Summer Fun

I realize that it has been about 2 months since we had a new post on this blog. Surprisingly, this does not mean that we have had nothing to post about. On the contrary, we have had lots going on.

The fourth Monday in May is a holiday in Jamaica, and it is not Memorial Day. It is called Labour Day, and it is a day to do work in the community. We took everyone outside and cleaned up the trash along the road.

When we took a picture, the guy walking along the road wanted to be in it too.

The children from church that participate in the AWANA Clubs, went to Santa Cruz (about 2 hours away) for the AWANA Olympics.

The first activity of the day was devotions.

We brought our own shade along.

The Baylife team ready for the AWANA games.

They also did a Bible Quiz. This is the Baylife team. They got all the answers right except for one.

It was a full, fun, and hot day. We enjoyed it, but we were happy to be home again.

Carrie & I celebrated our 13th anniversary on May 31. We were able to have an evening out to celebrate. It had rained, and just as we got there, the sun came out to give us some gorgeous scenery.

We had 3 groups in June in back to back to back weeks. First, one of the board members, Sam & Lydia Kanagy came along with their son & his family, and some family friends. Our girls enjoyed having some new playmates for a few days. They did a building project for a neighbor who was re-building after a fire.

The week after that, we had some "home folks." Dr. Richard Shugart brought a group from Plain City, Ohio. They re-surfaced the driveway at JRM, and did some chiropractic adjustments, and eye checkups in several locations.

They made balloon animals for the children one evening.

The next week, we hosted a group of 30 from the Berea church in Nappanee, Indiana. Their big project was to build two houses.

The first 3 weeks in June we also had Sandra & Abby Hershberger and Travis Wengerd at JRM. Sandra put her artistic skills to use by re-doing some furniture pieces, and Travis helped out with whatever work needed to be done.

We had some medical things come up recently, so we got to experience the differences between the private hospital and the public hospital.

The Blackburn Learning Centre in Mt. Pelier had their graduation, and Joe was the keynote speaker.

Our family came back to the USA on July 8 and will be here until we return to Jamaica August 10. We have enjoyed seeing lots of family and friends. One of the board members is filling in for us, so we can have this time off.

Some things to pray for:

-Brad & Rachel and their family as they spend a month in Jamaica.

-The children at JRM, especially with the recent medical issues that came up.

-Our family as we travel in the USA.

-The team of staff in Jamaica (they are the best, but still pray for them)

Thank you for your support, both in prayer and financially. We are so grateful for all of you!

We will be doing a Jamaican Jerk Chicken dinner on August 4 at Plainview School in Plain City, OH from 5-8pm. If you are close-by, stop in and say hi. 100% of the proceeds will go to JRM. We will be speaking at the event as well.

Sign of the month: I always enjoy seeing signs in Patois: