Studio 315 Jamaica Blog

Yesterday was the last day of VBS and it was such a wonderful experience.  We heard the kids sing all of their favorite songs and just get into it more than ever.  But more exciting than hearing them singing was seeing them respond to Christ.  Since it was the last day, we shared with them the Gospel message of how Jesus died and rose again to save them.  The response was amazing.  Twenty seven kids came forward and accepted Christ for the first time in their lives.  Praise God!  He is doing a mighty work in Jamaica and more specifically in Darliston through the work of Pastors Thompson and Cooper, as well as the amazing members of that church that serve so faithfully.  Thank you for all your prayers for these kids and I would ask for continued prayers because for the 27, this is just the beginning.  They have a long road ahead of them and as brothers and sisters we need to continually pray and support them for their spiritual growth.  To God be the glory for everything He has done this week in Jamaica!

- Brian

 Here is Nate to tell you a little bit about the token of gratitude that the church gave to us to show their appreciation.  Take it away Nate…

 Hello All! Well let me tell you- the thank you from the church was an enormous blessing. From the group singing of “for he’s a jolly good fellow” to the homemade Jamaican fruit cake, it was all so good. Now, this cake…oh boy. Looks can be deceiving. Looked like a brownie. Didn’t taste like one. But it was great to get a literal taste of Jamaica straight from the people we’d been working with all week. So that was the cake.

 Now here is Matt…

man, where do I begin. This has been an incredible week! God has moved in such an awesome way. Can’t believe what an awesome trip this was. The team work with us and the Jamaicans was so solid. I have never been here and had this type of teamwork. We truly were the body of Christ working together. We were neither black nor white, American nor Jamaican. We loved every minute of it. God please continue to do your work here. May those kids who came to know you this week grow in their new faith. I am sad to leave but also excited to be home and see my kids. I will not forget this trip. Thank you Jesus for the honor of being your servants here in Jamaica!

Sorry about yesterday, I forgot to post because we got back later than usual.  Our bus didn’t come on time in the morning because the battery died, so the replacement showed up and we barely got there on time.  God is good.  But even so, we started later because it took us time to set up and get ready.  So by the time everything was said and done, it had just been a really long day at VBS.

 But it was good once again to watch the kids get into the music, they love Round Up and Making Melodies so much it is ridiculous how loudly they sing, as those of you who have been down here know.  And I know that I wrote about that on Monday, but it’s  just so amazing to see the kids get into it.  They even ran up to the stage today, it was just like we were home.

 And speaking of kids getting into it, we have a little Brandon Marshall down here.  Everytime there is music playing this get so focussed on his dancing.  He doesn’t do the motions like the rest of the kids, he just dances.  Yesterday he was “breakdancing” like Brandon.  He got on his back and just started spinning around and around.  Then he just continued with a bunch of ridiculous moves.

But other than the dancing and singing it has been amazing to continue to build relationships with these kids and adults.  It is almost like we lead each rotation area with some help from the church of course, and the other church members are the crew leaders.  And they get into it.  Everyone plays the games, sings songs, makes crafts and participates in Bible.  It has been such a blessing to partner with this church in ministry.

Something I forgot to mention on Monday as well is that they have a Sunday School leader who has been such a blessing because she already has the children’s names on a sheet by age and she takes attendance, keeps track of who is new, who has been coming, how many and everything that we would typically do at the regristration for our VBS.  Sister Farrah, I think that is how you spell it, has been such a blessing to the team.

 Hopefully I will post tomorrow to keep you all updated.

-Brian

We had a great day two for VBS!  There was a bonding between the two churches, Darliston Baptist and New Life Baptist into one team as we are one body of Christ.  It was amazing to just see that bonding and also the servanthood by all team members.  But possibly one my favorite things from last time I was here was hearing the kids sing “Making Melodies” and once again it was amazing to see and hear.  The kids are deffinitely enjoying VBS and we thank God that they are having fun and learning at the same time. 

I will share another post tomorrow.  Thanks again for your support and prayers.

-Brian

Well guys, we made it in yesterday completely safe.  I just wasn’t able to post a blog because I couldn’t find the paper with the password.  But I found it so now I am online to let you all know how we are doing.

Last night we had a great dinner and got to meat and hang out with Pastor Leroy and his wife, and they are the ones who we are serving this week in Darliston.  And after dinner there was a concert where we are staying and that was enjoyable because Rasta Ralphi got a few of our team members involved in the concert.  But slowly through the night we all faded out to our rooms to get rest for today.

Today was our first day of VBS.  We did that in place of Sunday School and it was really fun seeing the kids laugh at us doing the motions to the songs as they were trying to learn the songs.  For those who don’t know what we call the power point, it is a short phrase we say, and the kids respond by saying something different every year.  What they say is based on the theme.  Today’s power point is God is with us, and the time that it takes the kids back in the States a few times go get ridiculously loud, it took these guys half as long.   After VBS we had our church service and it was integrated with both the Jamaicans and Americans.  They led most of it, but Angela sang a song and then Matt preached the sermon.  It was amazing to see the two cultures blend to worship the one God together.

Now we’re just hanging out for a bit and then getting ready for tomorrow.  Please pray for the kids in Darliston so that they would understand what is being taught this week and it would make an affect on their lives.  Also pray for the church so that they will be able minister to these kids after this week is over because this is such a short amount of time.  Thanks so much for your prayers to this point and continued prayers.  I’ll be updating you guys tomorrow.

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