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

We are anticipating our upcoming year of service here in Jamaica and seeing all that God is going to do in the lives of the children, staff and teams here on campus. We are looking forward to working with over 26 teams this next year. We are excited that one of our first teams will be from our home church in Texas. With many projects and maintenance issues here on campus we are looking forward to seeing what God can do through each and every person. Some of the projects that need to be accomplished is 1)completion of the surrounding wall, 2)repair of plumbing issues throughout the campus, 3)painting, 4)completing the educational and vocational buildings (interior/exterior). Great to know that with God all things are possible!!

With the arrival of our container several weeks ago, we are still trying to get our home in order. Jeffrey's mother arrived shortly after our container arrived and she was a wonderful help with either watching the children or helping unpack boxes and plastic containers. There is still much to do in our home but we can't let it overwhelm us. I am having to adjust with not being able to use a hammer and nails to hang up pics and things. It's quite different with concrete walls (cinderblock walls). I desire for the house to feel like a home, our home.

With the holidays upon us, we took time to celebrate the birth of our Lord with some friends here on campus. We had a whirlwind of baking and cooking for 2 days. It was great, had the kids in the kitchen as well as the cook, who prepares the meals for the students. His nickname here on the campus is Chef (or Uncle Allen-by our kids). With the students gone for Christmas vacation, it has been very quiet here allowing us to have family time as well as getting to know the staff at CCCD on an more intimate level. This was our first Christmas away from all of our families, which was hard, but God enabled us to have a wonderful time and we were still able to do some of the family traditions as in the past. (Jeffrey's mom even brought a little snow from back home...obviously fake snow but the kids enjoyed it just the same.)

We are also still trekking along with homeschooling. This being our first year to do this, which is even a learning process for me, but has been very rewarding. We were delayed in starting their schoolwork prior to our move but they are making it up by not taking the 3 weeks off at Christmas time. Having the flexibility to do their school work is wonderful and allows our children the ability to work with the teams. Lexi and Erin are eagerly awaiting the teams because they desire to work along side them. They quickly get to their school work right after breakfast and try to beat the other to see who gets to go out first and work with the team. I don't mind this as long as their school work doesn't suffer!!!

We are looking forward to having some of our family members visit in March and June. Knowing that they are coming, helps us anticipate with excitement their visits. Anyone else wanting to come, just send us an email or contact us. We would be happy to accommodate!!!!

Last but not least, we desire to have a stronger and deeper personal relationship with Christ, our Lord and Savior, to have Him be the focal point in our marriage. To draw us closer to Him and to each other. Jeffrey and my desire is to also equip our children with the knowledge of Jesus and to teach them morals and values that are pleasing to Him. God has blessed us with much and we desire to honor Him in all that we do and say! May you all have a Happy New Year full of God's blessings!!

Christmas

Wow....Christmas in Jamaica!! It's way different than the Christmas one year ago. We had snow last year and 80 degree weather this year...but we are right where God wants us to be. We celebrated Christmas with the students and staff here at CCCD before everyone went home for the Holiday's.


We were blessed to have Jeffrey's mom(Nonnie) come here for 9 days in December. She even brought snow for the kids, obviously it was fake but, nonetheless, it was SNOW!!!!

We had a mini Christmas while she was here and we had Jeffrey's dad(Poppy) Skype in so he could watch the children open their gifts. We were able to send bicycles for our children for Christmas and Nonnie and Poppy also sent Christmas gifts ahead of time via our container that was shipped back in November. Way to plan ahead Nonnie and Poppy!!!! Christmas was a little different without having our loved ones near but we still tried to implement some of our family traditions where we could. We attended "Evensong" from Christ Chapel via live streaming, we had pig in the blankets, kids wore their Christmas pj's and had a big Christmas dinner. For Christmas day we invited the staff from CCCD to come over for dinner. It was great!!! Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year too!!!!!

Thanksgiving in Jamaica

The kids and I had a wonderful experience spending time with Aaron and Melissa Black and their two kids (with CSI Ministry in High Gate, Jamaica) during the 2 weeks that Jeffrey was gone. Jeffrey went back to Texas to load our container with all of our personal things and flew back just in time to have Thanksgiving with the rest of us. We are upon our first major holiday here in Jamaica and we feel that we are truly blessed to be able to have friends here to share in this special occasion. We had all the trimmings that we would typically have in the U.S. The Jamaicans, that we shared Thanksgiving dinner with, enjoyed the food right along with us. This isn't a holiday that Jamaica observes but they didn't mind humoring us...actually, I think they'd enjoyed it just the same. I am so thankful that God knows and grants things to us even if it's of simple measure.

Changes...

As I sit here listening to it rain I'm pondering all of the changes we have had in the last few weeks. Moving to a new country and a new home is only the beginning.
When we arrived to our new home we discovered that the refrigerator and microwave was not working. The repair man has been out several times to repair the refrigerator but to no avail. It would work for a few days then just when we turned our back it was out again. Looks like it will be an expensive fix, so for now at meal times we have to walk up the hill to the school kitchen where we keep our food that needs to be kept cold.
I also had to laugh at the humor of God. When we arrived the grounds have not been able to be mowed for the last month so the grass was over 3 ft. tall. What has He prepared me for. Time to mow!!!

