Minutes by Minute

It’s the night of Thursday, July 16th. I’ve just finished leading my second largest mission trip, a team of 47 people from Mississippi, Illinois, and Maryland; three churches who came together for a week of ministry in the communities of Orange, Chatham, and Somerton Jamaica. The week went surprisingly well. I was nervous going into it because of complicated plans the fact that three different teams were coming together for the ministry during the week. It was a mountain that I was preparing to climb and something I was anxious for, but also tentative. All three teams had a great week. They all did VBS’s (at three different churches) and we worked on a construction project at the Bethtephil Baptist Church in Chatham. The project was pouring a cement floor for the new addition of a handful of classrooms. Our team worked with a church member named Mr. Thorpe during the week, who was a great guy. Josh Ruiter headed up the construction groups and did a phenomenal job in his...

Emotionally there's been a lot of ups and downs this week. Tonight I sit in our staff lodging room at the Sandy Bay Primary School and reflect on what God has done. I sit in the dark as the teen guys from Browncroft Community Church serenade the ladies with love songs. The current song is Edwin McCain's "I'll Be". Leading a team of 67 people sure has been a challenge, but it has been an experience i'll never forget. Nelson Jenkins is one of the most passionate youth pastor's i've ever met- I tried to recruit him to come work for PPM. He has the heart of someone who simply loves people, but especially youth- and has a desire to see them grow. I got feedback from Nelson today about their trip. He said they'd return, but only go on an international mission trip every three years. He also said he wished there was a bit more service work the team could have done for a couple of the days. It was a task trying to keep everyone busy and really jus...