Thursday, March 27, 2008

Devotions in Public Schools?

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to share Jesus with the kids at the schools on the island. We led morning devotions at 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools during the week.


Say "Macaroni and Cheese"

Giving my message at Charlestown Secondary School

Waiting in the principal's office

A couple of the primary schools...they are just adorable!

Inside the classroom

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Ministry in Nevis

Andrew with some kids at church

Children's Ministry Pictures



















Saturday in Nevis

The group before we left for our tour of Nevis-Amy, Andrew, Cindy, Me, Amy, Ben

Ben chillin in a tree in the Sugar Mill ruins

Some more Sugar Mill ruins


St. Kitts from Nevis

Sweet beach
Andrew and Mac

First "free" church--built by slaves for black and whites to worship together
View from a hotel on the island.
Oualie Beach
Dr. Peed, Maritsa, Me--Playing Cricket

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Omiamo!

Omiamo! Where do I even begin? Maybe by explaining that omiamo is a Nevisian expression which can be used in many contexts. It was our team's word of the week. The Nevisians got a kick out of us North Americans trying to pronounce it and using it incorrectly. The week was absolutely incredible. We got lots of sun, laughed until our faces hurt, and got to share Jesus with an entire nation. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. I'm sure I will be posting more about my trip as I have time to reflect on it and soak up all that happened. For now, I'll just share a few highlights with you all.

Group shot in the van

Where we stayed...incredible

Nevis sunset

We spent our first full day on the island taking a tour and hanging out with some teens on the beach. We saw pretty much the entire island in just a few hours...it is only 36 square miles. Some of the sites we stopped at were an old sugar mill, a couple hotels with nice beaches, and some old churches. The afternoon was spent swimming, singing, laughing, eating, playing cricket, and learning an "African Dance" on Oualie Beach.

Sugar Mill Ruins

Cricket on Oualie Beach

There are seven Wesleyan churches on the island, so Sunday morning we split up and visited four of the churches. That evening we started our children's ministry. The first night was pretty close to a disaster. We weren't prepared for the number of students we had (neither were the church leaders) and we had to do a lot of improvising. It was incredibly stressful for all of us. However, the next two night of the children's ministry were amazing. We built relationships with the kids, and God used us to speak truth into their lives. It was a great time of sharing Jesus as well as just getting to know the kids. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning we shared short messages at different schools around the island. All the schools has a devotional time in the morning when they sing some praise songs and here a challenge from the Bible. It was a great experience to be bale to go into a public school and share the love of Jesus with the entire student body. If only we could do that in North America. Our final ministry activity was a youth rally on Wednesday night. We had a chance to experience some cultural music, as well as our team sharing testimonies, a message, and a skit. Many teens either gave their hearts to Christ or made a commitment to get serious in their walk. It was good to see God move. Gotta love it.

Hanging out after the youth rally

Some other things we had a chance to do throughout the week was go liming, be interviewed on the radio, see monkeys, tour St. Kitts (a neighboring island), visit the Flamboyant Nursing Home, eat some good food, and have a good time with the people we met. I'm sure there will be more to come, but that's it for now. Enjoy the pictures of Nevis, lovely Nevis. much love

Some tourist spots on St. Kitts


Fresh sugar cane, coconuts, and jelly (coconuts before they are fully hardened)...YUM!

I'll try to get some more pictures posted. I have over 2,000 between everyone's pictures so it is difficult to decide which ones to post. Check out my Facebook if you want to see more.