God's House.

We finished the home for the Barker Family!!!! On friday the weather was fantastic working weather, a nice breeze allowed us to finish up! We are returning  to the house on Monday to bless and dedicate the home. Every morning at the work site we sang a worship song, shared testimonies, prayed for the Barker family and for safety in our work. On Friday a team member’s prayer stands out in my memory “God, let this be your house.” This sums it up.... this is God’s House, and it is amazing that we are blessed enough to be a part of building it. 

 Because of the generous donations we received through you all we were able to furnish the home with a table, chairs, and a bed...(this is still a surprise to them).

 On Monday, while we are doing the dedication the appliances should arrive. We are also going to bring a house warming gift of kitchen utensils at the time of the dedication! We are all very excited about that! 

Another neat experience on Friday was walking home from the work site, which is entirely down hill (in a vehicle it feels like a roller coster ride), having a lot of us walking was a good witness for the whole community to see a very happy group of students walking in grubby clothes down the mountain. One of the YWAM staffers said it is a great testimony to the surrounding community of God’s love for them to see other nations come, see a need, and be able to help with joy.  One Jamaican said he was so encouraged and blessed by us coming. I think we would all agree that we are the ones being blessed every morning at the worksite.

After 3 days of hard work at the Homes of Hope site, today (Saturday) we were able to take a break and an hour long bus ride out to Dunn’s River Falls. Along the way our bus driver (Pastor Gibbons, aka. Junior) was kind enough to point out some interesting milestones and tourist attractions, such as the point where Christopher Columbus landed, as well as the locations and dates of both Spanish and British influence in Jamaica throughout history.

Upon our arrival to Dunn’s River Falls, we quickly locked up our packs and extra clothing and began hiking up the middle of a series of waterfalls! No, not beside them, not above them, but IN them! It was a great experience to work as a team as we made our way over the big rocks and through the thundering water ( dont worry it is  safe many people do it.:) The last few hours we spent relaxing on the beach (where some of us had the privilege of observing a “rap battle” between Sam and an anonymous middle-aged woman...too funny). From there we concluded our day by stopping at a Jamaican restaurant called “Scotchies”, where we enjoyed a plethora of Jerk Chicken, Roasted Fish Fillets, Festivals (like breadsticks),  Coca-Cola, and Pineapple Soda. YUM.

Finally, with great pride and joy we can announce that yesterday the valiant efforts of our Canadian boys paid off as they became THE FIRST TEAM of outsiders to defeat the YWAM Jamaica team in basketball! (not without a lot of grunting and sweating, but a win nonetheless).

Pray for us as we are preparing to do ministry in a church tomorrow; Andrew is sharing his testimony, Tyanna is signing/playing a song, and the team is singing.

Monday we will be doing devotions in a school, dedicating the house, and going to a children's home.

Thanks again to all of you who have been keeping us in your prayers, and following along as we continue to experience new and amazing things during our time here in Jamaica, God is so good! We love you all.

Hannah and Mike and da team!

P.S. today we learned two new Patois (Jamaican slang) phrases...

“How you look so chuka chuka??”- “Why do you look so scrubby?”

and

“Why yo bodda me fa?”- “Stop bothering me.”