This is our first full day here, and we plan to begin work on the new bathroom at Hopewell Independent Baptist Church (HIPB).
Our day started off with a wonderful breakfast of eggs, bacon, cereal, fresh fruit, and orange juice. There was always coffee available too, but I don't drink that. They took excellent care of us. I probably would have gained weight, if we hadn't been working so hard.
After we finished breakfast, we loaded ourselves and all our tools into the bus and Michael drove us to Hopewell. It was our first look at the church, for everyone except for PK, Steve, Chris, and Ethan, who had been here for the teen trip in 2008. Right now HIBC has no bathroom facilities—if they need them, they have to go next door to Pastor Desmond’s house. Pastor Desmond is a high-energy and passionate man of God. He and his wife, Simone, were in a serious car accident at the end of last May. He has mostly recovered, but Simone still is in a lot of pain most of the time. They have two children, a daughter, Brianna, who is about 8, and a son, Joshua, who is about 7.
The room we will be building the bathroom in is about 10 ft. square, with a cement floor and cinder block walls. Before we got there, a Jamaican man named Audley, turned a window into a door (you can see some of this in the pictures on my Xanga site http://www.xanga.com/kmomgdad). We were trying to figure out how to get the plumbing in the floor, when Charles came up with the brilliant idea to build a wooden floor over the cement and put the plumbing in there, instead of trying to dig up the cement. That idea saved a lot of time and effort!
Ed, George, and Charles had the most knowledge about how to do the work, but they had many willing hands to help them. Several of us started working on digging the septic hole. We initially heard it needed to be about 8 feet deep, and that Pastor Desmond had arranged with some men from his church to dig it. He priced out having it done professionally, but it was too much. However, after we started, someone came by and told him it needed to be 18 feet deep, 8 feet in diameter at the bottom, and about 10 feet in diameter at top, with stone and cement walls. So, anyway, we worked on it, and some men from Desmond’s church did help. We got it (mostly Desmond’s church men got it—kudos especially to Cole) about 6 feet deep by the time we left.
Scott and I did the cutting of planks for the guys to put in as the floor joists, and the plywood for the floor. We also cut the PVC pipe for the plumbing. It was fun to feel like I could contribute even though I’m really not Joe-handyman. I learned a lot, though, by watching and helping. I helped some with the digging, but not very much.
We took some time out to practice the songs we’ll be singing on Sunday: a men’s quintet in the morning service “Heaven’s Joy Awaits”, and a men’s quartet in the evening service “Peace Like a River.” We ate the peanut butter sandwiches and other things we got for our lunches.
When we returned to Fair Haven in the evening, several of us went across the street to the beach for a quick swim before supper. They fed us fantastically again: spaghetti, rolls, salad, and brownies.
During devotion time tonight, Chris and I gave our testimonies, and PK taught us about David and his example of showing God’s kindness to Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9. Christi and I prayed together afterward, and then I headed to bed.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
We're leaving today! I'm excited!! I woke up at 3:30AM to get ready, and caught a ride to the airport with Tony and Annette Barry who are also going on the trip. Their daughter Colleen, and her fiance, Tristan, rode along to take the Barry's car back home. Tony and Annette are both retired from the Holley school district in New York. Tony was an Art teacher, and Annette was a librarian.
Our flight left Rochester at around 7:00AM, and we were there in plenty of time. Everyone got through security with no problems, and we had time to relax a bit at the airport and/or get some breakfast before we left.
Our first plane was relatively small with just two seats on each side of the aisle. I had a window and sat next to George Lee. He and his wife, Lois, both went on this trip (she sat across the aisle from him), and this was the first mission trip they had gone on. They've been interested for a while, and now their kids are old enough that they could get away.
We had a stopover in Philadelphia, but it was too short to see my girls who live there, unfortunately. Our next flight was a slightly larger plane with three seats on each side of the aisle. This time George and Lois got to sit together, and I was next to George again by the aisle.
We landed in Jamaica and went through customs again with no hitches. One customs agent, who was interviewing Steve Miller (I was right next to him being interviewed by a different agent at the time) couldn't believe that a bunch of Americans would give up their vacation to help a poor Jamaican church, and he seemed a little antagonized, but Steve got through OK anyway.
