Pictures from Thursday And Friday

Here are some Pictures From our last few Days 

Our Final Day ...

Just a quick update from today:

We had an awesome last day in Nassau!  Students "haggled" in the Straw Market with the locals, ate some McDonalds, and spent a nice 3 hours at a local beach by the hotels.  After 3 hours in the ocean, we had a nice collection of some starfish, crabs, and pufferfish!  Even on their "day off", local children were talking with our kids and getting on their backs in the water!  

We watched the dark clouds roll in our last hour of the beach and 10 minutes after getting back to the camp, we got caught in a complete downpour that lasted about an hour!  The rain was coming down so quickly that people were washing their hair outside!

After all of that, we gathered for some Domino's pizza, ice cream, and some amazing conversation.  We can't wait for your students to return home to you so that you can hear from their own mouths what God has taught them and will continue to teach them!

Pray for a safe flight home tomorrow and that everything is on time!

LR.

Day 5 Adventures

It's been a cornerstone of a day for us in Nassau!

Today we had our final time with the kids at the church and serving on the grounds there, visited the only planetarium in all of Bahamas, are currently cooking live crabs for an after-dinner snack, and a frog just jumped on me.  :)

It was a bittersweet day for our team.  After spending 4 amazing days with the children at the Haitian New Missions Baptist Church, we had to say our final goodbyes.  We had been challenged by our project coordinator yesterday to choose a "starfish" which is on the Bahamian penny.  So we've each been carrying around this penny to remind us to be bold in sharing God's love with our "starfish".  We spent yesterday and today with more of a focus on intentional conversations.  We learned more about the children we've gotten close to and we were able to spend today sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with them.  We finished well as a team and I know that we will not soon forget their faces and their stories.  

We also got a lot of work accomplished at the church by cleaning up a lot of broken glass on the grounds, laying cement slabs to add parking, painting the outside of the church, and doing a cleaning swipe through the entire building.  We also had students take on their own side projects like getting a new basketball hoop set up and clearing a safe area for soccer games!

Our community has been deepening with each day.  God has opened new doors and different opportunities for us to get to know more about one another and continue to create a safe place where we can ask questions and talk about our daily walk with Christ.  We couldn't ask for cooler community to happen on the trip!

Tomorrow we will be heading out to the Straw Market for some shopping and local dining then to the beach in the afternoon.  Please pray for tomorrow as we spend our final day enjoying beautiful Nassau and one another as we have a final "debrief" of the week.

God has been so faithful and so evident this week!!!  Thank you for your continued prayers!!!

LR.

pics of the day

Days 3 & 4

The past 2 days have been busy and full of God's truth and love!

VBS started to get into a regular schedule and it allowed opportunities time and time again for students to build deeper relationships with the children they spent time with.  We were able to send them each home with a picture of themselves with their friends and some of our students.  I thank God we still had polaroid film from 3 years ago!!!  Crafts and games were a big hit and we could hear the children singing the worship songs and talking about the Bible stories later in the day!

The afternoons were filled with a lot of labors of love!  We laid down 2 cement slabs with the help of local construction workers (cool story following) and we continued to paint the outside of the church.  Everyone was taking turns working and playing with kids, filling each other's water bottles, and being ready for whatever task laid ahead of them.  The positive attitudes and encouragement from one another seemed to make the days go quickly.  

A man was driving by yesterday and saw the guys laying the cement slab.  He stopped and said he would help  When asked why he responded with, "God is great.  He has blessed me with twins.  He is so great!"  So Trevor the construction man worked with us for the afternoon giving much needed english instructions to help make the cement laying go super fast!  

We also had the privilege of experiencing one of the worse storms they've had in years on Tuesday night!  It started with some beautiful lightening as we settled in to bed that cooled off the air quite a bit but turned into a very thunderous, lightening-bright storm that lasted into the wee hours of Wednesday.  We all survived and were able to let "love overcome fear".  

Tomorrow is our last day with the kids and on the site of Haitian Missions Baptist Church. 

We have seen beautiful things happen thus far: broken hearts for the poor, community flourishing and deepening, grateful hearts for all the ways we are blessed, finally seeking answers to some of the deepest questions we have, and learning more about our God through every opportunity we have.

Please pray for a beautiful time with the children tomorrow.  There will be tears, I'm sure.  But their faces, names, and who they are will live on with us forever.  May we take every opportunity to share God's love through word and action with those children.  And may our softened hearts remain that way after we get on the bus at 3pm tomorrow ... softened to knowing God more through His people and His creation.

