My first team with Praying Pelican had 128 students from the Ausbury UMC, from Tulsa, OK. This was an awesome team. They split up into 8 small groups and ministered in 5 different locations during the week. This team spent the week in heavy constuction projects. They also spent time in local Infirmaries where the spent one on one time with residents who many have not had a family visit in many years. Many of the residents have been simply dropped off with the infirmary by family and have never seen them since. My greatest reflection about this team was at one of the infirmaries where several teenage boys sat silent as an elderly blind man in his 90's sat on a bucket and shared the story of Christ, and I should say from the beginning of time. As the man finished up one of the boys asked if he could pray with him and for continued faith and courage. It was a God moment to say the least. Another highlight was learning about the slavery that took place in Jamaica. We served in a town call Falmouth. This is the location in which William Knibb was victorious in abolishing slavery. Our team worshipped in the very church in which his midnight hour sermon was preached signaling the end and freedom of the slaves in Jamaica. On the church property is a tomb which hold chains, whips and shackles of slaves that were freed. It signifies the death of slavery.  And lastly there was a man who was prayed over by several of the students, because he had severe issues with his voice and congestion, immediately after the prayer and as the amen's were said, he shouted out in song. We are reminded "the prayers of the righteous brings much healing..." A very good day! Thank you Ausbury for a great and God filled week!

 

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In March I had the pleasure of serving with Harborside Christian Church from Florida. There were 36 people on this trip. They served Jamaica in the Lawrence Tavern area. During the week the team worked with the Ebenezer Baptist church, giving the old church a well needed paint job. The team painted the entire church that week as well as made a new side walk and driveway for the church. Lots of concrete was mixed on the ground and hundreds of buckets of sand and stone were passed down an assembly line for days. The finished product was awesome. The church is located on a hillside and one of the main purposes for the large side walk and driveway was to prevent the soil from washing away leaving the church in fear of a land slide.

One of my favorite God moments took place as the team visited with a children's home called the Tegwen Home. This is a place where about 40 mentally and physically challenged children will live the rest of their lives and will be buried onsite when they die. As the team arrived they brought some of the children into a large gathering area. The team pulled out their guitars and began playing and singing songs. The children were so excited and bounced wildly in their wheelchairs, swayed to the music and clapped their hands with big smiles on their faces. It was hard to hold back tears. You could just feel God's presence in the room.

Another one of my God moments for this team was when a student was asked to share a morning devotion with a local school. There were over 500 students and teachers that morning. Let me tell you, there is a preacher in the making. You could hear a pin drop as he shared Jesus' love with them. (That is not typical for that kind of silence at the school)

Thank you Harborside for great memories!

 

 

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Well for me, this trip was different than any trip I have served on, in a good way, lol. This was a all girls school. They were awesome to serve with although I was not able to spend a great amount of time with this group as I was in Jamaica to set up my summer trips. All the same, I observed some great God moments as I watched the students interact with local school children at the St.Patricks Primary School in the Kingston area.

There were 30 girls on this trip and I will tell you they were loved by the children. On the final day I have never seen so many tears. I know that God moved in special ways with these girls.

While in Kingston, the team had the opportunity to go the Golden Age home for seniors. They spent several hours sharing hugs, stories and laughs with the residents there. One of thier favorite residents was, well we will name him Bob. He had a Rasta hat on his head and the girls were very courious as to how much hair he really had, so Bob took off his hat. That's a lot of hair. My most memorable God moment was when we broke into small groups and shared our life stories. My heart broke for girls in my group and yet was joyful as they shared how God helped them through the tough times. All though I didn't get to share as much time with this team as I would of liked, God still moved in powerful ways. In fact, several girls are returning in July! Thanks Oakland for the memories!

 

 

 

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Visit Red Banks Trip Journal Here  "Go" to see more details

 

 

What a joy it was to serve along side this team in teh Old Harbour Bay area. This team had some of the hardest workers I have seen. During their week they not only painted an entire school building but also managed to tear out 16 old, broken window louvers and replace them with brand new ones. This team also had to walk about 1/2 mile or better each day to and from the worksites. Now that may not sound like a big deal but when you are also carrying all the supplies you need to do your work, your backpacks and 5 gallon jugs of water this can really add to the load.

 

We had a couple of medical concerns on this trip but everday God would give this team the strength and ability to continue on in spite of illnesses and concerns. Never did this team slow down, get down or wear down.

 

Red Bank also took part each day in the classroom of the Old harbour Primary school. They spent time each day leading devotions, teaching in the classrooms and also leading a fun day for the students. They served about 300 students during the week and did an awesome job!  

 

 

 

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Visit Salem Bible's Trip Journal here: Go to see more details

 

 

Salem Bible served in Jamaica in June of 2014. They served the Hartland's Baptist church and basic school. Salem has been serving with Praying Pelican for several years now and and has also been building a great partnership with Hartland's. They have been involved in a building project that will house a new library for the school as well as some office area for the church. This has been a great project that Salem has taken on and they look forward to returning each year to continue in this realtionship with Hartland's. 

