Benicia FBC Church

We are here. Prudy and Nicole arrived yesterday and met us at the airport. There was a bit of a delay in the airport getting through customs with all the dental supplies, but eventually we made it. We loaded up the van and went to our hotel for the week, The Big Apple. Once we got ourselves settled we headed out to a neighborhood called Canterbury. We were stunned at the houses and the small alleys we walked around in. Our goal was to set out inviting people to the dental clinic. However because of the rain it was difficult to find many people. Once we got the clinic started though, things picked up and we were off! We gave florid treatments to many kids. While those were being administered and the patients were receiving free toothbrushes and toothpaste, others of us played games with the kids who were around. Pastor Thomas, who we are partnering with this week, invited us to his home when we finished. We tried mango that he pulled from the tree in his back yard. Delicious! And took our group picture. We ended the day with a meal of spaghetti and meatballs. We are headed to bed to get a good night sleep.

This morning we woke and had a very filling breakfast of hot cereal, eggs, bacon, potatoes, and muffins. I think everyone ate a bit too much. When we finished up breakfast we loaded up our own personal van we have for the week and started the trek up into the hills south of Montego Bay where Robin's Nest Children's Home is seated. We arrived and met the fisty founder and coordinator of the children's home, Michelle Robinette. She gave us a tour and we helped clean up but organizing and folding lots of laundry. Some of us cleaned out closets and others swept the roof. Yes, I said swept the roof. At the Nest they collect their rain water on the roof and have it filtered before drinking and such. Ate lunch and jumped down the hill to the Robin's Nest School. We realized that the florid mouth cups were forgotten, but we improvised and had the children brush their teeth with the florid. Nicole and Prudy got to make crafts with the kids while they waited their turn to have the treatment. Once we finished, we jumped back up the hill to get the official tour of one of the umcompleted buildings. Michelle told us about the home and where they were headed with construction and things they hope to be able to do with the children. She shared some heartbreaking stories about some of the children who have come to the home. It was very interesting and inspiring. Once we left the next we headed to dinner at Island Grill, a fast food resturant here in Jamaica. Thank you to everyone back home who is praying for us, we appreciate. We are looking foward to being challenged and stretched this week.

For breakfast this morning we got to try a typical Jamaican breakfast food, calalloo. It’s comparable to spinach. We headed to Burchell Baptist Church for Sunday school and the service – lasting about 2 ½ hours. We meet the other team that we’re teaming up with this week for VBS and some construction. Their group leader, Leah, and Brian were able to introduce the teams this morning during announcements. Right now we are doing some prayer walking in the community, and spending some time with our new team learning a missions training called conversational areas. Later this evening after supper we will be attending the evening church. A member from the other group will be preaching and the Pelican’s will have a more active role in the service.

This morning we broke off. Nicole and Prudy headed down into Canterbury to continue working with Grace Baptist Church on some construction projects. Brian, PeggySue, Cara, and Bonnie went with Ebenezer to the middle school and administered fluoride to almost 150 students. VBS was great! We had tons of kids, it became a bit chaotic at times but we got through it. Tomarrow we are starting are two hour adventure to Ochio Rios (known as Ochie to the locals) and going to Dunns River Falls.