Well, everyone has arrived safely back in Jamaica from outreach. Our team is here from Guadeloupe, my other classmates made it safely from Antigua, and the School of Performing Arts just got back from Belize. This week has basically been a long, but helpful series of meetings. We’ve been practicing how to write a news letter, learning about other YWAM schools and opportunities, figuring out how to reenter our home life, and recapping outreach.
We have all been really emotional and blessed in this time. Coming back to Jamaica was so nice. It has become a second home for us all. The new DTS students are here and we’ve been having a wonderful time making them feel welcome and familiar with life on the base. I’m so excited to keep in touch with them and hear how God will grow them. They all seem very dedicated and mature.
My team met with the directors of the base and our outreach leaders. We were able to express our encouragement and constructive criticisms about the leadership during our time in Gwada. I was able to honestly express my concerns. I’m so happy I didn’t hold back, that God gave me the boldness to speak truth. We talked about when our other team member left and the affect it had on us all. We were really stretched emotionally on outreach. We had extended forgiveness to our team member and attempted to make him feel included, but we faced many hardships. This individual really caused the team to suffer. He did not accept our attempts towards him. He distanced himself from the team and became very inactive. We shared all this with our leader and he understood that by keeping this person as long as he did, he was not doing what was best for the team. Even though he could have left sooner, we were all pushed emotionally unlike never before. I’m glad my outreach was hard. I will carry this life lesson with me as I continue working with others in a team setting.
We had a lecture about coming home and realizing that a church and a mission base function differently. I was afraid of being over critical, but my questions were answered and I have some great tips on getting involved and serving again in my home church. I am excited for home and I’m trying to soak in the Caribbean while I still can. We have begun preparing for graduation and tomorrow we will have our final assessments. Our assessments are an overview of how the base staff feels we succeeded and struggled during our time in DTS. I’m looking forward to this time. I know I’ve come a long way and I still have a long way to go, that’s the beauty in following Christ, we are never done learning, lives are spent becoming more and more like the Lord and getting closer and closer to him.
Last night we had our community meeting this is were the base meets together and hears from that week’s speaker or someone of the base. It’s a fun night because those that home school or travel throughout the day can meet with the rest of the schools. All of YWAM Mo Bay comes together. We were privileged to share about outreach and hear from the other teams. My team shared our skit, gave a testimony about our prison ministry, sang a song we learned in French, and made a slide show highlighting our ministry in the nation. We had such a great time and the group was really receptive to our stories and struggles. It was fun for us to share. Sandra led the opening in French and I translated into English, just to give the crowd an understanding of how we had to communicate in the nation. It was so cool to hear what God did in and through the teams in Antigua and Belize.
Have an amazing day, week, and forever. I can’t wait to see what’s next and trust God completely for His leading and direction. Lose your life in Him, So that you can find it!
Oh, I forgot! We came back from outreach one day early so we went into the city in Montego Bay and performed our mimes. We had a large crowd people clapped when we were finished. It was so scary at first, but God is good he gave us the strength and courage to creativly minister to the town. After we let go of our fear. We didn't care about what people thought we were performng to the Lord and asking Him to toch lives. It's never us its always Him.
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