This team cranks out the work. They work hard in the direct sunlight each day, mixing concreat and laying block. Not only that but they had to back fill the building foundation so the concrete floor can begin being poured. This was no small task as the fill covered about 1500 sqaure feet and needed to be raised about 3 feet. Lots of digging and filling. 

 

Salem went above the call and took on the lead during worship times. They did an outstanding job of leading others to the throne room of God! Several team members shared scripture, testimony and more! 

 

During a visit to an Infirmary in Spanish Town, the team shared loved, laughs and even tears as they prayed for and talked with the residents at this senior citizen center. It is hard to see some of these folks and learn of their lack of visits from family. They looked forward and enjoyed the visit they received from the team.

 

 

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The Donahue family has served with PPM in Jamiaca for the past couple years. The team is made up of family members from Pittsburg, PA and Florida. They come together as a family to serve others.  The Donahue's served in teh Kingston area at serveral different locations. They served primarily at the Jamaica National Children's Home. This is an institution that serves children who have been severely abused sexually as well as physically. They are in a protected enviroment from hostil family members. The Donahue's spent much of their week loving on and serving these children. Thier time included educational activities, games, fun days and so much more. They also spent time painting many rooms for teh house mothers of the facility.

 

This family also brought and old basketball court back to life as they replaced rusty and broken"netball" rims with brand new break away rims and new backboards. They also did some touch up painting on the boundry lines and foul lines.

 

Some of the team members brought about the best God moments when they spent some time at the Tegwyn home. This is a facilty for severely handicapped children. The joy this team brought to the children's faces as they played with and hung out with these children was priceless. 

 

Visit the Donahue Family Trip Journal Here: "Go" to see more 

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This was a fun team of energetic teens. St. Mary's spent much of their week serving at the Promise Learning Center in Kingston, Jamaica. The Promise Learning Center is a special school for Autistic children. During the week the team spent many hours in the classroom with the students. Lessons, games, art and crafts were part of the program they brought to the children. As the childen were doing art I was amazed at the talents and gifts of many of these children. Some drawings looked proffesional! 

 

This team also spent time doing hard larbor! Loyts of concrete was mixed and poured to create new flooring inside the school. This is HARD work but the team did an awesome job. They also spent time painting several rooms inside the office area as they needed repainting. Lots of work was completed at the school. 

 

This team also spent time at the Jamaica National Children's Home and the Tegwyn Home in Kingston. The kids loved to have the team visit and many tears were shed by the team and the children the last day of their visit and ministry. God touched the loves of any that week! 

 

Visit St.mary's Trip Journal Here  "Go" to learn more about thier trip.

 

 

 

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Visit Crossroads Trip Journal Here: Go to see more details

 

 

Crossroads was my first team to lead in the USA with Praying Pelican Missions. This was an awesome team to work with. Thier energy, passion for serving and great attitudes made for an awesome trip to Chicago. They served the Erie Baptist Church in the inner city of Chicago. During the week the team painted the church sactuary and fellowship hall. (Big rooms) as well as served a local school by doing some major clean up in about a dozen large garden areas that had been over run with weeds. This team really pushed themselves to get finished with what they came to do. 

 

Not only did they accomplish these bIG tasks but they also pulled off a great VBS in the park! 2 days of serving hundreds of free lunches to the local children and also hosting a large VBS in the park for over 300 kids. What a way to serve.

 

It keeps getting better! They also took a day to serve at the Pacific Garden Mission, the largest homeless shelter in the USA. The shelter houses up to 1500 residents daily and serves more than 2000 meals daily. This team helped by making over 400 beds, stuffing newsletters, and serving in the kitchen and greenhouse. They packed a ton of ministry in thier visit. God was moving in the lives of this team in ways they never imagined. Several of the team rededicated their lives to Christ during the week!  

 

 

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Visit Presbyterian Church of the Way Trip Journal Here: Go to see details

 

 

 

 

 

This was our last team for the summer. What a great team to end the summer with. This team brought excitment in what ever they did. The make up of personalities was awesome. This may have been a small team in number but they didint let that stop them from making huge impacts. 

 

This team served with Pastor Vincent Garcia in the "Little Village" area of inner city Chicago. This was a heavy Hispanic area. Pastor was really pumped at what this team brought to his community. They hosted a VBS for 3 evenings and the local children had a blast and did not want to leave after it was over. They cried that they could not come back for a 4th or 5th night! The impact that was taking place was awesome. Several kids accepted Christ from the community at the end of VBS the last night. God moved in mighty ways through this team of 8! 

 

This team also spent a great amout of time at the Pacific Garden Mission. (largest Homeless shelter in the USA.) They made about 800 beds, folded 1000 towels and even remade beds that another mission group had made terribly. ( about 160 beds) They also served for several hours in the green house picking worms out of compost boxes that are used to enrich the soil they use in the green house. The worms will then be placed in new compost bins. 

 

Thank you team for a wonderful wrap up of summer! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cathy and I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to every team we had the opportunity and blessing to serve with this year!! You are all awesome and we loved serving you all and alongside each of you! You have not only touched the lives of those you served during your trip but also our lives.