Pictures...a few more

These were supposed to be part of the last post...

Pictures - round one

We took a lot of photos...



... so I'm only going to throw up a few for now. Rest assured we'll be getting through them all asap and posting them in a viewable manner.

Coming Home

I'm dashing off a quick one before we get a final shower, try and balance out our luggage loads, and head to the airport here in Montego bay.

Yesterday we stayed longer than we originally intended - even considering that we would work for a few hours (originally we weren't planning on working at all on Friday). We got done with what we considered the most important part o fthe roofing assembly - all of the fascia and most of the perlins are in place. Ultimately we felt like we did what needed to be done to ensure that the roof would stay put until the locals could get some tin placed on the trusses.

Last night, after our very long drive from Top Hill to Mo Bay (54 miles in 3+ hours), we sat around and discussed our feelings and impressions of the trip - and for the first time shared with one another how we came to be apart of this mission. It was amazing to hear it all again through everyone else's perspective. Despite great leadership and excellent planning we all saw how clearly we could never had done what we did without the Hand of God providing us with extra strength and smoothing out the spaces between us. We all saw how amazingly integrated we were as a team and the fact that we all brought very different skills and personality traits to the table.

Today we snuck in a quick touristy event - snorkling from a glass bottom boat. The boat actually beached just across the road from where we're staying and we only went out about 3/4 of a mile. However the number and variety of fish, the clarity of the water, and the amazing Jamaican weather provided a wonderful grace note to an ardous mission project.

We do not foresee any holdups on our way out of here, so if anyone is checking this blog this morning who might be involved in picking us up, I'd say that we'll be as on schedule as customs in Philly will allow.

Thank you all again fo ryour support and your prayers. We have been blessed and look forward to sharing with you firsthand about our experiences here.

See you soon!

Thursday night - the last full day...

So sorry to not send out a post last night - but we have been pushing hard to get everything done and last night I couldn't quite drag myself up the hill to the girl's house.

Yesterday saw us actually set all of the trusses except the end cap. It was amzingly gratifying to see all of the trausses up in a way that showed how the roof will lay on the building. As you can see in the photos in previous posts, it's a kite shaped building and it has made the visualization of the final product that much more difficult. We have been blessed in the engineering and construction skills of the people on our crew. The rest of us who don't do this sort of thing for a living have been able to work well under their supervision.

Today we worked on shoring up the structure so that we can leave it perfectly square and secure to prevent damage in future storms and the caustic weather patterns of this area of the Island. While we will not get to put the tin on the roof, we will leave the only task left to do for those locals from the congregation who can provide labor. In a way we all feel this is a good thing since it gives them an investment in the refurbing of their place of worship.

Tomorrow we will actually put in a few hours finishing up some things and then packing up and leaving here. We originally didn't intend to do that, but no one wants to leave the job undone. The rain in the afternoons certainly slowed down our progress - though today it didn't start till almost 5:30, which was close enough to dark to mark the end of the day for us.

Today was a bit longer as we were awakened in the wee hours by one of our crew whowas sure they heard someone trying to steal stuff from the site. We have been very aware of the problem of theft here and have tried to take measures to prevent it. However, all of the men went tearing down the hill after the supposed perpetrators. Fortunately, we only found barking dogs and an unmolested site. It has certainly made for a long day though for those who were unable to sleep after that adrenaline rush.

Tomorrow we will do quick tour of the surrounding area before we head back to the Fairhaven Christian Retreat Center - where we stayed our first night. After that we will brave customs and getting our stuff halued back across the ocean one last time.

We have taken a ton of photos and will organize them and send them around to you all when we get back. Right now a dial up connection is not cutting muster for that sort of operation here on the blog.

Thanks again for your prayers for our safety and progress. Everyone should be coming back in one piece barring any mishaps tomorrow.

See you all soon in case I don't get a chance to post tomorrow.

Tuesday Night

We're back at the house with Monica and Melanie, using their internet connection to send back a quick word on our progress.

Once again we were blessed with a very safe day despite doing some very dangerous work in less than pristine conditions. We now have two trusses built and up and pretty well supported - with only 7 more to go. However we started with the largest (over 50 foot) and most difficult which took a day and a half to construct and errect. The second only took a half a day to erect and brace - and this with yet another impending storm on the horizon.

Hoisting and securing the trusses was quite a feat given the size of them and the nominal level of construction experience amongst those of the crew. We were all more than a little stressed - yet once again, your prayers came through not only in success but in maintaining our cool in tough spots. Integrating local help who insist on lending a hand - despite not being able to hear when someone yells "STOP!", or "PUSH NOW" was nerve wracking at times.

We are looking forward to getting the rest of the trusses up in the next two days and hopefully getting some tin on top of it. That's probably wishful thinking and our prayer is simply to get done what we can get done as safely as possible - and leave the rest to the locals (who are adept at putting tin on roofs).