Thank you for your prayers!  We hope you are enjoying the photos and updates and hopefully the phone chain worked today!  :)

Unexpected surprise

Today was another amazing Day when we arrived at the church the numbers of Kids had multiplied by 3. our kids instantly hit the ground running. I watched as Connor, Jake Fet,  Jake wrig, and Josh G instantly Started a game of football,  several students went with RU and some local children to pick some tropical fruits called Kanips, they are awesome. the weather today was nice and cool.  I was so impressed by several things these past days. 1. Connor gwaltney took initiative and created his own work project with several of the bahamian kids, they cleaned the soccer field up and picked up broken bottles so that the kids could play in a safer place, Jake Fet took it upon himself to create a brand new basketball hoop for the kids. these guys completely stepped up and led and I am so proud of them both.  we finished two concrete slabs in the front of the church today as well,please continue to be praying for us. The students are tired but are mustering up strength and are representing Christ amazingly, each one of them! God is good 

Pastor Jamie 

Day 2

Wow, we've had an amazing day!  From the moment we got off the bus, our students seemed like they were totally in their element!  Local kids were at the church when we arrived and they didn't leave until we got on the bus at 3pm!  

We experienced community at its purest.  We saw God break down language barriers (their dialect is sometimes hard to understand), cultural differences, and heat & other distractions for an amazing day of seeing that God's family is much bigger than us.  During our debrief time tonight, we heard over and over again of students saying "We came here to bless, and we are the ones being blessed!"  

In the morning we dug up an area to get ready to lay cement, prepared the lumber for the cement setting, and started to paint the outside of the church.  All the while, we were surrounded by the local kids wanting to help and the women of the church held a service because they are committed to 40 Days of Prayer and so as we worked, we overheard their worship, prayers, and in the words of Ru, "I don't know what they're saying but I do know that is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard."

The afternoon was filled with VBS and everyone did a great job!  We were able to spend time with 40+ kids ages 5-16 and they made crafts, heard of missionaries, and Bible stories.  Most of all, we were able to spend time with them and share Christ through our actions and words.

Please pray that we take advantage of every opportunity God puts in front of us that we may share the good news of Jesus Christ and continue to lay the foundation for eternity!

LR.

day two WOW!!!!!!

Romans 8:31 

What an amazing day! I watched as our students turned into Jesus and Blessed the Haitians. Parents be proud  here are a few pics of the day. I was honored today as our Students led a vbs and began construction on a church in the Haitian section of Nassau. we had over 45 kids today show up and we were blown away by how receptive they were to us and The message of Christ. God is good and we look forward to what God will have for us tomorrow

Pastor Jamie   

images of the day

Day 1: Absolutely Amazed ...

Good evening everyone from the very humid and beautiful Nassau!  

We arrived safely after just making both of our flights!  All our luggage arrived intact and the biggest "luggage mess" was some broken gatorade containers.  Other than that, everything and everyone made it here safely!

Here are just a few notes I jotted down today:

Ways we’ve seen Satan attempt to attack us:

• -       I've had a lot of exhaustion that made me just want to sleep for the past two weeks
  
• -       Little Becca Kendrew’s eye infection returned the day before we left
  
• -       Packing everything we needed felt like a disaster
  
• -       The group members weren’t finalized until 2 weeks ago!
  
• -       Almost missed both flights … cutting it very close!
  
• -       Everyone is tired …

But ways I’ve seen God sustain and provide:

• -       I feel rested and ready to roll!
  
• -       Becca didn’t have to stay in the hospital
  
• -       We had room for every last thing in our bags with no one over weight limits!
  
• -       We got everyone to move together and made our flights on time!
  
• -       We have the exact right group of students here!
  

-       There’s excitement and nervousness in the air allowing us to lean only on God for our strength, support, love, and comfort.

It’s been awesome to ask students what they’re nervous and excited about when it comes to the trip.  Students are nervous about communication overall, having to teach little ones, traveling, and being accepted.  But they’re also excited to be open to hear what God has to teach them and they want to learn about other cultures. 

I pray that God’s will be done above all else.  He will do what He will do and it is up to us whether we want to jump on board … and whether we will be the beautiful feet of those who tell of the good news.  This week, may we all be challenged in what it actually looks like to claim that “To Love is To Serve” … may we find what that means and learn how to live out God’s love for His creation with how we live our lives.

What we did today was settle into our beautiful camp, head to the canal and hung out with some locals and enjoyed the beautiful clear water.  Then we had our debriefing and as everyone's eyes started to close, we had them pray for the start of VBS and the work we'll be doing tomorrow.  All we have left is snack time and a good night's sleep in the warm heat and a lot of fans in the cabins!

LR.

We Are Here!!!!!

Well we made it!WE connected in Newark, all of our luggage arrived, the weather was great and we even went to swim in a lagoon today (see above pic)!!!!!!!! it is beautiful here.   Gods creation here is unreal. it is an island of contrast in one day we have seen one of the most expensive places to vacation in the world, and swam with the poorest of men.  WE will have more pictures and commentaries as the week goes on, God Bless

Pastor Jamie  

Well Here We Go!!!

Well the time has come and we are off in 6 hours. Thanks so much for your prayers.
We have been called to go to Nassau to work with an area church with some of the Haitian refugees that are displaced there. pray for our safety as we travel and spread God's word. check back for updates on our trip!!!
God Bless
pastor Jamie Kendrew

Well Here We Go!!!

Well Here We Go!!!