blog #3 So this is my last night here in this beautiful place called Jamaica. I didn’t know what to expect of this trip, but wow was it life changing. This country is amazing. God is amazing. The people in my group are amazing. Lord I cannot stress enough how thankful I am that you led me to this trip. I have made so many new friendships that will last a lifetime, lord I am so thankful. Thank you for letting me get to know the people of Jamaica, and thank you for letting them change my life. Thank you for showing me that you don’t need money to be happy, you don’t need to...

I came to Jamaica on this mission trip thinking that God just wanted me to help people learn more about him. Yeah he wanted that but throughout each day I realized more and more that God sent me here to not only help the people of Jamaica but for the people of Jamaica to help me. I never realized how much I took for granted at home. Being around all these wonderful people who literally have little to nothing and still as happy as they can be is so inspiring. When I first got to Jamaica I went into a bad culture shock I couldn’t breathe I cried and cried and It was almost like I was...

  These last two days have been emotional. Majorly emotional. Saying goodbye to 26 individuals who were all strangers to me two weeks ago but are now some of my best friends – goodbye to a beautiful country with even more beautiful people in it – goodbye to leaders who have become huge role models – going back home which means being submerged in the world… It’s a lot to take in. As our team reflects on our time together, the most common words I hear are “life changing”. Most people describe mission trips as “life changing”...

This trip has completely changed the way I think about Christ. I have never encountered Jesus in such raw ways, or at least I have never noticed how powerful the Holy Spirit is. We learned at training camp about listening prayer, and at first I thought “that only happens in stories, that could never happen to me”. But I was so wrong. My leader Rachel had us do an exercise where we sat in a circle in complete darkness and just invited the Holy Spirit to show us anything he wanted the person who was tapped to know or think about. That round, I was the person who was tapped, so the...

Blog #2 Being truly satisfied. On every mission trip or Christian retreat we always talk about being “satisfied”, but I have never really gotten the concept of it. On this trip I think I have finally gotten it. To be truly satisfied in jesus is to give him your all, with no regrets, and letting him satisfy you. Right now I have never felt more at peace in my whole life, I have given everything I have to jesus, and for the first time I actually believe in what I am saying right now. I. Am. Satisfied. The lord works in many different ways, sometimes I really don’t understand...

From the moment I got here I felt at ease. We jumped off the bus eager and ready to meet the Jamaicans. They were so loving and excited to have us. After spending time meeting the members of their team, I jumped into a game of basketball. Me participating in sports is a joke, but my energy was so positive. Thoughts kept rushing through my head that came from no where. “Be curious”, The Holy Spirit told me. Moments of peace filled me up. I realized that I was exactly where God called me to be. Dancing around with the kids, making a fool of myself trying to shoot, and allowing...