A Providential Shower

It is not rainy season here, but it sure was showering last night at the Woman's League meeting, the ladies ministry in the Buff Bay church. The ladies, most old enough to be Kirsten's mother, lavished Kirsten and me (I was invited to Woman's League for the special event), with love, food, and wonderful gifts as we await the arrival of our little bundle of joy. The women were precious as they shared what a blessing Kirsten has been to them and the church while also expressing their sadness about her leaving for a couple months.


As we have said at other times, this truly feels like home. Yes, many of you reading this are from our hometowns, and we miss you terribly (along with mornings without the roosters, driving on the right, pizza, and leafy green salads), but we really have joy living here. There is no doubt that some time off to recoup and reload is much needed, but we are already thinking about what happen when we return to Jamaica. Just today, Kirsten and I were discussing whether or not we will lose our ear for patois (the local dialect), as people have now stopped slowing down for us - and if we lose it, we will be lost again!

However, this is not all bad for the church or us either. One of the many great blessings of God's providence is that His plan is always better although not always easy. We see that God is actually allowing the church to get a dry-run of what it will look like when we would actually leave Jamaica for good if that be God's plan. We have labored to equip the saints to play a greater role in the ministry and now comes a time for us to assess, evaluate, and recalibrate.

We praise God for and are incredibly encouraged by the tremendous support and blessing that has come from the church even in being understanding of us returning back to NJ to have the baby, especially from Pastor Allen. That said, please pray for the churches as they prepare to shuffle people around to make sure the ministry doesn't miss a beat but continues to move forward. Please pray that this will be a great time for the church and a time in which leaders, both old and new, will be challenged and delight in serving the Lord and His people. Also pray for us as we pack, make arrangements, and coordinate all the details that go into our temporary return to Ocean City.

We will keep you posted throughout the summer and let you know where we are and what we are up to and eventually baby-pictures and thoughts. Until then...have a great day!