Here Goes My First Blog!

Well Hi There! It’s the fourth week here in Jamaica and everything is going just wonderfully. I thought I would share a little precious note with y’all that I have recently received. It goes a little something like this:

"Dear Lauren, I am yust writeing this letter to tell you how I love you. You are my mentor. You are my best friend in the old wild world. You are so beautiful. I love you from the bottom of my of my you are my heart and my sold."

Is that not the most precious thing ever! I just love it here! Enough said! (side note: not this person’s mento, but that’s ok we are still friends!)

Name – Lauren Blackmon

Age -21

Hometown – China Spring, Tx

High School – China Spring High School

College – Stephen F. Austin State University

Major – Orientation and Mobility.

Aspiration – World Peace

Hobbies - Telling vegetable jokes, making people laugh in general, playing games, talking like Donald Duck, hanging out with friends, fishing, attempting to dance

Favorite Color – Green.

Favorite Sports Team – uuhh… don’t really have one, but we can say the Lumberjacks for kicks oh and the Rangers!!!!

Favorite Book - The B-I-B-L-E… yes that’s the book for me! Redeeming Love

Favorite TV Show – I don’t really have one, but I enjoy The Office, SHARK WEEK (The BEST!), I Survived (or whatever its called), various things on Animal Planet and TLC.

Favorite Foods – I love me some good ole’ Tex Mex.

Favorite Music – I love all kinds of music!

Favorite Bible Verse – Hosea 2:14-23.

My Job in Jamaica - I am the Infirmary go to gal and I help with Court yard.

Anything else- I love Jamaica!

If All the Raindrops Were Lemon drops and Gum drops...

Above: This is a picture of my mento (Jadia) and me (Ashley).
 
I have absolutely loved getting to know the people in Harmons. One of my favorite things to do is to walk home with the grade four girls, including Jadia.  Earlier this week, during our walk, a cloud must have erupted over Harmons.  We started running as we were drenched by torrential downpour.  It must have looked pretty strange: two white people holding hands with a dozen grade-four students while running in the rain.  I have loved hearing Jadia talk about her faith and about the higher standard that believers are called to.  We talked about how God's love (through Christ's sacrifice) is the only thing that can heal broken people.  I know that our relationship is going to teach me a lot about my relationship with God. :)  I love seeing God at work in the lives of others!



Oh yea...my profile...

Name – Ashley Winkler (sometimes called winkles)

Age -  21

Hometown – Olathe, KS


High School – Olathe South High School

College – Johnson County Community College (for now)

Major – Elementary Education

Aspiration - Oh dear...what is the best way to answer this?? ...I guess my #1 aspiration is to bring God glory where ever I am.

Hobbies - making Festivals into fun shapes with Gloria...learning songs from Gonga

Favorite Color – Green or Blue

Favorite Book - Philippians, Romans, 1 John,...I guess basically the B-I-B-L-E

Favorite TV Show – Boy Meets World dominates any other show EVER created.

Favorite Foods – Potatoes. yumm.


Favorite Music – I have to agree with Kelsey on the Clog song...or any of the other numerous songs I have learned since arriving in Jamaica.


Favorite Bible Verse – right now I'm loving Paul's letter to the Ephesians...I guess Ephesians 2:4-10 is my current favorite.


My Job in Jamaica - Working in the store with the other Ashlee AND helping John with the meeting stuff. :)

Anything Else? - nope!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Above: I'm the one on the right.  This was taken at the infirmary with a team member from the first group and our friend Patricia, who is a resident at the infirmary.
 
Hey guys! I'm Kelsey. As this is my first blog, it contains my profile so that you can get to know me a bit better.Before I do that though, I would just like to give a little shout-out to my church, The Crossing (in Columbia, Missouri). They are down here right now with us and have been awesome despite the awful weather we have had. Even though we have had rain non-stop for the past 76 hours, this team has kept their spirits high AND completed three houses on time! Way to go.

Name – Kelsey Eckenrode

Age -  19

Hometown – Columbia, MO


High School – Rock Bridge High School


College – University of Notre Dame

Major – Double Majoring in Pre-Professional Studies (for dentistry) and Anthropology.

Aspiration - To finish undergrad in 4 years? Down the road, I hope to make people’s smiles better.

Hobbies - Telling vegetable jokes, playing/watching sports, running, reading, dominating the game “Mafia” along with the other staffers.

Favorite Color – I don’t play favorites.

Favorite Sports Team – Mizzou basketball.  Cardinals for baseball.  And hopefully in the future, if we start winning at some point, I can say Notre Dame football.

