The Delivery Room

Blog news is sometimes scarce, but there are some weeks that we could write a post every day. Last week was one of those weeks, and although we tried to have a multiple-post week, we failed because we were busy making even more news for all you lovely readers!

A week ago we attended the annual youth conference for the fellowship of Independent Baptist churches. There were about 120 young people there, and it was a great time. We were supposed to leave at 5:30 AM to make the three hour drive in order to arrive at the hosting church first (because there is a trophy awarded to the first youth group to arrive...whatever motivates!). The lack of sleep paid off as the Buff Bay circuit arrived about thirty minutes before the other churches! Trophy #1.

The morning began with a worship service and a brief talk by a faithful brother named O'Neil (also one of the summer camp speakers). Two girls responded to the call of Christ in their lives, one of which I had the pleasure of speaking with after the service. Pray for Shanica that Jesus will indeed be Savior, Friend, and LORD of her life. The afternoon included a heated battle between the churches in the annual Bible Quiz. Buff Bay won handily in the Philippians' quiz as the participants had been preparing for weeks. Trophy #2. After a time of fellowship, we packed up the bus with BOTH trophies and came home! CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE CONFERENCE!

Each year at the conference, the young people honor a pastor or someone who has influenced the youth of the "fellowship churches." This year they honored Pastor Bloise, an 84-year old pastor in Kingston (Grace Reformed Church) who has been active with the youth for over 40 years. After all the festivities, Kirsten and I were talking with Pastor Bloise and discovered that he was an alum of Kirsten's alma mater, Philadelphia Biblical University! Pastor Bloise, just this past Friday (4 days after the conference), lost his wife to cancer. Please be in prayer for Pastor Bloise as he and the church mourn their loss.
Last Thursday morning Kirsten decided to give the choir a break that evening by canceling their weekly rehearsal. The choir sings only twice a month, so with a 5-Sunday month there is a bit more breathing room. The choir members were begging for a week off, and last week was a great time to grant their wish. My Thursday class was also canceled due to the weather, which gave us both a night off! However, in the afternoon Kirsten received a phone call that a friend from the Skibo church had gone into labor. We waited a of couple hours (you know, for the baby actually to come out) and then, because we were free that night, headed up to the hospital in our fancy new car to see Yvonne and the baby. When we arrived, however, there was no baby! Yvonne was still waiting for her bundle of joy to make her move! Yvonne asked us to stay because no one else was there with her. Her contractions were less than 3 minutes apart when we arrived. We prayed with her as I kept monitoring the time (I figured I should keep track of the contractions because that is what they did in ER!), while trying to comfort as best we could. About 40 minutes later Yvonne got up to use the restroom, walked into the delivery room with the nurse, and within 15 minutes came out with a BABY GIRL! INCREDIBLE!We forgot to bring our camera with us, so sorry, no pictures of the baby, but here is the blanket that Kirsten made for little Xyiesha Mykhala Cox!

Join us in praying for Yvonne and Xyiesha, especially that they come to know Jesus!

Consider the news...delivered!

Thanks to the Giver of good gifts!

If you are waiting to hear about the car situation...today's post is for you! We looked around in Kingston last week but did not spot anything spectacular or tempting enough to move us away from the Suzuki Jimny. This is quite fine with us because we have loved and thought about getting a Jimny from the first month we arrived in Jamaica! So when a church brother asked us if we were interested in buying a Jimny from him, we were, as you may image, definitely "stoked"!

We praise God for His unending goodness of which this car is only a small example. Psalm 37 tells us that when we first delight ourselves in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our heart. Many use this passage to support a "health and wealth" prosperity gospel, but then God is becomes a "genie in a bottle." Instead of a means to the end, God should be the end of our delight itself. We are to find our full pleasure in the Lord regardless of what we do or do not have (materially, socially, etc). When He is our great joy and the fullness of our desires, God gives good gifts, as a husband gives flowers to his wife, for no reason other than to make her smile and to demonstrate his affection.

We thank you very much for all your prayers with us as we shopped and deliberated. We also thank you for your support of the ministry financially! We are humbled and blessed by the way God has prepared the way for us by way of so many faithful people like yourselves.

Enjoy the pictures of our, and in a way, your, new car!



Tune in tomorrow for an update about our 2010 Youth Conference...

Car Hunting

Today, Kirsten and I are going into Kingston to check out some fresh new wheels. Please be in prayer with us as we look for a good deal. We test drove a Suzuki Jimny last week, which we really liked. But before we pull the trigger, we want to check out some other deals. Below are some of the options we are pursuing:
Option #1: This says we are here for serious business, but we are also into putting our feet up! Also, there is plenty of extra room to pile people in for a sweet and tranquil road-trip. (Personal driver is still be discussed.)

Option #2: Jamaica has an exquisite coastline drive (think tropical Pacific Coast Highway). Why not drive it in style?!


Option #3: Rugged, roomy, reliable.


We will be sure to keep you posted and let you know how the hunting goes!

The calm BEFORE the storm

Well, if you read last week's post, you will know that Kirsten and I had an incredibly relaxing vacation after my busy week in New Jersey. When I wrote the blog and named it "The calm after the Storm," I thought I was being very clever. What I did not know was that tropical depression Nicole was brewing in our neighborhood. The rains began Tuesday afternoon, not too uncommon, at least until it continued through Saturday!

Although Jamaica suffered from the storm, Buff Bay was spared major damage. We did lose electricity Tuesday night through Wednesday night with sporadic outages throughout the week. We also lost water from early Wednesday morning through Friday night. Since the water outage, we have lost most water pressure (we assume from considerable breaks in main lines and pumps), which makes bathing an effort.


Due to the storm and its effects, many of our ministries were canceled throughout week. However we found work in preparing for life to resume back to normal and storing water when we could. The outage was minor, but it is incredible to me how dependent I am on the basic amenities of life. I would literally check the kitchen sink every twenty minutes in hope of the water being back! What would it be like to depend on God the way we depend on the water companies of our lives?

All in all, Kirsten and I fared well throughout the week. We experienced the grace of God in new ways, which is always a delight. Part of me feels like we have arrived as "Jamericans" as we have weathered the first major storm. Pastor Allen even found a way to comment on our newly acquired ability to catch rain water on Sunday morning, which won the hearts of some in the pews.
Briefly, in other news, tomorrow we are going to look at a car to purchase! We will be certain to keep you informed as to how it goes. Until then...grace and peace be with you.