Last week in overview!

Our small & mighty group :)

Me & Sophie

David & Flora Tant

Burt, Crystal, Addison & Harrison Rogers

Amy Hammond

Lloyd Barker

George Slover

Molly Beck 

Joshua Cleveland 

11 of us flew in last Friday & were picked up by Maxwell James, the preacher in Mo Bay.  (Flora had some health issues and they stayed behind 2 days).   We exchanged money, got phone cards, etc, & headed over to Savanna la Mar where we are spending our first week.  Saturday was mostly spent prepping for classes, assembling name tags and activities, and making contact with our friends here.  Services yesterday began at 10am-George Slover led the adult Bible Class and & I taught the children's class (we studied Fruits of the Spirit!).  We sang some of our favorite Jamaican choruses, & Burt delivered an excellent sermon on Hope & Optimism.   After lunch, the men gathered for another study back at the hotel.

After searching for somewhere that was open for dinner, we found a Pizza Hut! The best part by far was that our food was delicious and served in less than  15 minutes :) We use the term 'Jamaican Time' quite often in reference to how leisurely the culture is.  There is a lot of waiting down here...for everything, so we were thrilled to have dinner served in less than an hour!

The week was busy- each morning we would split into groups for separate studies and each evening classes were held at our hotel.  Attendance was great, and discussions were so encouraging.  Friday morning we packed up and headed to visit Mahlon.  We spent a few hours enjoying the cool breeze in his house and Amy even planned a Family Feud game show to play with him!  We sang several hymns, sadly said our goodbyes, and traveled three hours to Montego Bay just in time for evening services!  

Saturday was laundry day and time to get organized for the week here.  Half of the group went back to Sav for services and the others stayed in Mo Bay.  It was a long day but a profitable one.  The first day of VBS in Mo Bay today was a huge success! The kids were awesome this morning and I loved hearing all of those sweet voices singing praises to God at the top of their lungs!  Sophie caught a nasty bug and was lethargic yesterday but is in better spirits today. 

Also,  Jude's father (Chris Beckford) passed away yesterday in Sav & I am so thankful that we had a chance to visit him last week and encourage him in his last days.  So many here are hurting and we have been spending much time in prayer.  God is so good!

There is no Internet where we are staying and finding the time to locate wifi while juggling a toddler has been challenging!  Thank you for all the prayers and emails.  We are so grateful!!

Sarah

Jamaica-Bound!

"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation..." -Mark 16:15

Hooray!  We are headed back to the place I love so much!  It's 5 am and very little sleep was had last night.  Too much excitement!  Amy, Sophie and I are flying out together this morning and are scheduled to land in Mo Bay just after noon.

I am eager for what lies ahead: two weeks of singing, teaching, working, laughing, preaching, praying, encouraging, studying, and growing.  The schedule this time around is a bit different as we will only be conducting Vacation Bible School the second week.  The first week, we will focus our time on daily adult classes, individual studies, and nightly lessons as well.  I will update as much as possible (depending on the availability of internet).  If you'd like to leave a note for the group, please do so in the comments below.  It's such an encouragement to hear from our friends back home each evening :)

 I am incredibly passionate about this work and am hopeful that our short time there will strengthen all of us.  The Jamaican people always teach me far more than I am able to teach them.  I am fortunate to have been a part of this for over 10 years now, and am a vastly better person because of it!  It helps me to get out of my comfort zone and share the good news of Christ with so many who are eager to hear it -   & I am humbled at every turn.  My Jamaican friends are not only content with their lives, but they overflow with abundant love and thankfulness.  I have so much yet to learn from then!

If you have a moment, please pray for our safe travels, and as always, for receptive hearts of all those we come in contact with.

A huge thank you to everyone who helps make this trip possible.

Make it a great day!

Sarah Lyon


PS: you can also send us an email at reachingjamaica@gmail.com (Mariah, this is for long happy notes like yours!).  I plan to check it daily.

Our Vacation Bible School topics are as follows:

Theme: Dare To Be Different!

Monday: Dare to be a Leader (Moses)
Tuesday: Dare to be Courageous (Rahab)
Wednesday: Dare to be a Friend (Jonathan & David)
Thursday: Dare to be a Worker (Nehemiah)


Here are a few photos from last summer!