Freedom Church

We arrived safely today at the Montego Bay airport and drove straight to James Hill. After dinner and a quick briefing meeting, Pastor Cunningham gave a devotion about the bus ride here comparing the different types of roads we took to get here to our lives and ministry. Some roads were nice and smooth while others were rough and slow going. Great intro to our week! Afterwards we got settled into the Bryce Guest House in Christiana. We're ready for some rest and excited to worship tomorrow morning with the Jamaicans! Please continue to pray for an awesome week of ministry. Please check in regularly for pictures and updates.

Today has been a blessing and an exciting day. We spent most of the day in fellowship and worship with fellow believers in Christ- but Jamaicans! It was great to see and experience how Jamaicans worship and what life is like for the typical believer here on the island. Thanks for your prayers and support. We’re excited for our ministry to continue tomorrow as we begin with the health clinics and coaching and canvass communities to pray with residents.

Our team has traveled wide and far over the last few days. With our group staying in Christiana and the others staying in James Hill, we're forced to travel on long bus rides across pot hole filled roads. A few of us are struggling motion sickness but God is watching over our group. We had a really successful first day of health checks and coaching in Crawle River and Prospect. The residents are excited with what our team has to offer for ministry. This evening we participated in a street service in the community of John's Hall. That means in all, we've been in five different communities today: Prospect and Crawle River for ministry, James Hill for dinner, Christiana to sleep, and John's Hall for church! We're looking forward to our adventures tomorrow!

After another long drive this morning our team was able to settle in up in John’s Hall. We saw a handful of patients at the church and walked to about 5 homes throughout the community visiting shut-ins. We also had the chance to just connect with some of the young people through sports. Our day finished with a street service in James Hill. God has been guiding and protecting our team as we serve and we’re excited for tomorrow!

It has been a long but rewarding week in Jamaica mon! So far our van driver "Jonesie" has had five flats, two batteries, a case of oil, a new alternator, and a new clutch! We've had many opportunities to work with many children and meet a lot of locals. Some that strike us as highlights are getting to worship and immerse ourselves in the Jamaican culture. We've seen over a hundred kids at VBS, Meghan has taken over 100 blood pressures and discussed appropriate diet and exercise. One of our big highlights so far has been meeting a seven year old child named Owen in John's Hall who is diagnosed with downs syndrome. We were told that Own had not spoken a word all week. After a few of our freedom church members spent one on one time with Owen, he began to respond to us verbally! Our team quickly learned not to write anyone off. We look forward to the many more opportunities this week. We look forward to coming home and sharing what God has done!

Although our trip journal wasn't as extensive as we would have liked (internet challenges), we've all been heavily impacted by our experience here in Jamaica. The Freedom Church team made it safely to the airport early this afternoon after staying the night on the beach in Ocho Rios. It's been an amazing trip and all are excited about what God has in store for the trip for next year! We have stories to tell when we return!