields and Cannon, the little boys, that they'd have a great flight! Thanks!!

Yesterday was the best day!!

We had a wonderful Thursday! We went to the infirmary, which is like a nursing home/home for the dying. It can be a really difficult thing to experience as many of our students have never seen anything like it before. We tried to prep the team really well and they handled it beautifully! They truly poured out the love of the Lord to the men and women there. We took lotion and nail polish to paint the ladies nails. Many of the team just went a prayed over people. It was truly a beautiful sight. They were the hands and feet of Jesus to people that most of society and even their families leave over looked. You have great kids! We have fallen in love with them! Our staff has been so impressed with their maturity in the Lord and zeal for Him!

After the Infirmary we ate a Jamaican fast food lunch- Juicy Patties and KFC! :) I'll let them explain JP to you! :)

After exploring the town of Port Maria a little we went to a church and spent some time interceding for the country of Jamaica. It was awesome! A really powerful time of prayer!

We then had some free time, some people snorkeled and swam. Then we had Jamaica night! It was so much fun! We ate Jerk Chicken and had a Jamaican dance party!! It was such a fun way to end the week! Everyone really had a blast and it somehow ended with me getting thrown into the pool! :)

Today we are off to Ocho Rios to go the market and Dunn's River Falls. We're excited to meet up with the other team from MoBay today! Please pray for our safety as we travel and climb the falls.

We are really sad our trip is coming to a close. But have had just a really awesome week!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wednesday...

I don't have a clever title for today, so Wednesday it is! :)

Today wound up our work week part of the trip. Everyone has been awesome and worked super hard! And they were even patient when we didn't have enough to do! Today we added a work site so that helped out a lot. I took a group to paint a church, which was a treat for me because it was for my "Jamaican Grandad". :) So I loved getting to introduce him to part of the team and serve his church as well!

Everyone is doing great! We are seriously having a wonderful trip! Tomorrow we will have a different type of day, but I'll share more about that tomorrow!

The team is continuing to bond! We've been talking a lot about taking what we are learning back home. We really hope that this isn't just a week but the beginning of a life long journey with the Lord!

Please continue to pray for us- health for everyone, safety as we travel, and the Lord's heart for the people we'll be ministering to! Thank you!!


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Another great day...

We had another wonderful day in Jamaica! But how could you not when you wake up to the sound of the waves and see the sun rise over the ocean?! Everyone is working hard and getting to know each other really well! We've had some down time on some of the work sites, but this has ended up being a blessing in disguise as it's given us a chance to get to know each other a lot better.

We had an awesome group time tonight where people shared some of their experiences of the day- some funny and some very awesome things the Lord is teaching them. Again, we are so blessed with this group of freshmen and leaders! It's incredible to sit back and watch them pursue the Lord!

We are all loving it here and not wanting to come home! It's going to be really hard to leave the land and people we are all falling in love with!

Pray for our continued safety on work sites, healing for the colds that a few have, and that the Kingdom of God would be expanded in Jamaica!

Monday, March 8, 2010

WORK WEEK!!

Today we split into four teams and worked at different locations- 2 schools and 2 churches. We roofed, painted, mixed a ton of cement, & laid a lot of cement block! I think we'll all sleep really well tonight! I'm going to pass around a lot of advil I think! As a staff we've been talking about how awesome our team is! No one wanted to quit working! They all asked if there was anything they could do when there was down time- they are all extremely servant hearted and very motivated! We're really impressed!
So instead of talking more, I'm just going to upload a few more pictures! :) And we'll be doing the same stuff tomorrow and Wednesday! So I've got to save something!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The day the lights went out in Jamaica...

So today we got to experience a black out in Jamaica! It's just a part of life down here sometimes. But today some people were working on the power lines- replacing wooden poles with cement poles to help better withstand the hurricane season here. So that meant we were without power for most of the afternoon and into the evening. Everyone was asking me when the lights were coming back on b/c we didn't have running water either! Luckily the hotel has a generator and they were still able to prepare a yummy dinner for us! Priorities!! Just as we finished dinner the power came back on. So we had another fun night of prayer and worship. The team is really bonding and coming together!

Today we split into teams and went to church, this is a great way to experience Jamaican culture! One group got to experience it for about 3 hours!! :) Then we came back, had a fun lazy afternoon by the pool and beach, and then we prepared for leading devotions in the schools. Everyone has been doing an incredible job volunteering for things, serving others, encouraging others- they are all just really awesome!!

Tomorrow starts our work week! We'll spend mornings leading devotions in primary schools and then work on our construction projects until early afternoon. I think that they are all really excited to start this next phase of the trip!

Please keep us in your prayers as this is the time that the first aid kits start coming out! So pray for safety, that the Lord would command His angels concerning us to guard us in all our ways, and for wisdom to make wise choices on the sites.

