Memorial Service and the Why questions?

Wow sitting here in Jamaica, desiring to be with my family. My uncle Danny passed away last week and his memorial service was today. Gracefully the pastor handling the service brought his laptop and Skyped us in to watch the service. We are truly blessed to have the technology to be able to be with our family at this time.
My uncle was a respected man that was injured serving our country in Vietnam as a teenager and then dealt with the aftermath of all of that for the rest of his life, even to living the last years of his life on disability. He loved helping others, making everyone laugh and being there for his family and friends. He did have a side of him that allowed him to deal with all the disappointments in his life, it was a way that did alienate him from his family and friends but had such a grip on his life he couldn't shake it.
As Micah said during the service there are many question of why and how they all point us to our Savior Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. As I sat here during the memorial service I had many questions as to my uncle's life and why God let it go the way He did. Also the question of why am I in another country serving God and helping people find Christ when there are those in my family and friends back home who don't know Him. Why did a man who had such a great heart and love people and his family have such a dark side that gripped him? Why could that grip not be broken, we prayed continually? The fact is that all this doesn't make sense in the world and my finite mind but in God's kingdom, He is in charge and we have a free will.
I am truly grateful for my salvation and so much more grateful for the salvation of my family and friends.
My prayer now is that my uncle Danny's life which has touched many will force those who knew him to question the god in their life and find the true God. Also, that my family and I's life will be used as a greater tool to reach our family and friends back home that do not know the Lord as we also reach those here in Jamaica that don't know the Lord. As with most of my life I don't know how this will take place but I know that God will use this time in our lives to be fruitful for Him.
As a good friend always says "Jesus Do u Know Him?"
God is good!!!
Jeffrey

Erin's Baptism

On Sunday Erin was baptized at Dump Up Beach here in Montego Bay Jamaica. This is a far cry from who she was just 10 months ago. Last summer Erin had mentioned that she would like to be baptized, so it tried talking with her about it. Immediately she clammed up and refused to talk about it. Over the next few weeks we tried many times to talk with her about this and also her salvation. She acted embarrassed and would cry many times not wanting to talk about it and asked us not to mention it. I think she had a fear that she would have to get in front of everyone and speak if she accepted Jesus and got Baptized.
In September after watching the movie "Letters to God" I was able to share with her about her need for a savior and we prayed to ask Jesus into her heart. She was so excited she started crying. She couldn't explain or understand why she was crying but was very excited. Over the next few weeks she shared with many about her new life and also got to share at the church service at Beautiful Feet. We were amazed of the transformation that Christ had made in our little girl.
Our church here in Montego Bay had announced they were having a Baptism service on May 1 at the beach. My desire was for my daughter to be baptized but wanted it to be her desire to follow Christ and not for my desire. Saturday evening we were talking about the Baptism service and Lexi mentioned to Erin that she could be Baptized. She said sure so we talked with her to make sure she understood about what she was wanting to do. I called our pastor and asked if it was too late to add Erin's name to the list. He was excited to add her name to the list.
So on Sunday we went to church and Erin got in front of everyone shared with the congregation about her conversion and desire to be baptized(no fear or crying). We then went to the beach and Erin proudly was baptized.
We have been through so many changes in the past 7 months and look forward to the many more changes God has in store for us. We have seen many lives changed here in Jamaica and we are so excited and blessed to see our children grow into the children that God made them. As parents we are so blessed and excited that our children desire to follow God and be obedient to his commands. We pray every night that our children would grow up to know God and serve Him with their lives. God has been faithful to answer our prayers and know that he will continue to provide answers to our prayers.
-Jeffrey

5 months on the field

Since I last blogged, we hosted a work team from Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church out of Tennessee, which was a smaller group but wonderful and definite go-getter's. Thank you all for your hard work!


We also had a week off and we were able to have some quality family time just hanging out around the house, we went one day to the beach for Valentines day and then hung out with some friends that are also missionaries here in Jamaica. They came and spent the night with us on Friday and Saturday night. They allowed us to have a date night while they watched our children and in turn we gave them a date night and watched their children. Thank you Aaron and Melissa Black for being wonderful friends. I pray that our friendships continue to grow deeper too.
We are at the end of another week with an amazing group of people from Illinois. This diverse group was comprised of both mature and young individuals, who worked equally hard. They have been spread out on the campus working on various projects such as the collapsed wall, re-screening the patio on our home, cleaning/painting of some rooms in the educational building, finishing the construction of the ramp and let's not forget about striping the field (with used motor oil) to create a track for sports day. We will be taking this group to the airport later on today and in turn picking up our next team from Rosedale Baptist Church located in Maryland.
On Friday 2/25, CCCD-MoBay campus had sports day which was also Jamaica Day island wide. There were many track and field events that the students and staff participated in, as well as the On To Victory work team! It was very exciting to see all the houses(Red, Blue & Green) get involved and eager to do their events!





On March 1st, Jeffrey and I will be celebrating our 8th our anniversary!!! WOOHOO!! And on March 3, CCCD-MoBay campus will be hosting the 2nd annual 4-H Achievement Day where all schools within the St. James parish will be represented here on this campus. That's over 200 schools. Each school will setup their own booths and then there will be an awards program, too, for accomplishments. It will be a pretty big day here and guess who's in charge of coordinating cakes and cookies...me! They are expecting 1000+ people. This isn't going to be big....it's going to be HUGE!!!! This is a fundraiser for CCCD since they will be providing the foods/beverages for sale during this event. Please be in prayer that all the details and technicalities will go smoothly....it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around this right now but I need to start baking ASAP!!!
I feel like there is so much going on that I'm forgetting to write about in order to give you all a glimpse of what our schedules are like. Maybe as I get better about blogging, it will all just naturally flow. Our family is so excited about being on the field!!! God is so Good!!!!
Jodi

4th team of 2011

Today I sit here in a house that is quiet, for the moment, and I am reflecting on the previous teams that we have hosted in Jamaica at Caribbean Christian Centre of the Deaf. It's hard to believe that today is the first of February. This year has just flown by and yet it seems to be standing still. We are hosting our 4th team so far. We have had Trinity Christian College, Trinity Bible Church, Draper Valley Presbyterian Church and now Bowling Green Christian Academy. Wow,the makeup of each team is different but yet the mission of each team is the same, to serve others. Some of the things that have been worked on are: the collapsed wall, painting the interior of our home, locating/fixing plumbing problems, laying new pipes, deaf students were taken to the Jamaican zoo located in St Elizabeth parish.


I know that God is doing great things through the teams that He is forming and sending here and it has been an honor and privilege to work with all of them. Thank you Lord that we have the ability to do your work in a such wonderful, beautiful place!
Jodi