We have arrived!by Brian Zeschke | April 1, 2011 8:28 PM
We all made it to Jamaica in one piece! Our first evening consisted of seeing how Friday evening rush hour works in downtown Montego Bay, a quick history lesson on Samuel Sharpe (a former slave who by leading a slave rebellion was instrumental in the abolition of slavery in Jamaica. . . a national hero, also a Baptist minister who is buried beneath the pulpit of the church we are staying at), and some delicious jerk chicken with festival and a cold Ting! Awesome way to start our trip!
We are all tired and will surely sleep like a rock! Thank you for your prayers as we have traveled today! Please continue to pray as we head to Buckingham Baptist Church tomorrow to start our ministry there.
First day of ministryby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:06 AM
Today we spent the entire day at Buckingham Baptist Church and we didn't waste any time getting down and dirty. First we spent a few minutes taking a quick walking tour of all the areas we'll be serving this week, but then it was straight to work. We are preparing the basic school (which is run by the church) for an addition to the building which will give them some extra bathroom space and some showers. So today we dug the footers (foundations for the columns) and tied the steel that will make up the foundation and columns. The ground wasn't UNforgiving, but it could have been easier. Also we were repairing a drainage ditch next to the education building. We built a rock wall and filled in the space with dirt so it can be landscaped in the future. Long day of work and we were all exhausted by the time dinner was ready.
After dinner we joined in the youth fellowship at the church. It was great to join in their fun for the evening. We had "sword drills", played some sort of alphabet song game, and the team was persuaded to join the local youth choir for tomorrow morning's service. So a little practice was in order.
Ended up being a very long first day of ministry! Tomorrow we head back to Buckingham for a day of church and fellowship. Thanks once again for your prayers!
Starting the retaining wallby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:20 AM
The group places stones in just the right order to create a retaining wall in front of the education center at the church.
The finished productby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:21 AM
The after picture is amazing! A lot of digging and a lot of buckets to fill in this space!
Digging the footersby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:22 AM
Rob and Phil digging away to start the footers.
Ready for concreteby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:23 AM
The footers will be ready for concrete on Monday. The team did a great job doing all this in one day!
Choir practiceby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:24 AM
The group joining in choir practice during youth fellowship. We'll see how well we do tomorrow!
Churchby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:25 AM
Today was church day! A long day at church, but an awesome day! To start the morning, KY Ron taught Sunday school to the little kids using a few magic tricks to illustrate the story of the feeding of the 5000. The kids were left speechless! We heard a POWERFUL sermon from Deacon Moss about looking to the cross and by 2:30 it was time for lunch. After lunch we did some training on telling our life stories as a way of ministering and sharing the Gospel. Then we went out into the community once more to meet people, talk with them, pray with them, and play with the children. Then it was back to church for our one night "crusade". Again Deacon Hill shared yet another amazing sermon that left us all looking to the cross.
Ready for some much needed rest before an early day tomorrow.
School timeby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:25 AM
Monday was the first of our two days in the schools. The students were excited to have us there and they showed it! First we shared a short devotion at the Basic school (pre-school) and Primary school (grade school) and then we spent some time sitting in on classes and tutoring students. We found it difficult at times to keep the children focused on their classwork as they were focused on us being there.
After lunch we attempted to get into the concrete portion of our construction project but found God had sent some rain our way. Usually during this time of year it's just a quick passing shower, but today it stayed for a few hours. Of course we decided that it would be a perfect time to play in the rain. After many were thoroughly soaked, we spent some time in small groups talking about how we'd seen God working already. Then we decided that since we were already wet we should go ahead and mix some concrete. . . so we did. . . and poured the foundations for our two columns. Wet and tired we called it a day and headed back to our "hotel" relatively early for the day. After spending some time preparing for ministry at the school for the next day it was bed time.
Awesome and productive day despite the rains of mercy we received.
Jane teaches the little onesby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:26 AM
Jane shared a story with the littlest children outside. She sure has some way with children!
Phil. . .by Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:27 AM
Phil didn't bother with just the rain, he went for where he could get the most at one time.
And Steve. . .by Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:28 AM
Steve decides a rainy day would be a good time to finally get his beard braided. His dream is now fulfilled!
Mixing concrete in the rainby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:29 AM
They were already wet, but not THIS wet! Diligently mixing concrete in the rain.
Paintingby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:30 AM
Kristin took it "easy" by painting the canteen of the school. She was paining the inside with a few others while some didn't mind painting the outside in the rain. Only a little paint washed off.
Our last dayby Brian Zeschke | April 6, 2011 11:30 AM
Tuesday was our last day in Hopeton and with the Buckingham Baptist community. Devotions in the morning and then some work with the children in their classes again. Much easier day since the children were starting to get used to us. But they were very sad to see us leave their schools that day. But we would see them again that day.
After lunch the construction and painting got rolling again. A little slowly, but it got rolling. We needed to figure out how to construct a "boxing" around our steel so we could pour concrete for the columns. After that was figured out and put up we got right in to mixing our concrete again. We finished one column and then the children were out of school so we got to play with them a little more.
The painting was finished at the primary school and a cricket match broke out after school.
Tuesday evening we said our final goodbyes and thank you's to the church, children and community. It was very hard to leave that night not knowing when we would all see each other again. But we found comfort knowing that someday we would see each other in heaven.
Thank you for your prayers as we've had an extremely awesome week!
Relaxing and going homeby Brian Zeschke | April 8, 2011 8:14 AM
Wednesday was a day of relaxing, shopping and burning. Some much needed relaxation time on the beach led to some red bodies. After some shopping and some time at the craft market we headed to a nice quiet spot on the coast to enjoy some jerk chicken and festival one last time. Some local children were there after school and we had some fun playing volleyball with them. Later that evening we had some time to reflect on our week as a group and hear how everyone would describe their week in one word. It was very emotional as most were sad to be leaving the children behind after such an awesome week.
Thursday came all too quickly as we packed up and left our "hotel" for the week. We're all sad to be leaving but excited for what the future holds after such a transforming week!
Thanks for your prayers and support!
