Today was filled with the blessings of God upon us and answers to your prayers. Truly there is nothing like doing God’s work and we were all filled with the joy that comes from sharing Christ and serving others. When I presented the purpose for our trip to the church I mentioned those two aspects as the reasons for our coming to Jamaica. Well today we were blessed to be involved in doing both.

First I had the tremendous privilege along with Caleb Curtis to sit with one of the Jamaican men who we have been working with and share Christ. “School boy” as he is affectionately nicknamed (his real name is Clarence but like home everyone has a second name here, others include sledge, shirt and professor) came to ask me a question about Canadian political and religious life. In the course of the conversation we were able to ask him if he was going to heaven. He assured us he would not be because he had never been baptized. We were overjoyed to share with him the truth of scripture that faith alone in Christ saves and after a lengthy time of sharing the gospel he prayed to be saved! What rejoicing we shared as God gave us the blessed privilege of leading this precious soul to Christ.

But that was only the beginning of our blessings. We then travelled into Montego Bay to Blossom Garden orphanage where the whole team was able to visit the fatherless in their affliction. Babies were held, toddlers were fed their lunch and we had an impromptu time of singing gospel lessons and having a Bible story. Jacob Baldwin did an amazing job on very short notice of presenting the truth that God loves us and can help us overcome anything if we will trust him, using the narrative of David and Goliath. Christian Brewer was a great stand in for Goliath and one of the little boys enjoyed being David. We were able to give the gifts many of you generously donated and the manager said she was jumping with joy at all the diapers and supplies that were given. Your kindness made a difference and demonstrated powerfully the love of Christ in a tangible way. Thank you for all who gave so we could be a blessing to this home that cares for over 60 orphans on a daily basis. It was neat to see God stretching people and using them for His glory. Our trip here will not soon be forgotten. Unfortunately, but understandably, we were unable to take pictures of the children so I can’t show you them but they were beautiful and precious. Plenty of hugs and laughs were shared and leaving was difficult as the children clung to friends they had so quickly made.

After returning to campus for supper we laid low, decorating for Jamaica day which is tomorrow and sharing a birthday cake as we celebrated mom’s (Claire’s) birthday today. After a time of singing and sharing we headed off to bed. Our hearts are full and we praise God for His grace to us. Continue to pray (especially if you could for my voice which I lost today and will need to preach on Sunday) and feel free to comment below. Good night from Jamaica,

Pastor Joel