Favorite Book - The Bible.  If you haven’t read it, I suggest you check it out.

Favorite TV Show – A majority of the shows on the Food Channel.

Favorite Foods – Anything you can find at a health foods store, and chocolate.


Favorite Music – The Clogs song is pretty catchy.


Favorite Bible Verse – Philippians 2:5-14.


My Job in Jamaica - I am the courtyard activities coordinator.


Anything Else? – I am very blessed to get the chance to spend this summer in Jamaica and can’t wait to see what God has in store for us, the locals, and all the American teams that come down.

Word

Hello Everybody, This is John

Its crazy to think our staff has been in Jamaica three weeks already.  The time is really flying by.  We are nearing the end of our second team serving in Harmons with us and it is really neat to see how all of us have settled into our jobs assignments for the summer.  The beginning can be a little hard with new jobs, people, and different routines than we are used to, but we have all been helping each other out and growing closer in the process.  

This week The Crossing is here from Missouri.  It is a group made up of students and their parents.  It’s exciting to see parents and their kids getting to serve and experience life in Harmons together.  This week has also been a little different in the fact that it has been raining almost every day.  The rain is a blessing in a community with no running water but can also be frustrating when we are unable to work or finish the jobs.  This team has been amazing at staying positive and enjoying every day and working when they can and understanding when they can not.

Time continues to fly by however and already we’re looking forward to dedicating the houses tomorrow and heading back to Ocho Rios for the weekend.  Again, this group has been a major blessing to us and this community and we thank them for coming.  Thanks for reading our blog and your continued prayers.  It means so much to us as a staff.

Peace Out

JT to the max

Summer Staff Profile 1: Meet Tim!

    Hello Everybody!  I pray things are going well where you are because things are going well in Harmons.  We are still hosting the great groups from Olathe Bible Church and the First Baptist Church Raytown; they have been such a pleasure to have here.  Today they continue to work on houses which are being built for some families who dearly need them within this community and the groups have been doing a fantastic job of keeping their spirits up while working.  I can personally say that these groups have been a pleasure to serve with and I am certain they're going to finish the week strong.

    
In the meantime, I would like for all of our readers to get a good understanding of who each member of the summer staff is personally so throughout the summer, all members of the summer staff will have the opportunity share a little bit about themselves with you.  So without further adieu, I would like to introduce myself in the first installment of our Summer Staff Profiles:


Name - Timothy Rowand

Age -  22

Hometown - Smethport, PA


High School - Smethport Area High School


College - Saint Bonaventure University

Major - Psychology

Aspiration - To become involved in the ministry in some capacity.  I feel strongly called to youth ministry and missions though.

Hobbies - Getting to know people, reading, writing, studying, listening to good music, and drinking a good cup of coffee.

Favorite Color - Purple

Favorite Sports Team - Embarrassingly, the Buffalo Bills.

Favorite Book - The Bible of course!  I also like anything by Graham Cooke and Bill Johnson.

Favorite TV Show - When I have time, I watch either the Travel Channel or Fox News.

Favorite Foods - Pasta!


Favorite Music - I like music with soul and purpose.


Favorite Bible Verse - II Timothy 2:15


My Job in Jamaica - I am the work site coordinator.


Anything Else? - I know this interview is brief but I hope to really show my heart through this blog over the summer.  I can't go without being inspired while I am in Harmons and through this inspiration, I pray that it may bring people closer to the God that loves them.  This summer is my second time on summer staff.  The first time I was blessed so much and this year I wish to be a blessing.

 





 

Greetings from Harmons!

Hello Everybody!  The Won By One to Jamaica Summer Staff would like to welcome you to our blog!  We're thankful for your prayers and support.

We are currently in Harmons, Jamaica with the first group of the summer.  The groups this week hail from Olathe Bible Church from Olathe, Kansas and First Baptist Church Raytown from Missouri.  The groups have settled in well this week and we are looking forward to see what God has in store from them.

For us as a staff, we are very thankful to be able to serve the community of Harmons and in addition, we look forward to growing closer to Christ in the process.  We arrived earlier this week and became acquainted with the community as well as each other to a great success.  We have bonded in such a short amount of time, there is no doubt God's hand has been in the selection of this spectacular group.

Please keep checking in for new post as we are sure to be sharing our experiences and what we have learned on this blog often.  Again, we are very thankful for all of the prayers and support we have received from everybody involved with this ministry and we look forward to the rest of our summer.

Check back soon!