Last Day of VBS: Great Memories, Sad Goodbyes

Hey this is Seth: Chris forced me to start my blog that way. I'm pretty unhappy with him for that. Actually, this is the first time Chris and I have spent more than two straight days with each other and not come to blows. That's a major accomplishment. We leave tomorrow. This trip has been an eye opener for many of us, and hopefully we've made some significant impact on the people we've come to know so well over the past week. We may never know what impact we may have made in the lives of some of these children, but we know what they have meant to us. And most of us will never see them again. But we'll see all of you tomorrow. Maybe. It's probably good that I'm not flying the plane in the morning cause I'm way tired and I still have to finish this blog. Goodnight.

Hey this is Chris: I just beat Seth up for write that blog above. Just Kidding! Its late but we got all the pictures we have taken so far up on the youth picture site:

http://nbyouth.shutterfly.com/

We miss ya and can't wait to see you tomorrow and Sunday! Please pray for travel mercies for us tomorrow and please pray Nathan feels well enough to travel.

Chris

VBS DAY 4: 187 Kids in VBS Today

Hey guys, its Misty!!!! So far my week has been great!! I've had a lot of fun getting to spend time with everyone who came and worked with the kids in my class. As much fun as it has been its also been TONS of work. I bet you can imagine how much energy a 5 yr old has and if you multiply that by fifty then you'll have and idea of what my worlds been like this week. In the midst of all my unnecessary stressing three kids in particular have managed to steal my heart. Their names are Ryan, Zam and Abby. They are all around the age of two and are by far the sweetest kids I've met in my life. All week long they've been following me around and are usually never more than an arms length away. When we walk to snacks I'm always carrying two of them and the other holds on to my skirt. Every day when we're closing the service ill be holding Zam and he'll fall asleep. Its soooooo cute!!! I'm aware that telling you this might sound stupid but I've never felt my heart swell so many times in one week. These three kids just make me fell so needed and loved. Being around them really helps me notice how easy it can be to alter how someone lives. Anyway......... my high of today was being able to spend time with elizabeth and victoria. Its been so long since I've had girl time and it just made me feel more in touch with whats going on in the land of women. My low of today is that my eyelids are sunburnt. I didn't even know it could happen, but i suppose thats what I get for going to sleep in the sun. I guess my book wasn't interesting enough to keep me awake. Lucky for you I've now come to the end of my rant. thanks for reading. love u daddy sry ur at home by yourself. BYE!!!!

ps. this is for my mother. i love you with my whole heart!!!! I hope you're having a good time in portland! i miss you bunches!!!!!!!! oh and FYI lost my rainbows. i have no clue where they went and I've been looking for them all week. I'm extremely sorry.

VBS DAY 3: Hump Day closer to the end of it all

Hey this is Aaron giving you a little taste of our day.

What do I say, as Steve one of the leaders said, Wednesday is always a hard day, and it sure was. Halfway through bible school now, it gives us a feeling that we are all about to leave these kids and we may never even see them again. I feel like I'm finally getting to know all my kids!! I wish that i could spend more and more time with them every single day, no matter how annoying they may seem. Well, let me give you a quick run through of the day.

We woke up and ate breakfast :) I've been having trouble finding my sandals but I guess that's just me just plopping them down in our room and forgetting where i put them. lol. It's crazy how small the group of kids seems to be in the morning when we start vbs but by the end of the day, the numbers atleast double if not triple. The kids love recreation and snacks. For rec time, we played balloon tag and these kids played it with no mercy! It was a huge suprise if I saw a kid that still had his balloon by the end of the game. They love to run! Snack time was lots of fun for me today. I decided that i would see how fast the boys in my group really are. Big Mistake! They were way to quick for me, especially Leroy, the boy holding the heart in the top picture. The kids make me happy, in any situation. When I come back home, I will miss hearing the kids every day yelling, "Sir!" whenever they needed help. As we were finishing up vbs, a few of the youth girls lead about 3 songs with the kids which i thought was awesome, they were all having so much fun!

I had noticed a kid playing the piano every day, but today I found out his name was kwanzie and he had been playing piano 5 years! When I told him I play piano too, he ran over to the piano and said, "Play!" He was amazed by how far i could stretch my fingers across the piano. I cannot say it enough, I love these kids and miss them so much.

I know I'm dragging on so I will stop here. Know I love you all and can't wait to see you all again in only a little while.

Love,

Aaron

Hey guys, this is Becky.

So words can seriously not describe how amazing my experience has been here thus far, and the way each day has gone it is only going to get better these next two days. Nathan, Elizabeth, and I are on the same team and we are working with the youth. We have broken up the lessons amongst each other and today was Elizabeth's turn to teach. I was helping her prepare last night and she was getting a little nervous cause she had the biggest lesson just about.... Jesus' death on the cross. I told her if she needed help at all to talk about it I would jump right in.