We got our luggage and went outside to look for our bus, but it wasn't there. There were, however, dozens and dozens of other people who would willing help us or give us a ride (for a fee, of course), but we had previous arrangements. So our Pastor, Ken Phillips, made a quick call to Fair Haven Guest House and Jamaica Link Ministries, and our bus and drivers, Joseph and Michael, were there in minutes.
The first thing we did when we arrived at Fair Haven was find our rooms and change our clothes! Most of us had already shed the hoodies, sweatshirts, and long sleeves we'd worn down, but now we needed to put on shorts! It's a wonderful thing to be too warm in January.
Fair Haven will be providing us two meals a day, so we needed to go grocery shopping for bread, fruit, chips, etc. for our lunches. We brought peanut butter and jam with us in our suitcases. Jon Burghardt, Christi Miller (Steve's daughter-in-law), Tony and Annette, and I went to a MegaMart with our driver, Joseph. It reminded me of StuffMart in VeggieTales. The fruit there was fantastic, of course, since it was all fresh and locally grown.
On our way home from the MegaMart, Joseph drove us to a downtown street market to look for fresh papayas, but we couldn't find any. We did see lots of local culture there, however! There was one man who was driving a bed through the busy street and yelling at all the people in their cars to get out of his way!
We had our first meal that night at Fair Haven: fish with orange sauce, curried goat, salad, green beans and carrots, and chocolate cake for dessert. I was brave and tried everything (even the curried goat!), and it was all excellent. Maybe I was just really hungry.
Fair Haven has a U.S. line phone that we paid a fee so we could use it as we wished. I called home and talked briefly to Krista, just to let her know we were all there safely.
Every night we will have a devotional time. Our format is that we sing a couple of songs, two of us each night will give a testimony, then there will be a lesson, and finally we will break up into groups of two to discuss the lesson's impact on us and pray for each other. Tonight, Charles Curle and Tony gave testimonies, and Pastor Ken taught the lesson.
He developed a series he titled "Lifestyles of the Righteous and Faithful" (think "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Robin Leach) where we will look at faithful people from the Bible and what we can learn from them. Tonight Pastor Ken (PK) taught us about the courage of Joseph of Arimathea, who, although he was a member of the Jewish ruling council, publicly identified himself with Jesus. We talked about the things we need to have courage to do.
Ethan Cornell and I prayed together that night. This is one of the things I love about our adult mission trips. It puts people together who normally wouldn't run in the same circles, like Ethan and me. He is a young college student, and I'm not. But, it was great to talk seriously for a few minutes and pray together.
That was about all we could handle for one day, so we went to bed shortly after the devotional time. I am rooming with six other guys: Steve, Charles, Ethan, Scott Anderson and his son, Chris, and Ed Haight. We thought we might have a real snoring chorus in there, but I didn't notice it too much—maybe because I was snoring too loudly to hear the others.
The rest of the team was in two other rooms: one for the women and one for the men. So, Lois, Annette, and Chrisi shared one room, and PK, George, Tony, and Jon shared the other.
Mostly the sleeping was fine. We had "white" noise from a fan and air conditioner that blocked out a lot of external noise. And we were really tired every day because we worked hard. We were right across the street from the beach, and almost every night, people would be there partying into the wee hours of the morning with loud music blaring. To me, that was the worst thing to try to sleep through. We were also right next to the airport, but that never bothered me. The roosters in the morning were a bit irritating, but not too much. We kept hoping we'd have chicken for dinner and then be done with them, but it was not to be.
Our flight left Rochester at around 7:00AM, and we were there in plenty of time. Everyone got through security with no problems, and we had time to relax a bit at the airport and/or get some breakfast before we left.
Our first plane was relatively small with just two seats on each side of the aisle. I had a window and sat next to George Lee. He and his wife, Lois, both went on this trip (she sat across the aisle from him), and this was the first mission trip they had gone on. They've been interested for a while, and now their kids are old enough that they could get away.
