Great Friday

God has provided again. This morning started as our days normally have here in Texas, a day on the road in Fort Worth running and preparing for the arrival of a new baby. A few of our children were spending time with Nonnie and we were preparing to take the others to  Nonnie's house so they could all bake and decorate cookies for Easter with their cousins. Our baby Zachary Ryan had other plans. Jodi started having some contractions while getting ready and by the time everyone was ready to go she was having them quite frequent so we quickly took off to the hospital in Fort Worth. We contacted Nonnie to meet us at the hospital to take care of all the children while Zachary was being born. We arrived, got checked in and Zachary was delivered in a little over an hour. He weighed in at 9lbs 10oz and 21inches. Funny how our discussion just the night before was how Jodi felt her body couldn't grow any more, obviously God felt the same way. All the siblings were excited to meet Zachary and hold him especially Bubba, he always show so much enthusiasm in whatever he is doing and this was no difference.
Now we continue to pray for and ask that you join with us for God's provisions and Thank Him for all he as done for our family.
Praises-
Praise Him for Good Friday and what He has done for all of us!!!
Praise for a healthy baby boy and healthy mommy!
Praise for our family being back together after 3 weeks of separation.
Praise for how God has provided for our housing and transportation needs while in Texas.

Concerns-
-The continued health of our newest addition Zachary Ryan Daniel
-Transportation needs for our family we need a larger vehicle that seats 8 during our short time in Texas.
-All of the needs of a new baby(we were preparing but thought we had a little more time) car seat, breast pump, etc.
-Rest for mommy and baby.
-Quick processing for the birth certificate, passport,and visa for Zachary so we can return home to Jamaica.
-Preparation for all the family as we accept and raise the newest member of our family.

Below are some pictures from our time today in the hospital

Matthew running to see his new baby brother!!!

Pickle happy to see Zachary

Everyone ready to see Zachary's first bath.

Bubba and Daddy

Allison and Erin enjoying Zachary

Erin's turn

Finally Bubba get's to hold his brother!

Daddy and Zachary

Granpa's admiring the new baby.

Poppy holding his 8th grandchild.

big sis Lexi and pickle so happy to see their new brother.

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Boots and Bluebonnets

Here are some photos that we took enjoying our time in Texas while waiting on the baby to come sitting in the Bluebonnets and wearing our boots.

Return home

Wow, What a time it has been since our last post. We arrived back home in January to prepare for our team season that started just 4 days after we arrive Jan 3. We also arrived to many changes on the campus where we live. The campus manager/principal had retired in Dec. leaving a void here in the ministry. We also welcomed 3 new employees and neighbors here on the campus with a new Chaplain/work team assistant and his wife and also a counselor who are all deaf. In January the team season started with 4 great teams that have been returning for many years. It is always great to get to see our friends come back to minister with us. CCCD also had a board meeting at which time I was asked to also take on the role of acting Campus Manager on top of the Work Team Coordinator position(also filling in as the driver since he passed away in Oct last year). What a plate God has given us(I think it is full now). He is also providing for us through the refreshing visits of  some close friends and just being able to be a part of what He is doing here in the lives of the Jamaican people.
God is good!!!
Jeffrey

Texas time

Our time in Texas was great! We arrived in Nov and our first place to visit(by my pregnant wife's request) was Parton's Pizza, a hometown pizza place that we loved to frequent. We were able to spend time with our family and friends that we have so missed for the last 13 months while we live in Jamaica.

We were so blessed by so many with a great friend that loaned us their 7 passenger van for use the whole time we were in Texas to our new awesome friends that we were able to live next to since they opened up a home they had on their property. What a blessing to have a home to call our own while visiting not to mention the fact that we were able to wake up in the mornings to the deer and wild turkey's roaming through our back yard.

Christmas Caroling with Beautiful Feet

Our time with our church family was great celebrating the birth of our Savior. We also got to celebrate this time in a new way with our family at Beautiful Feet.

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