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! :)

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!!

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!

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!!