Leaving the Country

Tomorrow we fly back to SF, none of us want to leave. we had a going away party tonight, with the lady in charge at Fairhaven (lisa) and our security man (wanye).

Christina and Laura were sick yesterday and today, didn't go to church.
Please pray for safe travels and that none of us get sick! please also pray for our transition back into the states!
God Bless, Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement!

Beach Day

Well, we are offically done working at the deaf school. I think I can speak not only for myself, but for the rest of the team, when I say that the kids at JCSD will hold a place in our hearts. By the end of the week we had all grown attached to all of the kids there and had heard many of their stories. We worked in the classrooms and I ended up working with the older kids with Emily. It made me kinda sad to see that there were students there that were 1 or 2 years younger than me that were learning basic concepts like the food pyriamid and having trouble. It is true that some of the students at the school have other "disabileties" than being deaf, but some of the students had no other problems. It shocked me that being deaf slows down the learning process so much. There is nothing wrong with their ability to learn, but it is hard to explain basic concepts through signing (especially since they have to learn the sign for half of the words first). Today was a more laid back day, but Megan sure does need prayer. Her eye is very red and she says that she is in a lot of pain. Please pray that God will heal her so that she (as well as the rest of the team) will be able to give her all to the kids at SOS next week.

~Christina Hutchinson

HEY There...sorry its been so long, you have been really busy and forgot our password for our blog..lets see well Saturday we went to the market that was interesting..everyone yelling Pretty girls you come to my store! i give you good deal..lol Then we went to a park to meet with robins nest and they never showed cause it rained..so we walked back to our house and then we went to Melody house, which is a girls home where girls that get taken from there home cause there parents cant take care of them. That was a lot of fun, we played a bunch of games with them and then went back home. On Sunday we went to church at THE MEETING PLACE, where the pastor MARY (a woman) Preached she was really intense..yelling about how God is going to bring a revival to Jamaica, that we need to be preparing for it! Then we eat lunch and changed into swim suits and went to Doctors Cave, its a private beach area, with chairs and umbrellas and trampolines in the water! IT was fun we met Robins Nest there and played with the kids the whole time :) Then ran home in the rain..poring rain! lol we looked like such tourists..lol running and screaming! lol Monday was our last day at robins nest and they didn't have school cause it was a holiday, so we started on laundry then some more laundry..lol And then the kids were done with there chores so they all went swimming and we cleaned up toys from outside and then played games like memory and shriek monopoly inside while it rained! It was really sad to go, we gave hugs and they gave sad faces cause we told the we weren't coming back...i wonder how they felt today with out having us there...i really missed them all! Then Today Tuesday..first day at Jamaica Deaf School of Faith..was very interesting..another crazy drive to get there..this time we had to be ready my 7..so early! drove about almost and hr. Then we waited to be told what to do..we met all the women that run the place, Principal and Administrator. They had us start on a flower project, they have three sections they want us to plant flowers...so we picked out all the weeds and loosened the soil...then we moved rocks for them tell 12 we eat lunch and then waited to be told what to do and they didn't have anything so we sat around for a couple hours then kids got out of school and Mikey our driver never showed..so we talked with kids, they taught us some signs and we talked with them! IT was a learning experience..then Mikey still never showed so we called and they sent some other guy, who got lost so we sat around from 12:30 tell 5 when he showed up..it was a tiring even though we did nothing..lol now were home and getting ready for another day there tomorrow! :) Pray for strenght ..and rest!

Hey everyone!

Yesterday was the first day for the three girls from the midwest. We first awoke to the plumber arriving at our door to fix our toilet, then headed off to the airport to pick up the other half of our team. Once they got settled in we went to the beach and swam around for awhile. Later, we picked up some groceries for the rest of the trip. The day was mostly filled with getting to know the other girls and them getting to know us. I think that we should have little to no problems with them as they seem to get along fine with our team :)

Today we finally got to go to an ophanage and start the "Mission" part of our trip. We went to Robins Nest and helped with construction, did laundry, worked at a preschool, and hung out with the kids. I loved just talking to the kids and playing with them. Two of the kids there had cerebral palsey and loved to get attention. I can't wait for tommorow, when we get to do a VBS for the kids! Our time at Robins Nest should prove to be filled with laughs and smiles.

~Christina Hutchinson

WE MADE IT!!!

Welcome to Jamaica. welcome to the experience of a life time, thank you for supporting this team and your excitement to travel through this adventure with us and God. we are all so happy to be here, and enjoying the heat (ok, maybe just i am;)
the drive to the San Francisco airport was great and relaxing (thanks Jared & Karissa), had an encounter with Santa Clause, who thought we were synchronized Swimmers (Megan was a little offended). Santa set the tone for our trip and the whole evening was full of laughter and much need sleep! we acquired nicknames while waiting to board. Megan-Xtreme , Sara-Brooke, Christina-Gilbert, Laura-Finn. we swore that we couldn't tell where the nicknames came from or else we had to eat them (litterly)
landed in Miami at 4am, CA time. and Everyone was passed out within 10 minutes after getting off the plane, slept for a few hours and watched "she's the man" had some interesting Chinese food. boarded the plane that would take many of us out of the country for the first time or for me back to one of my homes! the flight from Miami to Montego Bay was only an hour, then spent about 45 minutes going through immigrations and customs (shouldn't have brought honey because it spilt everywhere and it was on the list of things not to bring, didn't know that going in). Out in to the hot, humid weather to see Mikey (our driver & close friend of mine). Our room is just perfect, a little Getto blue bathroom, which Megan was able to break the toilet on the first day! a tiny kitchen, but we will make it work. Come to find out two bathrooms, so 7 girls won't be sharing one of the getto blue tub. As we sit in our room over looking the Caribbean Ocean Blue as it pours down, we are so thankful for making it here safely and blessed to have such a wonderful group of people to work with in Jamaica. my heart feels at peace and is rejoicing to see so many familiar faces! Thank You Lord for your Protection.
GOD BRING ON THE RAIN (for the Heat & Our Hearts)

:)

I LOVE THIS TEAM, So BLESSED!!!