The lesson begins today and I am helping Elizabeth here and there and the youth pay attention but talk to each other and giggle (same as back home) but only about 15 out of the 40 kids were actually looking at Elizabeth. Then she has Oneal (my favorite kid) read Isaiah 53:3-6. I jump up and give a cross talk. The Holy Spirit literally would not let me sit and let these kids miss out on what Jesus did for these kids. I spoke to them about how Jesus was despised and spat on and hated when he was crucified. I told them where Jesus was nailed on his body onto the cross. I had EVERY eye on me. I couldn't help but tear up that I was gifted with the chance to tell these kids that Jesus died for them! I called as many names out as I could remember saying "Shantel, if you were the only one here on earth, Jesus would die for you. Oneal, Jesus would have died just for you. Dante he would have died for you alone too. Desmund, Jesus would die for you if you were the only person on earth." I started to think of that for myself as well. Jesus would have died just for me. How can your life not be impacted by that?!

God is good all the time. Pray for my kids and me tomorrow. Tomorrow I am blowing off the planned lesson and giving them the plan of salvation. It would be a great loss to them and myself if I put it off any longer then tomorrow.

I can't wait to share all the videos and pics I have taken of these kids singing and dancing and having a great time! They've got ryyyyyyyyythm!!!!

VBS Day 2: Just Another Day in Paradise

Hey it's Elizabeth,

Today was our second day of bible school. It seemed to run a lot smoother than yesterday. We made cross necklaces as the craft for the day, and learned more about the bible. This little boy got up in front of everyone this morning and sang "Jesus loves me", and it made me cry. The kids are so sweet. Once we got back to the hotel we all got in the pool, and the ocean. It felt really great. I used a snorkel in the water and there were so many beautiful fish and sea urchins. We all are really sunburnt and tired right now. Everyone took naps earlier, except for me, because i am always scared I'm going to miss something. But we are getting ready for our daily devotion and worship by the beach. I guess ill see you soon mon. I love you Mom, Dad, and Catherine. I can't wait to see you!!!!

Much love.

Hey guys!! It's the Page girls. We had a BLAST at Vacation Bible School. There were a lot of kids all different ages and they had plenty of energy to keep all of us very occupied. The kids were all so eager to learn and so excited to be there. We miss you guys and wanted to keep you updated on all of our adventures. I'm sure you'll be hearing from one of us soon. We are all safe and having a BLAST. p.s. WE LOVE YOU DAD!!!!!

VBS Day 1: YES!

Hey yall, its Hanna lee. So today was our first official day of VBS and it was awesome. I know we were all nervous, or at least I know I definitely was. All I could think was "oh man, what if i mess up?" or "what if they don't like me?" when in reality, we didn't have to even talk, and they still loved us. We started with praise and worship. As soon as we started to sing, some of the members of the church started to play drums and clap. It was amazing. We then broke up into our groups and had an action packed day full of games, crafts, snacks, bible lessons, and FUN! Even though it was really hot and some of the kids were a bit of a handful, it was still so amazing to all be together and have the kids with us. After we left the church, we came "home" and Chris and Mrs. Janice went and got us patties. The youth definitely wished we had them in North Carolina. Everything has been pretty laid back since VBS this morning but it's what we all needed. The ocean is beautiful, the people are carefree and the food for dinner is cooking. What more could you ask for? I miss you all and I can not wait to see you! I wish I could have you all here with us in this amazing place. Keep praying, we need it. ONE LOVE TO ALL OF YOU (:

Sunday News Late Cause of Internet Trouble!

Hey everyone, it's Victoria. Today we got up ate breakfast and headed to church. The church we are doing our VBS at is Grace Baptist Church in Oracabessa. It was the church's Harvest Sunday so we observed the children bringing gifts to the altar. The gifts included bananas, mangos, sugar cane, pineapples, etc. The service was absolutely amazing, especially when the praise and worship team led the music. They had a time during one of the songs where the congregation got up and gave people hugs, it was remarkable how friendly and loving these people were. The speaker was a lady from the Jamaican Baptist Union, and she did an excellent job. After church we went to the grocery store for lunch items. We took our lunches back to the resort and ate here and then relaxed until it was time for dinner. For dinner last night we ate salad, rice and peas, roast beef, and bbq chicken. Following dinner we had a few hours of free time. I took a nap but most of the kids interacted with the other youth groups and played games which someone will write about later. Devotion was at 6:30, we all sat in lawn chairs overlooking the gorgeous ocean. We sang praise and worship songs with the other groups and all shared the different experiences we had during the day. The devotion was concluded with us breaking up into small groups to pray with each other. Our youth group met after the devotion to prepare for Monday. That pretty much sums up Sunday, can't wait to see you all and keep us in your prayers!

Hey this is Chris! I uploaded a few pictures from Sunday! I will try to do an update later about our first day of VBS. Just a little info about the game last night. Our youth group began to play games with each other and the other youth group joined. There is an artist who owns apartment here in the resort that invited some of his friends over and their kids. Your youth group began to play games with all the kids. It was an awesome moment. It is how you wish the world would be! People of all races playing games and just enjoying one another with just genuine love. Guess you need to be here to understand. We love and miss you!