Hello from Jamaica 🇯🇲

As of today I have been out of the States for 8 days with the whole world ahead of me. I will start this post with an update on what we have been doing in the day to day and my life surrounding the country so far, and end on things that I have learned or experienced while being here.

We flew into Montego Bay last Thursday and had a 2 hour bus ride to where we are staying at the AR Base. As for the other countries I have been too, driving is hectic. They somehow drive so effortlessly while swerving in and out of cars. Jamaica has SO many potholes and its great because one group this week ended up helping fill some of them in. We were at the base all of friday and saturday relaxing and doing a little up keeping of the base before we started ministry on sunday. I got to walk with a small group of people through the streets and got to talk to some of the locals about their lives and faiths and it was awesome. Jamaicans have so much wisdom whenever we ask them about Christ and what he has done for them.

When we got here, there were not enough beds inside to fit all of us so I slept on the roof in a tent and that was an experience. It rains in Jamaica EVERYDAY no joke. Like it has rained all 8 days we have been here at some time, mostly in the afternoons. After sleeping on the roof in a rainstorm, they let us sleep in a cement building that is abandoned, on the top floor, that has a roof. I have slept in there since in a tent because the mosquitoes apparently love me.

The conditions honestly havent been too bad, but it took me a solid week to get fully adjusted to the outdoor showers, sleeping arrangements, the heat, and the humidity. I thought Georgia was hot and humid but I sweat here like a beast.

As our squad (S Squad), we have 6 teams (4 girl and 2 guy), and luckily for this first week my team got put on roofing as our ministry. Myself, along with 4 of the guys on my team, our leader Nate, and Jerry (a local) got to build a sweet woman named Rebecca's roof. Her and her son Shane are some of the sweetest and caring people who provided us with fruit and great conversations for the whole time we were there. Shane skipped school for 2 days just to watch us and be there with us while we redid their whole roof. They were beyond grateful that we came out and did this for them and it only took us 2 days.

The Jamaican culture is so welcoming and open to the word of Jesus that I would feel safe sleeping at her house the second I met her. Also they are so open to help. I have struggled in my life asking others for help or for prayer, so that is a goal of mine on this trip to being open to knowing and acknowledging that there is nothing I can do without the strength of God and without others. We got to pray over Rebecca, her family, and her roof which made her day, knowing that she can sleep at night without worry of rain leaking inside her beautiful home.

The next roof that we worked on was Anet's. We came to her house and was greeted by her husband, Paul, and he was the definition of wisdom. Nate asked him if he knew who Christ was and he almost scoffed and was like "let me tell you." He then spent the next 10 minutes or so telling us lots of wisdom that he had learned and we got to pray for him and his wife for their surgury and physical problems. This roof took us only one day. It was a lot smaller but our guys got a system down of working at a pace of peace while maintaining our task at hand.

Our guys have been very diligent on having a few guys on the roof, a few guys on the ground, and at least someone talking to the home owners and hearing their stories to foster the relationships. I want to attack next week with a goal of hearing a Jamaicans full testimony on a work day because even though we are making something tangible for them to have, we are spreading the word of Christ along with hearing their stories.

I got to share my testimony to the guys on my team and I got to hear Marcus' testimony this week while we were working. I love the guys on my team and the guys on the other team so much, so it was great to hear about their pasts and it makes me connect on a deeper level once I know what things are hard, and the way God has used them for good to put them here.

The last service day, my team of guys ended up going to Anet's stand and she gave us her porriage and some roasted breadfruit. It was cool to see her at her home, but also outside in the community. It was a very relaxing day for us around base. Some guys ended up putting wood boxes up for the base, and I ended up fixing some parts of the shower. I also built a basketball hoop with scrap wood and screws around.

Today it is our adventure day and we all drove about an hour to the beach. I am in a coffee shop now and will probably walk around and shop for a bit, and maybe get in the water.

That was a brief explanation of the service this week and the conditions but it has been life changing already. The Lord has taught me so many lessons and I have been reading up to 4 times a day because I am on a high of reading the Bible right now. The more I slow down in the day to day, the more that gets done, whether in our projects or just in life. I have always lived with my foot on the gas pedal but I am trying to transition to a more "pace of peace" mindset. Sometimes I just need to sit down and realize that I don't always need to be occupied with something or someone. That has really been a game changer for me.

I know lots of people have asked me for people or things to pray for on this journey so I would love to give names of people that I have met here and group struggles currently.

Pray for the Adventures in Missions Staff:

Brandon, Layne, Trinity, Jen, Sophie, Malachi (Malik), Mitch, Dalvis, Jerry, and Buju. They are all so encouraging and a light in Jamaica whether they have lived here forever, if they moved here full time, or if they come for months at a time to serve. They are all a true blessing.

Pray for local Jamaicans:

Rebecca, Shane, Anet, Paul, Jim Brown, Lorraine, Chantel, and so many others I am forgetting the names for now.

Pray for my team and our big group of guys:

Marcus, Weston, Sam, and Conrad on my team. Ethan, Cole, Zion, Woods, and Matthew on the other guy team. Also our leader Nathan.

There has been lots of illness getting spread around, lots of random rashes, lots of heat problems, and lots of uncontrollable rain and wind that has flipped tents, rainflys, and has soaked so much. So prayer for that would also be greatly appreciated.

I finished the book (Life by the Way) that I got from Gainesville and there was one more thing that I learned from it that I am trying to be more intentional about. She was writing to her dying uncle and wrote him a letter. She mentioned in the letter, "I don't know why we often wait until times like these to say the most important things, or to tell people how much they mean to us ..." I totally agree. Why do we always wait until someone is close to death or at their funeral to share how much they impacted or changed our lives?

I am on a mission of telling people my feelings straight, whether good or bad. Sometimes a one minute conversation with someone thanking them for the person they are or what they have done that has changed my heart, can make their day, week, or even year. I encourage each of yall reading this to reach out to somebody who has changed your heart or path in the past and just tell them how grateful that you are for what they did. Also, how thankful you are for them in this season of life or a past season of life.

I have been sitting in the Word for so long in the last week and have come across many verses that I continue to embrace. In 1 Timothy 4 it says to not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. This really hit me a few days ago when I read it. It is much harder to preach or teach a person older than me who has a closed mindset because they believe that they have life figured out. I sure don't have life figured out. Nor do I want too. If I knew God's will and plan for my life, then why would I need to have faith? I am embracing living and letting my actions teach people along with having intentional conversations about the Lord even when I am uncomfortable or they are uncomfortable. Be a model of the Lord like Paul was in 2 Thessalonians for their people. I seek to have people imitate Jesus and I would love to model that to the fullest of my abilities in the Lord.

4 weeks to go in Jamaica and the ministry has been kicking the devil's butt so far. I have found my people and a place that truly hungers for the Lord. This is still only the beginning.

Psalm 102:18 says "Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord."

May all of this be used for good and be from the Lord.

God Bless!