Here are some photos of the team from Atlantic Christian School along with our homegrown pineapple and a bowl of Jamaica's national dish (aki and saltfish).
Enjoy (click here)!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The young and the restless...
The past week and a half was a wonderful treat for us because we were able to host students from Atlantic Christian School. For some who do not know, this is the school where Kirsten and I taught for four years. Not only were we able to see our former students, but we were blessed to see how much they have grown as young men and women, especially in their relationships with Christ.
Their schedule was full and very ambitious. However, despite the obstacles of this intense schedule, extremely hot weather, and cultural barriers, the team worked tirelessly and very well over the past week. Their ministries were geared toward youth in Buff Bay. They hosted a soccer tournament, baseball clinics, and nightly church meetings with skits, singing, and short sermons. It is our hope that the youth in Buff Bay may experience God's grace and be saved.
From our vantage point, the youth in the Jamaican church are dwindling and being lured by "lovers less wild" than Jesus himself. The next generation of the church is thinning out as the culture is seemingly losing its Christian moorings. As many see this a problem, we see this as a wonderful place to begin. There is a fresh palate to which the Good News of Jesus may be applied. We can start at the ground up. That is what this past week was about.
Throughout the week we were able to meet, engage, reach, and show the love of God to the youth of Buff Bay. Some have expressed a desire to be saved and have already begun the process of learning more about Christ by getting involved in the church's instructions class. Others asked honest and sincere questions about the faith. In all, we probably interacted with about 200 youth from the community. Please pray for these young people and the ongoing effort to reach this generation. We hope that they will come to know, love, and serve Jesus with us!
We thank the ACS team, again! Until next time...
grace and peace.
Their schedule was full and very ambitious. However, despite the obstacles of this intense schedule, extremely hot weather, and cultural barriers, the team worked tirelessly and very well over the past week. Their ministries were geared toward youth in Buff Bay. They hosted a soccer tournament, baseball clinics, and nightly church meetings with skits, singing, and short sermons. It is our hope that the youth in Buff Bay may experience God's grace and be saved.
From our vantage point, the youth in the Jamaican church are dwindling and being lured by "lovers less wild" than Jesus himself. The next generation of the church is thinning out as the culture is seemingly losing its Christian moorings. As many see this a problem, we see this as a wonderful place to begin. There is a fresh palate to which the Good News of Jesus may be applied. We can start at the ground up. That is what this past week was about.
Throughout the week we were able to meet, engage, reach, and show the love of God to the youth of Buff Bay. Some have expressed a desire to be saved and have already begun the process of learning more about Christ by getting involved in the church's instructions class. Others asked honest and sincere questions about the faith. In all, we probably interacted with about 200 youth from the community. Please pray for these young people and the ongoing effort to reach this generation. We hope that they will come to know, love, and serve Jesus with us!
We thank the ACS team, again! Until next time...
grace and peace.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
What happened to March?
He is Risen, indeed! Happy (belated) Easter!
Our apologies for such a long delay in posting. We have been very busy with short term teams, a visit from dear friends, and of course the busyness of church during the Easter season. In all of these things we have been greatly blessed.
The teams that were here worked very hard doing vacation Bible schools, school devotions, and nightly meetings at two of the circuit churches. Two weeks ago, the meetings at the Tranquility church went really well. The last meeting was made sweeter when six people desired to surrender their lives to Christ. The meetings were a great springboard for us to begin an instructions class for people in that community. Essentially the instructions class is a fundamentals of the faith/assurance of salvation course. I have team taught this class with Pastor Allen in the Buff Bay church since our arrival, but now we have added the Tranquility church and another class in the Orange Bay church! This course is part evangelical (in that not all attendees are saved) and part discipleship. We are excited to see what will happen with these courses as we move forward. Please be in prayer for the students and classes.
After the team left we were pleased to have good friends come visit over their spring break. It was great for us to be with them, and together we enjoyed being tourists. I drove for the first time in Jamaica, which was a lot of fun. If you want a mental exercise: drive in the left lane and then make a right turn at an intersection without worrying if you are going to have a head on collision. Anyway, having Kate and Karen here was refreshing and encouraging to our hearts and minds.
On Good Friday, the youth fellowship hosted a "Stations of the Cross" activity. Instead of using traditional icons we used actual items (photos to come) such as a crown of thorns, purple robe, etc. to walk people through the Passion Week. There was a great mix of adults and young people who came to the event. We were very excited to see quite a few young people who do not come to youth fellowship. There was one guy I got to talk to after who did not want the event to end because he was so interested and moved by Jesus' passion. We are praying for those who walked through the event that the Holy Spirit may open their eyes to see and submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Please pray for those who heard the gospel message not just from the "Stations" event but also the Good Friday and Easter services.
Lastly, we are about to leave to go to the airport once again today to pick up our former students from Atlantic Christian School! We are very excited to see them and are looking forward to working alongside them during the week. Please pray for their ministry over the week. There will be nightly evangelical meetings that will be youth focused, a 6 v. 6 soccer tournament, and Bible school. The schedule is packed so pray for stamina for the team (and us) as well as empowerment from the Holy Spirit to share sincerely and lovingly the Good News of Jesus.
Grace and peace,
Jon (and Kirsten)
Our apologies for such a long delay in posting. We have been very busy with short term teams, a visit from dear friends, and of course the busyness of church during the Easter season. In all of these things we have been greatly blessed.
The teams that were here worked very hard doing vacation Bible schools, school devotions, and nightly meetings at two of the circuit churches. Two weeks ago, the meetings at the Tranquility church went really well. The last meeting was made sweeter when six people desired to surrender their lives to Christ. The meetings were a great springboard for us to begin an instructions class for people in that community. Essentially the instructions class is a fundamentals of the faith/assurance of salvation course. I have team taught this class with Pastor Allen in the Buff Bay church since our arrival, but now we have added the Tranquility church and another class in the Orange Bay church! This course is part evangelical (in that not all attendees are saved) and part discipleship. We are excited to see what will happen with these courses as we move forward. Please be in prayer for the students and classes.
After the team left we were pleased to have good friends come visit over their spring break. It was great for us to be with them, and together we enjoyed being tourists. I drove for the first time in Jamaica, which was a lot of fun. If you want a mental exercise: drive in the left lane and then make a right turn at an intersection without worrying if you are going to have a head on collision. Anyway, having Kate and Karen here was refreshing and encouraging to our hearts and minds.
On Good Friday, the youth fellowship hosted a "Stations of the Cross" activity. Instead of using traditional icons we used actual items (photos to come) such as a crown of thorns, purple robe, etc. to walk people through the Passion Week. There was a great mix of adults and young people who came to the event. We were very excited to see quite a few young people who do not come to youth fellowship. There was one guy I got to talk to after who did not want the event to end because he was so interested and moved by Jesus' passion. We are praying for those who walked through the event that the Holy Spirit may open their eyes to see and submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Please pray for those who heard the gospel message not just from the "Stations" event but also the Good Friday and Easter services.
Lastly, we are about to leave to go to the airport once again today to pick up our former students from Atlantic Christian School! We are very excited to see them and are looking forward to working alongside them during the week. Please pray for their ministry over the week. There will be nightly evangelical meetings that will be youth focused, a 6 v. 6 soccer tournament, and Bible school. The schedule is packed so pray for stamina for the team (and us) as well as empowerment from the Holy Spirit to share sincerely and lovingly the Good News of Jesus.
Grace and peace,
Jon (and Kirsten)
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