Our main contact here, Martin, leaves today to go back to the states. With him goes our best source of easy transportation for all of us at once and so we're feeling a bit stranded, but given the amount of work we have to do and the fact that we're now well stocked with bottled water (went through about 16 gallons in half a day between all of us - not counting lunch and breakfast breaks) it's shouldn't be a big deal.

As the girls and a few of the locals lead a praise time here tonight (they're prepping for a Christmas concert) the balance of the crew are here with them trying to stay awake and some of us actually looking forward to the cold shower that awaits us back in our dorms.

Look for an update tomorrow...

We're Here!!

It's 7:24pm on Monday and I'm typing and talking at the same time as we use the laptop provided by the two young women - Monica and Melanie, who are from the states and teaching at the school for a time - and visit with them and Martin, our main contact here. So please forgive any serious grammatical errors.

I want to provide a quick update on what's happened so far.

Thank you so much for praying for our travel here. We had a very interesting time managing all of our supplies as each of us had two check ins and two carry one - most of them weighed down to the 70 pound maximum. However we were ecstatic that all of our very suspicious looking items passed muster in customs here in jamaica. We almost had to pay a security deposit on the compressor, but at the last minute they waved us through.

Our first night was in Montego Bay at a Christian retreat center. While not in thenicest part of town, our hosts were very hospitable and we all enjoyed being just off the beach.

our trip over the mountains to Junction/Top Hill where our project is located was fascinating - but sobering; both due to the driving habits of most jamaicans, and the sight of such poverty intermixed with ostentatious wealth. And this all side by side with a churches and bars - almost in equal numbers - everywhere. Every corner we truned it seemed like there was another church and or another bar.

Once we got here we visited a little bit with the kids and staff of the Maranatha Deaf School - where we are staying. Then we surveyed and did some cleanup of the church (just down the hill from the school).

Today was a long day. Sunrise to just after sunset we worked on the church. Despite a realtively long rain shower - which always seemed on the verge of stopping - we got the first truss - the longest and most difficult set up against the roof (though not yet flipped into place). We're looking forward to getting more trusses in place tomorrow - weather permitting.

Keep praying for safety - as we have been very blessed so far. And pray that we will continue to have good relations with some very helpful minded locals.

More to follow...

Pictures of the site

I'd love to organize this a bit more, but am pressed for time. So, without further ado, here are some pictures of the church we'll be roofing...

Weather Watching

A hot topic on the minds of all of us going is the condition of the weather while we are there. With all of the hurricane traffic through that area of the world it's certainlywith some trepidation that I have been surfing the weather channel's jamaican links. However, while it does look like it may be wet - certainly giving us some pause as we will be working outside - there does not appear to be any imminent hurricanes due.

The link I have been checking:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/airportprofile/MBJ?from=search_vert

...is for the Montego Bay Internation Airport. This appears to be as close as I can get to where we will be via weather.com. However, we will be on the opposite side of the island - and more importantly - on the other side of the mountains from this locale. What that means for us weather wise, I am not sure, but our contacts there on the ground assure us that (so far) despite the rain, the roads are still passable.

Thank You!!!

As we are less than a week away from taking off, I wanted to take a moment and say thank you to all of our partners in this ministry. Each one of us are scrambling to get everything in order and making sure that we have all that we need to go. However, thanks to your generosity, the one thing we don't have to worry about is finances.

Thank you so much for providing for us in a tangible way.

Why we're going

Just a brief excerpt from my support letter...

...As is the case in many poorer countries, the disabled are often left to their own devices and are not given the opportunity to become contributing members of their society. The Jamaica Deaf School was started to provide education to those suffering from hearing impairments. Through those individuals in my Church who were interested in Deaf ministries in general, our Church began an affiliation with the school and has been supporting them for a number of years.

Last year, when hurricane Ivan hit Jamaica, it took a different path than is typical of storms in that region and ran across the southern part of the island. One of the casualties was the roof of the Deaf Bible Church – an affiliate of the school. While the building itself remained intact and whole, the roof, – due to the unique nature of the shape of the building, has been difficult to repair.

Through the disaster relief funds provided by the government of Jamaica, the materials needed to rebuild the roof will be supplied. Calvary Bible Fellowship Church (www.cbfc.net) is fielding a team to supply the engineering know how and labor to fashion those materials into a roof that will withstand future storms. We will be in Jamaica from November 5-12, 2005.

More specifics coming.

Coming Soon....

I know I know, I hate it when someone tells me to go to a site and then there's nothing to look at there. Trust me. I'll be posting something soon. In the mean time - here's a map:


We're going to the south west corner of the island - a very rural part of the country. I'll show better pics at some point soon.

Looking forward to hearing from those I've sent letters out to!