Blind Walk!

Sup PEEPS! SO today we got kidnapped by Erin Freer ( while listening to Jonas Brothers) and she drove around for a while then kicked us out of her car in a random mobile home park. Sarah had to wear a funny hat and orange vest, laura couldn't talk and I had to wait 5 minutes to make a comment after someone said lets got this way....we started walking..not seeing any street sign decided to go to the right! (biggest mistake) then we didn't know where we were so we keep walking. Saw railroad tracks and thought we were getting to close to the mountains..but kept going. We saw a sign later that said lake..not lake Blvd. so we didnt know where we were...then we came to an intersection for Oasis..we all were like that sounds fimillar and so we walked on it..for about 3 miles! :( and then I was like this street sounds fimillar because the Oasis Fun Center..(played a terrible game of mini golf one day) But we were like we cant be that far up the 5! So we kept walking tell we hit a gas station and the 5 ...looks like we were right! we were dropped off on Lake Blvd.. turns out but we went the wrong way and walked all the way to oasis rd...so we crossed the freeway and walked about another 2 or 3 miles back to school...it was funny for about the first mile or two...but after a while i was getting pissed! and I had to go to the bathroom really bad...it was the worst thing ever! I think we were all so tired we didnt talk once..(we bonded great after..and we are all really sun burnt) But we got to school changed and went to play a VBS that we were doing in 1 hr. So we planned to tell the Jonah story to some kids that lived in a moible home park..we went there and played kick ball and acted out the story of Jonah and the Whale, gave snake, sang some songs and played red light green light! It was really fun to just love on the kids and give them attention. I love how they don't even know us yet they climb in our arms and laugh! Its so rewarding to just see them smile :) We will have pictures of the kids for you later. Oh this morning we sang happy birthday to Megan McCarty and now we are going to ice cream to celebrate. Also this morning we met with Wendy Riddle about our strenghts quest..oh simpson and there strenghts quest ..haha It was really fun to learn about our team members and how they function. We are all really different, yet we have things in common..its a great mix, and we have tons of characteristics that will help keep us together and functioning. lol if there is ever a problem: I will fix it! haha well thats a Rap for today :) Peace and Love

A day of amoebas and trash. We started the day off making an amazing breakfast for the Kenya team. After worship and devotions we had our team initiative. In order to work as a team, we were taped together in the form of an amoeba, with all the team members blindfolded except me. We had to find ten pieces of plastic food and somehow pick them up without breaking the tape--for fear of punishment. After, we enjoyed a well-cooked meal from the Kenya team...lasagna and salad. Then, we met Travis and found out our next activity, picking up trash on our adopted highway. After the cheesy training video, we were decked out in a helmet, goggles, florescent vests and gloves :) We picked up trash on 299 for about an hour and came back. It was a relaxed time when we got back...with showering and food. Laura had one last final and the rest of us went to a meeting with the amazing Jill. We prayed over each other to end the day. -Sara

Traning Week Part 1

YO YO! This week were at training at Simpson...not really training! Monday we got here and we had to pack up for a camping trip. We got to the campsite and set up our tent we had to go on a million mile hike! literally...and for part of it we were blind folded. It was fun :) we saw two rattle snakes and amazing castle crags. Trail Mix never tasted so good, we got to the top sat down and had trail mix! Had really good burritos when we got back to camp for dinner. Next day woke up from worst night of sleep ever..oh the joy of hard ground and sore bodies. Then we did a work project all day at the park, where we expanded a trail and moved rocks and saw scorpions and worked harder then Nolan (haha). After a hard days work we went to eat burgers provided by the park rangers Steve and Brett! We took a group photo and as we went to leave until Christina said she locked her keys in the car...AAA TO THE RESCUE! Got home to Simpson..we all took poops and showers and a nap! went to baskin robins and kids kingdom (just like the park in my home town) and now were here! Tomorrow is a surprise...as of laura trying to be funny! But well get her back for it! hahaha Good Night...God Bless (Peace and Love) ~Megan Furze: soon to be A REAL BLACK WOMAN!

40 DAYS

YES we have 40 days until we fly out of here. we still need another $5,000 as a team.
the lord will provide! please pray for unity and excitement. we need strength to finish out the rest of the school year and be prepared for training week.
THE Lord is Good. seek him in this time of Easter and remember his Cross!

YARD SALE!

Hey everyone we are having a yard sale This Saturday April 4th at 7am- 12pm at Simpson university. come join us and support the team. we are also looking for yard work to do for a fundraiser on 18. got any ideas let us know!

we have around 5,000 left to go as a team! we got our flights booked, for cheaper than budget for!yeah!
we had a team meeting last night and i think it was one of the best ones yet. it was so encouraging as a leader to hear what others are struggling with. i can not wait to see what God does in these ladies lives through this trip! we are excited to make an impact in Jamaica and know God will us us to his glory in what ever situation.




by the Way its Megan Furze's 19th Birthday!!!!!!!! Please be praying for our hearts, minds, attitudes, and unity as a team.

Travel Money Due

Do we have it all in? Lord only knows!