Summa time, summa time

As we head into a very eventful team season, we would like to share exactly what our teams will be doing while they are on the ground!

Team 1~ June 8th-15th.

Our first team is from Northern Arkansas. Gap Relief is a non-profit composed of highly trained professionals with years of experience and training in trauma recovery and resilience. They are coming along with some of their children. They will be partnering with educators at Golden Grove All Age Primary School to provide a “Trauma Informed Teacher training” that they have been providing to the public schools in NW Arkansas for 3 years now. A trained psychologist is seeing students who are awaiting referrals for existing issues and may need extra care. She is meeting with 8 students.. This will help guide teachers in ways to help the students and equip them for the kids' specific needs. A physical therapist will be seeing five staff members and the Coleman family. This Physical therapist will provide treatment and strategies to improve conditions, while preventing future injury. Team one will also be updating the teacher's lounge and the student sick bay. An artist from this team will be decorating large letters to spell STEM that will be displayed in the walkway to the school. This school is the only STEM-accredited school in St.Ann Parish, and this gift will be much appreciated by the entire school.

Team 2~ June 15th-22nd

Team two is composed of young adults from Rockford Illinois. They are partnering with a local church to convert their basement into a homework center for the local children. When this center is completed, it will provide wifi, four computers, a printer, and adult assistance for the students. Thanks to a generous donor, the community children who generally would not have access to these amenities, now will. To complete the project we have purchased twenty gallons of paint, four ceiling fans, secured the building with iron, and we will be beautifying the exterior. A part of the project will also entail building furniture to accommodate the students,  the adult supervisors, and the printing station. The building will most likely be completed by Team 4.

Team 3~ July 12-19th

Team three is from Crossroads Church youth group in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. This team will be partnering with both a local church and a local school. At the church, they will provide a morning time VBS, and during the afternoons, they will be working on many needed projects at Golden Grove Basic School. This church has been pivotal in the provision, through our intern Sean, of over 200 NLT Bibles to be given to the community. VBS is a relevant ministry here in Jamaica, as children's ministry is either non-existent or ineffective. At the basic school, they will be renewing a swing set, repairing facia, fixing a ceiling, and beautifying the front of the school.

Team 4~July 19th-26th. 

Team four is from Messiah UMC, located in Northern Virginia. Much of their time will be spent serving Beechamville Methodist Church through a VBS. This team will also be tasked with the completion of the homework center started by team two. Team 2 will have begun the work, completing the painting, and leaving Team 4 with the construction of the furniture. If all goes according to plan, we look forward to a potential grand opening and community event this fall. 

Intern's Corner:

Hello, friends and Family! After my first few days, I can officially say it is wonderful to be back! Since my stay last summer, much has happened for me. I enlisted in the United States National Guard and will ship out for my basic training on August 18th. I also proposed to my wonderful fiancé earlier this year, and we are set to be married on August 9th! She will be pursuing further education in healthcare, while I am going to take my first year of general education at SEMO University. We are both incredibly excited about what the Lord has in store for us and cannot wait to be used as a married couple. Marah will be joining us for a week on team three as her first mission trip. While it is a very busy time in my life, I am so overjoyed to be back in Jamaica, serving alongside KONBIT and the Colemans! As I look forward to the team season,  I am eager to not only serve but to watch these unique and amazing individuals serve and submit to the Lord. This year, I will be joining the KONBIT team until the beginning of August. Since the end of my stay last year, I was able to partner with my home church, Crossroads, to plan and deliver over 200 paperback NLT Bibles to give to KONBIT and the community. These Bibles will provide new opportunities for our community to deep dive into God's Word, some of whom may not have had access to God's Word in a translation that they can understand. I am looking forward to our Homework Station project later this month, our various impact-full VBSs, and the wonderful new friendships all of our teams will make! 

Update From Haiti

At the beginning of February, gangs took over all of Lafferonnay, and the residents, along with our staff, ran for their lives.  A shootout involving both gang members and the police ensued in front of KONBIT’s gate an hour after the evacuation. Many of the residents relocated, including our staff, who went to a seaside residence for a month, where we waited and planned. During the days that followed, the staff began relocating all of KONBIT’s assets and the Colemans' belongings out of harm's way. Items like the cars, the large generator, and many Coleman family sentimental items were safely retrieved. Before the completion of this process, the gangs breached a wall in the KONBIT house, broke through the iron bars, and invaded the property. All of the remaining items from the house were stolen or piled in the courtyard like trash. We lost a substantial amount of items that day, but are grateful our staff fled safely well before. After immense planning, we relocated our staff to a safer residence an hour outside of Lafferonnay, where they are faithfully continuing their ministry. You can see the new place above, and one of our displaced staff members' newest addition, too. We face time. Throughout this process, our Meals on 2 Wheels ministry did not miss giving a single bucket, and we were able to feed thousands of meals to the influx of recently displaced people in Leogane. 

We have been in the process of sorting through all our belongings and assets to see what safely made it out of danger, while we continue to meet the needs of many of the displaced people. Many of the recipients of Meals on 2 Wheels have been displaced as well. Unfortunately, two members passed away due to violence in the gang attack.

We continue to serve our Meals on 2 Wheels members, delivering their bucket of provisions to their new residences. Please pray for all our members whose lives are so fragile and for whom this upheaval is so dangerous. Keep praying for our team, as we grieve the loss of people, the loss of community, and the loss of home.

As a serious request, a dear friend of KONBIT’s was kidnapped by the gangs and is being held hostage for ransom. Please pray for him and all of his family. He is the Haitian director for a ministry in the nearby area and was planning a trip to see us in Jamaica this month.