We had a stopover in Philadelphia, but it was too short to see my girls who live there, unfortunately. Our next flight was a slightly larger plane with three seats on each side of the aisle. This time George and Lois got to sit together, and I was next to George again by the aisle.
We landed in Jamaica and went through customs again with no hitches. One customs agent, who was interviewing Steve Miller (I was right next to him being interviewed by a different agent at the time) couldn't believe that a bunch of Americans would give up their vacation to help a poor Jamaican church, and he seemed a little antagonized, but Steve got through OK anyway.
We got our luggage and went outside to look for our bus, but it wasn't there. There were, however, dozens and dozens of other people who would willing help us or give us a ride (for a fee, of course), but we had previous arrangements. So our Pastor, Ken Phillips, made a quick call to Fair Haven Guest House and Jamaica Link Ministries, and our bus and drivers, Joseph and Michael, were there in minutes.
The first thing we did when we arrived at Fair Haven was find our rooms and change our clothes! Most of us had already shed the hoodies, sweatshirts, and long sleeves we'd worn down, but now we needed to put on shorts! It's a wonderful thing to be too warm in January.
Fair Haven will be providing us two meals a day, so we needed to go grocery shopping for bread, fruit, chips, etc. for our lunches. We brought peanut butter and jam with us in our suitcases. Jon Burghardt, Christi Miller (Steve's daughter-in-law), Tony and Annette, and I went to a MegaMart with our driver, Joseph. It reminded me of StuffMart in VeggieTales. The fruit there was fantastic, of course, since it was all fresh and locally grown.
On our way home from the MegaMart, Joseph drove us to a downtown street market to look for fresh papayas, but we couldn't find any. We did see lots of local culture there, however! There was one man who was driving a bed through the busy street and yelling at all the people in their cars to get out of his way!
We had our first meal that night at Fair Haven: fish with orange sauce, curried goat, salad, green beans and carrots, and chocolate cake for dessert. I was brave and tried everything (even the curried goat!), and it was all excellent. Maybe I was just really hungry.
Fair Haven has a U.S. line phone that we paid a fee so we could use it as we wished. I called home and talked briefly to Krista, just to let her know we were all there safely.
Every night we will have a devotional time. Our format is that we sing a couple of songs, two of us each night will give a testimony, then there will be a lesson, and finally we will break up into groups of two to discuss the lesson's impact on us and pray for each other. Tonight, Charles Curle and Tony gave testimonies, and Pastor Ken taught the lesson.
He developed a series he titled "Lifestyles of the Righteous and Faithful" (think "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Robin Leach) where we will look at faithful people from the Bible and what we can learn from them. Tonight Pastor Ken (PK) taught us about the courage of Joseph of Arimathea, who, although he was a member of the Jewish ruling council, publicly identified himself with Jesus. We talked about the things we need to have courage to do.
Ethan Cornell and I prayed together that night. This is one of the things I love about our adult mission trips. It puts people together who normally wouldn't run in the same circles, like Ethan and me. He is a young college student, and I'm not. But, it was great to talk seriously for a few minutes and pray together.
That was about all we could handle for one day, so we went to bed shortly after the devotional time. I am rooming with six other guys: Steve, Charles, Ethan, Scott Anderson and his son, Chris, and Ed Haight. We thought we might have a real snoring chorus in there, but I didn't notice it too much—maybe because I was snoring too loudly to hear the others.
The rest of the team was in two other rooms: one for the women and one for the men. So, Lois, Annette, and Chrisi shared one room, and PK, George, Tony, and Jon shared the other.
Mostly the sleeping was fine. We had "white" noise from a fan and air conditioner that blocked out a lot of external noise. And we were really tired every day because we worked hard. We were right across the street from the beach, and almost every night, people would be there partying into the wee hours of the morning with loud music blaring. To me, that was the worst thing to try to sleep through. We were also right next to the airport, but that never bothered me. The roosters in the morning were a bit irritating, but not too much. We kept hoping we'd have chicken for dinner and then be done with them, but it was not to be.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Introduction
Most of you know I recently returned from a missions trip to Jamaica with a group from my church, Grace Baptist, in Brockport, NY. I’ll be typing up my journal in this blog from that trip.
