Minutes by Minute

My past week was spent in the metropolis of Kingston, Jamaica. It's a bustling, dirty city with a rich history from colonial times. There is a big problem of poverty and crime in the city, but it's ripe for the harvest and there is great need. I worked with two Catholic groups over during the week. One was from Acton, MA and the other from Carlsbad, MN. One thing I enjoyed about the week was everything I learned about the Catholic faith. My perspective on Catholicism is refreshed. I experienced my first mass and was able to experience a number of different liturgical traditions including prayers, hail mary's, rosary's, etc. Beyond that, the dedication that the brothers have at Missionaries of the Poor sure has had an impact on me. These young men spend their entire lives serving people and children who are physically and mentally disabled or have AIDS. There were three facilities where we served during the week: The Bethlehem Home (a home for mentally and phyisically di...

I've spent the past week in a town west of MoBay called Grange Hill. It's in the Westmoreland Parrish. We worked with a church in Fullersfield, a short drive from the town of Grange Hill. Pastor Douglas Fowles oversees five churches in his circuit. He is an amazing pastor with a heart for God and His people. Westview Baptist Church from Opp, Alabama was a pleasure to have for the week of ministry. We focused on painting the church inside and out; putting on a sports camp where children learned how to play games like dodge ball and American football, but also had spiritual feeding through devotions; and school ministry out at Paul Island Primary School. I will never forget the girl that sang the song for us at the end of the week. It was the song "The blood will never lose it's power." She sang it with so much gusto and love and joy, and wasn't doing it for show but was doing it out of love and you could tell that the love of Christ was flowing through her. Aft...

I got to spend the previous weekend with my brother, his wife Lindsey and my nephew Marshall. It was a great weekend even though Marshall came down with a sickness and was not himself. I enjoyed my time in North Carolina. I arrived in Jamaica this morning. It was a nice flight from Charlotte (the best airport i've EVER been in). After getting in at 11:30 AM I traveled through the airport quickly and met up with Naceina, the lady who uses our Mazda when we're not in Jamaica. I laughed at my first experience with the car this summer. As they pulled up I clearly saw bright green engine coolant seeping from the car onto the pavement. Knowing the trouble we had with the car last spring i'm not surprised, even though we thought it was all fixed up. We hope it was simply wear and tear from the four hour drive from Kingston to Montego Bay. My first order of business was meeting with Cynthia and Leland James, the wonderful couple who are renting out their 4 bedroom apartment to us. ...