Our electricity has been off several times and for several hours throughout the past few weeks. It has been raining a lot but I'm sure we will be missing this rain during the dry season. This also brings in the 40 leggers, kind of a cross between a centipede and a scorpion because it can really hurt if they sting you.

Yesterday the rain came in buckets and knocked down over 200 ft. of the security wall around the school grounds. This will be added to the top of the ongoing list of projects and maintenance that needs to be done here at the campus.
Also looks like our kitchen cabinets and table are full of Chi Chi bugs. These are like termites and wreak havoc on the wood. They will have to be replaced.
At this time we have no transportation but the school is so graciously allowing us to use the van when it is available. Just trying to figure out how to purchase a vehicle and get a price is a learning experience. I stopped in to look at a 2007 Toyota Hiace (van) at a used car lot to get the price and was told it was around 4.1 million J (about $48,000.00 us). This vehicle is nothing fancy but does seat 15 which would be a great vehicle for our family of 7 so we can transport friends and family when they come to visit and help with the teams. Doesn't look like this one is a vehicle for us though.

We served with our first team which was a great experience and they were so gracious with us. As a family this is such a learning experience for all of us. Balancing family and work will take some getting use to. Almost every time I would step out the door to go work our kids wanted to go with me and help. As a father this is a great feeling to have your children want to be with you and help work, but with all that needs to be done they couldn't be with me all the time.
The girls have started homeschooling. This is a new routine that Jodi and the kids are adjusting to. Thankfully the children love to do school work!

Within all of these situations and as we draw closer to God, He is sure blessing us with some great times.
Erin loves to catch the lizards and gecko's inside and out of the house, she has a little cage that she likes to keep them in. She even wants to learn how to sign fast like the kids here do.
Matthew is now walking and into everything. He sure helps us connect with people with his great smile.
Allison has been a prayer warrior. While I was holding Jeffrey after he fell and hit his head, Ali wanted to pray for his head and read him a story. She is also excited about celebrating her birthday this week in Jamaica.
Lexi has been such a great help in everyday life with all that is going on, not that this is any different than before. She is also learning sign quicker than any of us and is able to communicate.
Jeffrey Jr. loves to run and play with the kids here and is learning some sign language as we all are.
Jodi loves sitting with some of the older girls and allowing them to teach her sign language. She has also been able to connect with a friend here that she has been keeping up with while in the states.
I have been able to lead our first team that ministered to the staff and students and did alot of work here. I assisted the staff in setting up for a fundraiser to help the school with ongoing projects for the students. Been blessed with beautiful sunsets and watching my family grow.
As I continue to say "God is good!!!" today, tomorrow and forever.....

Travels

As we sit here in Jamaica pondering our last week of God sightings. After packing and saying goodbye all day Saturday, we arose Sunday morning at 5:30 am to attend service at Beautiful Feet, also for prayer and goodbyes. We arrived at the airport with 18 pieces of luggage. Our family was there to help us get checked in and to say goodbye. After many hugs, tears and goodbyes, Jodi and I braved the security check point with the five children, six carry on bags, 2 backpacks, car seats and diaper bags. At the terminal the lady at the desk allowed me on the plane before everyone to put the car seats in place. We all grabbed a piece of luggage and loaded the plane. One flight attendant was especially nice to us offering free(yes free) snacks and sandwiches for all of us. She was very compassionate for what we were going to do and our move. After getting off the plane we were able to go through immigration on the Jamaican side(where there was no wait) as opposed to going through the visitor side that everyone else was going through. After leaving immigration walking to get our luggage, a gentleman said "Mr. Daniel!" I said yes, he proceeded to tell me that he had all of our luggage stacked on carts and would help us through customs. We went to the lady in customs and she asked how many people and how many pieces of luggage, I told her seven people and 18 pieces of luggage. She said that is quite a bit for a 2 week stay. I told her that we were moving here. She said OK stamped our papers, then said get going! We walked out of the airport to meet our friends from CCCD and an added surprise was The Black family was also waiting for us(they moved to Jamaica in April and are serving with another ministry). They helped us get settled in and get to the grocery store but could only buy a few basics since the refrigerator wasn't working.
That day was particularly hard for all of us, just saying goodbye to our friends and family. Many tears and conversations about what will be missed. God is so good to provide for us even in the hard times. We also praise him for the blessings as we traveled.

Great week!!!!

As we are preparing to leave, our work permit approval was finalized on Monday. On Tuesday a friend drove to Kingston and picked up our letter of approval, took it to FedEx and sent it overnight to us in Texas(guaranteed to be there by 10am Wednesday morning). Wednesday we spoke at chapel at TCA, I arrived home at 10:05am to find a note from FedEx saying they will have to redeliver on Thurs due to the need for a signature. I called FedEx and they said they would try to contact the driver for redelivery. I received a call back saying the driver would be there in 10 minutes. On Wednesday evening we left for Houston for our appointment that was set for Thursday at 11am. We arrived in Houston at 3am got a hotel and was in bed around 3:30am. We arose that morning and met a friend for breakfast then realized that we had pictures of the whole family except me. I had to run and get passport photos made then off to the Jamaican Consulate. When we arrived at the address we had, we found out they had moved. After getting the new address we arrived on time, I was taken into the consulates office and then our passports were stamped with our visas within an hour!! Now we pack up our suitcases and prepare to leave for Jamaica. We sit in Awe of what God has done to accomplish all that has been done. Nothing is too big for God!