Our Journey with Christ

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Here in Jamaica, God did not forget us! He moved just as mightily in our hearts as He did in South Africa. Here are a few things we got to do when Daddy was serving with the team.

The biggest thing we got to do was Glow Stick Hallelujah parties! Each night, Mommy chose a song that was meaningful to me when I was pregnant with each one of them. I shared a story about each song, why it was so important to me at the time, and a story about how it applied to them in my womb. After sharing a song's meaning that made the song personal to their lives, we worshiped to it and prayed afterwards about the theme. The kids really enjoyed listening to the stories of when Mommy was pregnant with them. A few of Olive's songs were You Make Me Brave, Take Heart, The Stand and Glory to God. Some of Valor's worship songs during his pregnancy were Resurrection, Overcomer, Where I Belong and No Longer Slaves. I love that every time Daddy leaves, we get a season of prayer and worship! And we even got to invite a visiting family on the base in for our last evening.

We started swim lesson again. Valor has been scared to learn how to swim but recently expressed a desire to learn again. It has been fun to start swim lessons again with our favorite coach ever!!!

Friends, friends, and more friends! A week without Daddy gave us the opportunity to spend time with some friends with more space in our schedule. Mommy even got "Mommy time" with another Mom, which was such a blessing.

One of the biggest things the kids have been asking for is play dates with friends. When the team was in South Africa, we were able to have a few; some were during the week Dan was away and some were in the last month.

Parks! The first day Daddy left, Mommy surprised the kiddos with visits to 2 parks in 1 day! We hopped from one to the other (the only two parks we know of in MB). Then we bought special juice as the "icing" on top of a great afternoon.

We were also so blessed to have a family from Canada and a DTS team from Florida serving at the base the same week that Daddy was gone, which made it much more fun! Titus, is 4 years old just like Valor. Titus came to the park one day with us, and the DTS team ran a few kids' camps in which Olive and Valor participated.

We got a beach day!

We even went to the dentist! Both kiddos received a "no cavities" report, so they got to pick a little toy from Mommy. ( This idea came from another amazing missionary mom, Kimberlee Hershey, from YWAM DC, which encourages good oral habits with less money spent on fillings and procedures.)

Thank you for your prayers for us in Jamaica as Dan traveled to South Africa!

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During the Fall lecture phrase season, it is caterpillar season in Jamaica, and my children were finding caterpillars... and caterpillars and caterpillars and caterpillars! Valor found one with his friends first. Then Olive found one the next day and showed the caterpillar to our whole team at the Jesus Gathering.

In response, one of the guys at the Jesus Gathering said that Tycen, another student, knew where there was a tree that had a lot of caterpillars on it. Valor was so excited to see the tree, so he searched and searched for Tycen. He asked everyone, "Where's Tycen so he can show me the tree? Where's Tycen so he can show me the tree?" Valor went all the way across the YWAM base, found Tycen, and asked him to show him the tree. When Tycen walked Valor to the tree, Valor was amazed to see so many caterpillars! Tycen said to him, "Now that you know where the tree is, you can show others, like your sister, your Daddy, and your Mom, who want to see the tree." Immediately Valor went back to where Olive was swimming in the pool and said excitedly to her, " Olive, do you want to see the tree?" Quickly she said," Yes", got out of the pool, and followed Valor across campus to the tree. Excitedly, Valor showed her the tree full of caterpillars. Olive was amazed! She began counting all the caterpillars but lost count after 20.

As I followed Valor leading Olive to the caterpillar tree, I couldn't help but think that this is how it is with Jesus. Somebody encounters Jesus in a real, deep way and then naturally shares with others about his/ her experience with Jesus. Then as others hear, they tell more people. Like Valor searching for Tycen, there are people searching for someone to share with them about finding Jesus and lead them to the Tree of Life. They search for a Christ- follower so that person can tell them their testimony and point them to Jesus. Just like with the caterpillar tree, a person, like Tycen, shares his testimony with one, leading them to Jesus, then tells whoever he's sharing it with, "Now, you tell others that you have found Jesus, the Tree of Life, and lead them to Him." Then those people will tell others who tell others, who tell others...What a beautiful picture and example of how God calls us to naturally share our faith out of the overflow of joy we experienced when encountering Jesus Himself. It reminds me of the story of the woman at the well in John 4. She encountered Jesus at the well and just had to tell everyone she met about Him; just like Valor experienced the caterpillar tree today and just had to tell others!

AND...our students are doing exactly that in South Africa! They have encountered Jesus and their lives have been changed. Now, from the overflow of their spirits, they are sharing all that they have experienced in Jesus. As a result, others are meeting Jesus, and lives are being changed!

Here are some pictures of what this contagious overflow encounter with Jesus looks like in South Africa.

The team!

Evangelism at the park!

One day 5 people (4 hearing and 1 hard of hearing) decided to follow Jesus!

Travel! Travel! Travel!

Sharing at Deaf church!

And hearing churches!

Cardboard Testimonies!

At the YWAM base in East London, our team made a huge impact in the small rural community. They shared a Deaf Awareness workshop and connected with many hearing church leaders to share their heart to reach the Deaf in the area.

The team had the opportunity to talk on a radio station, not once, but TWICE! One was a Christian station and the other was a secular station that heard about the Deaf community that arrived from Jamaica sharing Jesus, and they asked them to share on their non-Christian station!