Category: Jamaica

Jamaica – Day 3

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Another great day in Jamaica today. We began the day with some rest and relaxation at the beach. It’s the first time we’ve been to the beach on this trip. (We will probably get to go again for a while on Friday.) Needless to say, it was absolutely beautiful and incredibly relaxing to just float in the warm Caribbean water. Here’s a picture from this morning’s view:

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After this morning we had a Jamaican lunch called “Juicy Beef” which is kind of like a hot pocket but you eat it wrapped in a piece coco bread. I’d put a picture of it here but I ate all the evidence before a picture could be taken. Wow, was it good!

Back to the Bible College after lunch with Cletis and we had a great time today teaching more pastoral theology to the students. Yesterday I introduced you to them by name; today I talked them into a group shot:

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These guys really interacted well today and asked a lot of questions; I love that! Cletis and I also really enjoyed “tag team teaching” the class today. It was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to get back there tomorrow.

I want to share a little more today about the village we’re staying in. If you didn’t see the pictures I ended yesterday’s post with, scroll down and check them out. This village is called Granville and it is a very poor area. Because of the poverty there is a lot of crime, and though we haven’t witnessed any violence, it’s not safe for us to walk through the neighborhood. As a matter of fact, in one of the pictures I posted yesterday there is a man in red near our van. When he saw me take the picture he immediately yelled out that he wanted money for it.

We are staying in Granville and the Caribbean Christian School for the Deaf. This is basically a little gated compound that has a night watchman and tall walls around the entire school campus that have glass on the top to keep people from climbing over.

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Don’t worry though, we’re completely safe!

Laura and I have had the opportunity to meet a sweet family that I want to introduce to you. This is the Daniel’s family. Jeff, Jodi and kids are here in Jamaica as missionaries and they oversee the Caribbean Christian School for the Deaf where we are staying. We’ve been privileged to get to know them some this week and will spending more time with them as the week goes on. I can tell you, that living in Jamaica is not like coming to visit. I’m sure that there are times that it’s very difficult for this family who just want God to use their lives for His glory. So, I’m asking for you to join me in praying for them. Will you?

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Tomorrow I’m going to show you more of Bogue village where Bay Life Baptist Church is and the community they’re trying to reach for Christ.

By the way, our day concluded with Chinese food with Cletis and Tammy. That’s the last thing I thought I would eat in Jamaica but it was very good…..mon.

Jamaica – Day 2

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We’ve had another great day in Jamaica. Since we don’t have to be at the Bible college until 2pm, we have some time in the mornings to do other things. So, Cletis and Tammy took us down to “the strip.” This is the first time we’ve been to a touristy area since we arrived.

We went to a shop and were introduced to Auntie Dolley who is a sweet old lady who owns the shop. Since we know Cletis and Tammy we were instant friends.

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We were also introduce to Lana who was a sweetheart too. You can tell by her beautiful Jamaican smile that I caught at the entrance of Auntie Dolley’s shop.

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After lunch, Cletis and I headed out to Fairview Bible college to teach a week long module class on Pastoral theology. I took a bunch of video of our ride out and of the college that I’ll show later this week. I’ll also put some pictures on the blog of the college campus later this week.

In our class are five young Jamaican men receiving their education to become pastors here in Jamaica; O’Brian (that’s his first name), Carlington, Dane, Andre and Charles. (I’ll see if they’ll let me get a group shot with them one day this week.)

It was a great time in class as they were attentive and asked a lot of questions. I love that!

Here’s what the classroom looked like:

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Can’t wait to get back tomorrow afternoon!

Tomorrow morning will begin with our first trip to see a beach here in Jamaica. Laura and I are both excited about this! Don’t worry, we’ll lather up with some SPF 50 before we go out. Otherwise we’ll end up looking like we landed on the surface of the sun!

I want to finish today’s update with just some pictures of what life really looks like here in Jamaica. The commercials on American tv just show the resorts, but that’s not what Jamaica really is. This is a place of high unemployment and difficult living for many people. I’m so glad that Cletis and Tammy along with other’s, both American and Jamaican, are giving their lives to give the hope of Christ to the people of Jamaica. These people are more than just faces…..

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Jamaica – Day 1

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We couldn’t have asked for a better first day here in Jamaica!

First was great time of worship at Bay Life Baptist Church. What an awesome time it was. I really enjoyed watching the worship leaders just serve and the Lord was definitely in this place. Here’s a picture of the “auditorium” where they worship. It’s an upstairs room in a building that has a meat market and some other business on the first floor:

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Within 30 minutes of the beginning of the service, this place was full to capacity. (Punctuality is not extremely high on the priority list in Jamaica.)

At the end of the worship service a young woman came forward to express that she had accepted Christ as Savior! How awesome is that?!

After church we were invited over to Dr. Brown’s house for a big, church-wide lunch. This was in honor of Cletis and Tammy Titus who founded Bay Life Baptist. It was an awesome time!

The food at this party was very Jamaican and pretty much amazing! I had, for the first time ever, goat stomach soup. I don’t want to sound like Andrew Zimmern here but it was really good. And yes, it had goat stomach, intestine and brains in it. (This was the appetizer.) It was a little to spicy for Laura so she didn’t eat hers. I’m sure that was the only reason she didn’t eat it…

After that, the main meal was served buffet style. It consisted of jerk chicken, curry goat and some really, really good pork. Here’s a pic of my plate:

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As good as it was, the best part of this lunch was not the food. As the church honored Cletis and Tammy, they sang all kinds of songs as one of the men played an upright piano in the living room and man did they sing from the heart! It was so fun to sing along and then hear them just spontaneously break into another song. They truly love to worship! They honored Cletis and Tammy with testimony and a gift then served us all cake and ice cream.

It was great to see the Titus’ loved on in such a way. They’ve truly made a difference here.

Did I mention today was a great day?!

Well, tomorrow brings day two and Cletis and I will be heading out to the Bible college. We will both be lecturing in the Pastor Theology class. I’m really looking forward to this!

More to come tomorrow night as I’m sure I’ll have more pictures and stories of our time here in Jamaica.

Jamaica Mon

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For those who would like to keep up with our missions trip to Jamaica here’s the update from our travel day:

Laura and I made it to Jamaica about 3:40 this afternoon (Feb 23, 2013). Cletis Titus picked us up at the airport and our adventure began. The first awesome thing we encountered was walking out into 85 degree weather. That was awesome since it was 34 degrees when we left Greensboro.

After picking us up and taking us by to meet a Jamaican pastor, Andrew, Cletis took us to get some authentic Jamaican food. I had Jamaican jerk chicken and Laura played it safe with barbecued Chicken. This was the crazy part. Because of exchange rate here in Jamaica, I gave a $20 bill for our food and received $700 in Jamaican currency for my change! Wouldn’t be awesome if that happened in America?!

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We went back to the airport at 8pm and picked Tammy up; so the team is all here! After that we went to the “Mega Mart” and spent over $3,300 Jamaican on 6 bottles of water, some cereal, bread and a few snacks. (Good thing the exchange rate is $94 Jamaican = $1 US!)

We’ll be worshiping at the Jamaican church tomorrow, Bay Life Baptist, both in the morning and evening. I’ll be speaking to the AWANA group tomorrow evening.

I’m looking forward to taking a ton of pictures and video. I’ll be posting them here, on Facebook and sending some videos in to be shown at our VBC worship service next Sunday morning. Don’t miss that!