If you want to see them, I’ve posted pictures from the trip on my Xanga site http://www.xanga.com/kmomgdad. Click the Photos link (right under “The Chronicles of Gregia” title), then the Albums link at the top, then the Jamaica 2010 link to see that album.
Here’s a really brief summary of the trip. We left Rochester on 1/14 and flew to Montego Bay, Jamaica, with a stop in Philadelphia. We stayed at Fair Haven Guest House, which is run by Jamaica Link, a ministry that helps facilitate others’ ministries in Jamaica. I stayed in a room with six other guys. The accommodations at Fair Haven were fantastic. It was right by the airport, but that never bothered me. We got more noise from the beach right across the street, as people would be there late into the night with loud music playing. Usually, I was tired enough and the white noise from our fans and air conditioners blocked out most of the beach party noise. Then there was this rooster…
Anyway, we spent all day Friday and Saturday, 1/15 and 16, working at Hopewell Independent Baptist Church, installing a bathroom for them. They had no bathroom facilities before that and would go next door to the pastor’s house if needed. Our goal was to at least get them a toilet and sink installed.
Sunday, 1/17, we worshipped with them. We led singing, did special music, gave testimonies, and our pastor preached, both morning and evening. In the afternoon, some of us worked more on their bathroom, while the rest helped some kids from Robin’s Nest orphanage play at the beach.
Monday and Tuesday, 1/18 and 19, we visited schools and orphanages where we did a program and interacted with the kids.
Wednesday, 1/20, was our “tourist” day, when we shopped, took a tour, and played at the beach. Thursday, 1/21 we returned home via the Charlotte, NC, airport, after finishing what we could on the Hopewell church bathroom that morning. We were able to get two toilets and the sink all installed, we got the floor put down and tiled, and we got the wall studs installed for the partition walls, and brackets installed for a urinal. They are working on getting the septic dug and prepared, and they’ll be good to go.
It was a great trip, and I know God used us to bless many people.
Stay tuned to this site for more...
If you want to see them, I’ve posted pictures from the trip on my Xanga site http://www.xanga.com/kmomgdad. Click the Photos link (right under “The Chronicles of Gregia” title), then the Albums link at the top, then the Jamaica 2010 link to see that album.
Here’s a really brief summary of the trip. We left Rochester on 1/14 and flew to Montego Bay, Jamaica, with a stop in Philadelphia. We stayed at Fair Haven Guest House, which is run by Jamaica Link, a ministry that helps facilitate others’ ministries in Jamaica. I stayed in a room with six other guys. The accommodations at Fair Haven were fantastic. It was right by the airport, but that never bothered me. We got more noise from the beach right across the street, as people would be there late into the night with loud music playing. Usually, I was tired enough and the white noise from our fans and air conditioners blocked out most of the beach party noise. Then there was this rooster…
Anyway, we spent all day Friday and Saturday, 1/15 and 16, working at Hopewell Independent Baptist Church, installing a bathroom for them. They had no bathroom facilities before that and would go next door to the pastor’s house if needed. Our goal was to at least get them a toilet and sink installed.
Sunday, 1/17, we worshipped with them. We led singing, did special music, gave testimonies, and our pastor preached, both morning and evening. In the afternoon, some of us worked more on their bathroom, while the rest helped some kids from Robin’s Nest orphanage play at the beach.
Monday and Tuesday, 1/18 and 19, we visited schools and orphanages where we did a program and interacted with the kids.
Wednesday, 1/20, was our “tourist” day, when we shopped, took a tour, and played at the beach. Thursday, 1/21 we returned home via the Charlotte, NC, airport, after finishing what we could on the Hopewell church bathroom that morning. We were able to get two toilets and the sink all installed, we got the floor put down and tiled, and we got the wall studs installed for the partition walls, and brackets installed for a urinal. They are working on getting the septic dug and prepared, and they’ll be good to go.
It was a great trip, and I know God used us to bless many people.
Stay tuned to this site for more...
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