Jamaica with My Granddaughters

Wow, has it ever been a time of rapid change! We left on March 13, when everyone was in school, work, church, going out to restaurants. When we returned 7 days later, none of that was true. Though the spread if the virus affected us somewhat in Jamaica (things were closed, including the school where we planned to teach), we didn’t feel it as much as when we got back. In fact, we learned that they were going to close the airport only one day after we left. Praise God!

I was able to take my two 12 year old granddaughters along, and their descriptions of the trip follow mine. It was my 6th trip to Jamaica, and Wanda's first. Though it was different than we expected, God showed up and we had a wonderful time.

I was very proud of Abi and Aryn. They spent time each day preparing their Bible lessons for the children, the story and the crafts. I think their confidence level went up over the 6 days that they taught. It was a beautiful sight to behold. If there had not been a coronavirus, they would have had too many children to handle, as it was they had between 15-20 kids.

Both the girls did a devotional for the group each day, and we had wonderful times of prayer together. Abi and Aryn got baptized in the Holy Spirit down there too.

Wanda and I taught the adults who were staff and administrators at the school. I taught on encouragement, trauma, woundedness and how to heal from it, anxiety, and boundaries. Wanda taught on Spiritual and Emotional intelligence, and some other pertinent things from Scripture. The talks were well-received, and they thanked us profusely for coming down in the midst of a pandemic to teach them.

Randy, the school head, took us to the ocean the last day, and the girls really enjoyed it. We had a sweet time having supper (take out) in a park before leaving the next day.

Thanks again for your prayers for the trip! God really showed up in amazing ways, and we are still rejoicing over what He did in the one week we were gone.

Here in Abi’s and Aryn’s own words are paragraphs describing it:

My Time in Jamaica

By Abigail Gill

            Being in Jamaica was super fun! Every day, at 3:00 PM, my Nana, her friend Wanda, my cousin, and I would go out to the picnic tables underneath a big tree right outside our place. All the kids would gather there. My cousin Aryn and I would stand up on one of the picnic tables and tell a Bible story to the kids. Some of the Bible stories we told were Saul/Paul, the Creation story, Moses and the Ten Plagues, and we told them about when Jesus comes back. After we told the story, we’d give them a craft to do. Some of the crafts we did were maracas they could color, T-shirts and little bags they could decorate, a coloring sheet of Jesus with children, and a sticker sheet of Paul writing parts of the Bible in jail. 

Kid’s club lasted from three to five so we had a lot of free time. I played a lot of card games with Aryn, and sometimes we went and visited the village doctor who is also from Minnesota, Dr. Gail. The day before we left, we swam in the ocean! It was really salty but the giant waves were super awesome. We shopped for souvenirs in a market where everyone was saying that their stuff was better than the others and they had better prices.

 I had an amazing trip to Jamaica, I am super thankful that my Nana let me go along!

        My Jamaica trip 

                                                By Aryn Gill

We got to Jamaica late, and I tried my first Jamaican food at 10:30 at night. It was a good spicy fish sandwich with fries. When we got to the mission the first thing I noticed was a twin sized bed with orange sheets that was really comfortable, I booked it towards the bed and fell asleep. The next day we had our first kids club. We told Bible stories then did crafts. During that time me and Abi met some girls who were very sweet and we played basketball with them. We remained in contact with them for the rest of the week. 

The tiny shops there were interesting, you didn't walk into it and look around you stood at a corner and peered through a window and had to decide what you wanted. The main food that we ate in Jamaica was chicken and fries, but on some occasions we would go to an air conditioned restaurant called Juici patties, where Abi’s and my favorites were the beef pattie.  When we went out for lunch once at Juici patties, there was a food market across the street. We tried some new fruits there. To pass the time Abi and I filled up an entire journal writing in igpa atinla (Pig Latin). We would play cards and walk around the mission. On our last day at Spring Village we gave away the gifts to the kids. It was so funny, even if they were 10 year old boys they would beg for the small little pink shoes. 😊   (a famous line was:“ I’m not greedy I just want lots of money to make me happy.”) The kids were fun to hang out with and do crafts with. 