So far we have a really heathy team- we have a few sniffles and sore-ish throats. And I'm still coughing- a lot! But we are making it and hopefully after some down time today and prayer tonight we'll be good as new tomorrow!

Thanks for your prayers! Keep them coming!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Saturday in JAMAICA!!

We are a complete team now! We had three students that flew down today with the team from MoBay and they have arrived safely in Port Maria! So we are so excited to be a whole team now!

Today we had a very yummy breakfast! We are all eating very well! They are spoiling us here- treating us like kings and queens! It's going to be really hard to come back!!

We went to a place called Tackey Falls today. It's a beautiful place and somewhat off the beaten path! We hiked about a mile down to a beautiful black sand beach that we had all to ourselves! We swam and ate our lunches- just had an all around great time! Luckily it was a little over cast so we didn't get too much sun and stayed cooler on the hike. After hiking back up we took another shorter hike down to a gorgeous waterfall! I'll try to add some pictures later tonight.
It was a great day! It was a real bonding experience for us as a team- helping each other in the hard/steep spots, talking as we walked together, etc... and now lots of fun memories!

We just ate a very good dinner! Seriously- the food is awesome! They are doing a great job of giving us some American food choices along with some new Jamaican foods to try. And there's even dessert! This is the best mission trip ever!! :)

Thanks for your prayers! Please keep them coming! We are all tired after such an active day, but it's a good tired! Everyone is doing well. We'll soon have our team meeting which we have every night. These meetings consist of one of the leaders sharing a brief teaching, worship, prayer and team sharing (about their experiences).

Tomorrow we'll split into two groups and go to church with the Jamaicans! I'll try to add more pictures! :)

Friday, March 5, 2010

We are HERE!!

Hey! Sorry I'm just now getting to update you! But the team made it safely to MoBay!!
They had a really easy flight- they say maybe the easiest one ever! So thank you for your prayers. And the little boys did really well too!

We stopped for an authentic Jamaican lunch just outside of the airport- jerk chicken!! After our drive over to Port Maria we had a team orientation and then a really yummy dinner! Everyone is settled and we're now having a time of worship and prayer. So I've got to run! But just wanted you all to know we made it safely!

Thanks for the prayers! Keep them up!!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Can't wait for the team...

We've had a fun and busy day today preparing for the team's arrival tomorrow! I can't believe it's already time for them to get here. Seems like we just got here ourselves.

Just to give you an idea of our day today, we went to the hardware store, viewed another work site, scheduled another school for devotions, drove in to Ochi, researched a few other free day activities, went shopping in the market, drove back to Port Maria, went back to the hardware store, ate jerk chicken, scheduled our visit to the Infirmary, and then came back to the hotel. Are you tired? Cause we are! :)
We've also planned out the rooming list and now I'm working on the team orientation. We'll drive into MoBay tomorrow to meet the team. We can't wait to see them! We're sure to recognize them because they should all be wearing their t-shirts we got for the team!
We've had so much fun getting ready for the team, but I promise we've been working hard. It really was very beneficial for us to come down early!

Pray for the team as they travel tomorrow. Pray especially for The Kirklands. As they are traveling with their two little boys Fields ( 19 months) and Cannon (3 months). Please pray they can have an easy and enjoyable flight. We're so excited to get to share in their first mission trip! So parents- don't worry- if Fields and Cannon can make it- then so can your 18 year olds! We'll take great care of them all!

I will post as soon as we can get back to the base, but the group probably won't get through customs until 1pm and then we'll grab something to eat in MoBay. Then we have a 2-2.5 hr drive over to Port Maria.

I will also try to post every day so you can see a bit of what we're up to! Thanks for your prayers!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Preparing for the team...

William and I made it safely to Jamaica! We arrived Monday and spent all day Tuesday out preparing for the trip. We spent a good part of the day looking over the work sites and thinking about what all materials we would need and then got estimates for them. We tried to be smart shoppers and good stewards and got 2 estimates! :) We just placed the order and hopefully everything will be ready for us to begin work on Monday. We're praying so, anyway! Life in Jamaica is a lot less structured than in America... but we're believing God that all the details will come together!
Another large portion of our day was spent checking out a potential spot for us to spend Saturday. This year, due to the flight, we have an extra day in Jamaica! Never a bad thing! So we're trying to plan that day out well. We have another option to look at tomorrow and then we will make our decision. It's very fun to get to explore Jamaica and see parts of the country that most tourists never get to experience.
Everything has been coming together nicely. We are so excited for the team to get here and begin the work we've been preparing for, for over a year now. We are also happy to be in sunny Jamaica and not in the snow! Although today it has been raining. But it's still beautiful- even in the rain!
Today we are working on getting all the materials delivered to the correct places- pray for this! And also meeting with the staff at the Casa Maria to prepare for our rather large group!
It's hard work here in Jamaica, but somebody's got to do it, right?!
See y'all soon!!