Jamaica

So, I am leaving for Jamaica on Saturday… I can’t believe it’s here already! The last month has been a flurry of prayer and preparation as I have tried to discern what God would have us share with the children who will be attending our VBS. In the end, the theme of our VBS is going to be “God has good plans for you – you can trust in Him”. Most of these kids are coming from broken and abusive homes with little hope for their future yet I believe that God does indeed have good plans for these children and I am excited to share this powerful, life-changing message with them.
Please pray for our team over the next few weeks. We will be leaving on Saturday, June 20th and returning Friday, July 3rd.

Some specific prayer requests are:
- For safe and smooth travel both there and back (no missed connections, etc.) and for health and safety while we’re there.
- For unity within our team – that there would be unity among the s, among the students and among the team as a whole and that our team would be able to be a reflection of Jesus to those around us.
- For the students on our team – that they would see God use them in awesome ways in the lives of those we’re working with, that they would be open to the work that He wants to do in their own lives, and that they would experience God in a more real, more intimate way than they ever have before.
- For the VBS which will be taking place during the first week, from June 22-26; Pray that God would bring out the kids that He wants to be there and that their hearts would be open and ready to hear what He has to say to them. Pray that we would be guided by the Holy Spirit as we teach these kids and that lives would be changed by the power of His word.
- That we would be open to whatever opportunities God gives us to serve / minister over there and that we would be a blessing to those whom we come in contact with.

Our Last Sleepover...

It went really well. We had our biggest number yet with 14 girls and it was a lot of fun. Like I mentioned in my last post, we had a lot of fun activities planned. One of those activities was wall climbing. The girls have been staring longingly at the climbing wall at Terra Nova since our first sleepover back in October and this time they finally got a chance to try it out. They had a great time and I was really impressed with how well they did…

As you know, my goal for this sleepover was simply to love these girls and to celebrate all that we have experienced together over the past year and I think we were successful in accomplishing that. We were able to have a bit of a heart to heart about their behaviour recently and I noticed a huge difference in their attitudes both towards me and towards each other. One girl in particular is definitely the leader of the group and usually the hardest to deal with but she and I were able to connect over the course of this sleepover and I was amazed at the shift in her attitude and so proud of how she stepped up and led the other girls in such a positive way. Finally, during our discussion time we did a brief look back on all that we have discussed over the course of the year and I was amazed at the specific details the girls remembered and at the things that clearly impacted them and have stayed with them over the past months.

Praise God for all He has accomplished in the lives of these girls over the last year, for the impact that has been made and for the many seeds that have been sown! Please continue to pray for these girls and for me as we carry on through the summer; may God continue the work that He has begun in their hearts.

Sleepover This Weekend...

On Friday we are going to be having our final sleepover of the school year and I would really appreciate your prayers… If I’m going to be honest I have to say that the girls have been very difficult to manage lately. The mother’s day dinner was great but the two most recent girls’ group events before that were trying to say the least. As the girls get more comfortable with me they are displaying more and more attitude and disrespect and discipline is becoming a real issue. I want to be both firm and loving at the same time yet it is hard to find the balance. My goal for this sleepover is just to love them. We have a lot of fun activities planned and I am looking forward to celebrating all that we have experienced in the past year. Please just pray that God would give me an unending amount of patience, that He would fill me to overflowing with His love for these girls, that I would have wisdom to deal with whatever issues come up and that we would just be able to enjoy one another and make the most of this last opportunity we have to be together in this capacity.

Thank you – I so appreciate your prayers.