On the last day a nice man named Randy, who is in charge of the mission, drove us through mountains to the beach where we swam in the ocean. We went tourist shopping, where I got my family gifts and got my birthday present from Nana which was a beautiful handmade purse. Then we stayed at a hotel for the night, and in the morning we flew home. 

Going to Jamaica was a great experience, and I would love to go on another one soon.

Again, we’d like to say thank you for all your support, prayers, encouragement! When all gather around the throne in that final day, and there are people from every tribe, nation, and language, we will rejoice with them. And YOU will also be with us, receiving appreciation as well.

Warmly,

 Cynthia, Abi, and Aryn

How Do I Get My Needs Met in a Pandemic?

Needs? How can we have them met in this crazy crisis? The whole world is thrown into chaos, and we are left reeling. Everyone says “Don’t be afraid,” (everyone except the news media, that is) but how do you do that?

Let me list four human needs and tell how you can meet each one in these unusual times.

The first one is for Connection.  All of us know intuitively that we were created for community, for connection, with other human beings. Even introverts. But socially isolating is wreaking havoc with all of that.

We must connect to feel human! At least once a day call, FaceTime, or talk with a human. A good friend. Make yourself do this, and if you feel awkward, DO IT ANYWAY! Better to feel momentarily awkward than to shrivel up and be depressed. (Texting is widely used, but only marginally connects people.)

The second need is for Routine or Order. Children especially thrive when there is an order to their day, when they know what to expect. If you have trouble with that one, imagine a classroom with kids milling around before the teacher comes in. It tends to become more and more chaotic, until the teacher restores order.

When you wake up in the morning, plan the day. Make a list if you want. Give approximate times: “at 8:00 we’ll have breakfast, at 8:30 we’ll do chores, at 9:00 we’ll start school, at 10:00 we’ll take a break for recess…” Of course some down time is necessary, but not too much! Plan a fun thing each day, but stick to a routine. (That’s why “make your bed” is the first thing in my previous blog, How to Stay Sane in Quarantine.) If you’re alone, it’s equally important to have some routine, and a plan for each day.

The third need is for Control. Every human being needs the freedom of choice, and certain amount of control over their lives. That’s why giving simple choices works so well with children. But we have lost much control recently! There are so many things we want to do but can’t.

Try making two lists. One is for things you can’t control, and that you worry about. For some, this list might be a long one. The set your timer for 5 minutes, and WORRY about these things. Do the “what if” for all of them, think of the worst case scenarios. When the timer goes off “DING,” the put these in a box, on the shelf. Give them to God. You can’t control them anyway, so what good does worry do?

Then make a list of things you CAN control. What you wear, what you eat, whether to FaceTime with someone now or later, what activities to do today. Most importantly, your attitude! You can control your attitude, if you will be grateful or grumpy today. Try it, it works. You can choose your words, you can encourage someone else, you can be cheerful. “A merry heart does good like a medicine...” (Prov. 17:22)

The fourth need we all have is sense of Competency. We need to engage in some activities that we are reasonably good at each day. If we’ve lost our job, or are temporarily laid off, we might feel dejected, like we can’t do what we’re good at. But you can! Now, for you perfectionists out there, I’m not talking about things you’re perfect at, nor that you’ve mastered. Rather, things that you feel somewhat good after doing.

Think baking, reading, juggling, playing an instrument, drawing, painting, sewing, telling jokes, knitting, cooking…the sky’s the limit. It is important that we feel good about ourselves each day. Perhaps you have a kind heart, and like to encourage others. DO IT! Smiling at someone might make their day. Each of us can find something we’re “kind of” good at everyday to do. How about a new hobby, one that you haven’t had time to do before?

 At the end of the day, list all the things you did right today. (Rather than all the mistake you made.) You’ll feel a lot better!

So, if you work at it, be creative and find ways to meet the needs of Connection, Routine, Control, and Competency be met.

 We’ll get through this! And have stories to tell others 20 years from now…