We're back!

We are back from Jamaica. It's taken us a few days to recover (as you can tell by the date of this post :), but we wanted to give everyone a final update.
A big thanks to everyone for their support and prayers! We felt that the trip was very successful, and we enjoyed ministering to the people of Jamaica.
If you would like to hear a full update on our trip you are invited to attend Calvary Presbyterian Church this Sunday, July 27th, at 6:00 pm. We will be giving a full presentation of our trip to Jamaica with tons of pictures and testimonies from different team members.
Again, thank you so much for your support and prayers! Check back soon to see the next Calvary missions opportunity!
-Sarah

A few more comments from the team

I really love it here at CCCD. I really have enjoyed talking in sign language, going to VBS, doing construction, and most of all just being in Jamaica. All the sweat and tiredness is worth it because I know it has touched hearts (both mine and others around me). I will really miss it here when we leave. God has truly blessed me with the opportunity to serve Him and others here in Jamaica. Miss you all and see you soon.

Megan

We are spreading scum!!!

Marilee

Jamaica has been awesome! It has been a neat experience being able to serve and hang out here. See you soon, family! :)

Amanda

The opportunity to serve here at CCCD has truly been a blessing. This week has been an amazing experience. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Love to all our family and friends. God bless!

Col./Dr. Mike

Uncle Bubba,

Do these two shades match?

Post office red and tile red.

Thursday, Last Day of Work

So, today was our last day of work. We completed many of the classrooms, which included moving everything out of them, scrubbing them down, cutting and painting everything (including the floor), and putting everything back in them. We also completed painting the front of the building and the entire railing down the front. We completed everything by about 6:30 today (no working by headlights like the Biloxi trip). Yesterday’s VBS was crazy! There were a ton of kids running all over the place and little place to put them. It was hard to keep order even with most of our group and some of another group helping. Today was much more calm and contained, and many of the people working with VBS were much more encouraged by this afternoon. Here’s a bunch of quotes from different people, as well as some pictures (we'll have more later).

This has been a great trip, and it makes you realize the poverty in Jamaica. It has been great to help and also “sign” with the deaf kids. I hope to come back to CCCD some time, because it was great even though I’m exhausted.
-Ryan

This trip has been a BLAST! We have done so much work. It has been very hot compared to NC but not too, too bad. I have loved meeting all the CCCD kids and helpers. Thanks to all that have helped us get here and thanks for keeping us in your prayers. Thanks again and I can’t wait to tell y’all about this wonderful experience.
-Chris
P.S. Y’all is not a phrase they use here.

We’ve had a great week, making friends with other believers from different places, playing with Jamaican children at VBS, and working hard to improve the buildings at CCCD. Everyone has worked well together, with very few complaints about the heat. God has been good, protecting us from the sun and with cooling rainstorms, and kept everyone from serious illness. Some cool flora and fauna too!
-Jay

This week has been absolutely amazing!!!!
-Megan

July 2nd Update

All is well with the Calvary MoBay team. We have more pictures and stories but no easy way to share them with you. Everybody is healthy, has good attitudes, and is working hard. We have all been rotating through various work projects: painting, yard cleanup, carpentry, cement work, etc. Lisa and Mike have been outstanding team leaders!

Unfortunately, Internet service on campus is down tonight so we cannot post new content to our blog.

May this message find y'all seeing and hearing more of Jesus, we are here!

Tom

Ps I apologise if I have not replied to e-mail sent to tgyori@usa.net. I am about one day behind. I usually only check my BlackBerry once a day, after lights-out.

Another Great Day

Today was much of the same. More painting, raking and working with concrete. I was able to do a lot of sieving which is definitely hard work but I enjoyed it! The deaf kids never run out of energy helping with the construction work, and it is fun to try to communicate with them. We were able to accomplish a lot of the painting and then stopped at two o’clock to do VBS/soccer camp.
Two Jamaican soccer teams showed up at the same time. So they combined everyone into one huge game. The Jamaicans won 9 to 4!
God’s hand was definitely evident in VBS: about sixty kids attended VBS! It went very well and the kids seemed to love it! We are definitely recruiting more guys from the soccer team to help us with “crowd control” tomorrow.
It is very hot and humid here. We are sweating constantly even at night. So, after a long day’s work we are ready for bed. So, I will sign off with a few pictures and comments from some of the team members.
-Sarah
P.S. Uncle Bubba, the tinted safety glasses came in handy today – thanks!

It is a lot of fun interacting with the deaf children! It’s a new and exciting experience!
- Marilee

I have really enjoyed being here in Jamaica. It has been an amazing experience and I am thankful God gave me this opportunity. It has been awesome to spend time with the deaf kids, the other teams, and the local Jamaican kids at VBS. Miss you all!
- Megan

It’s been a fun couple of days so far! I have enjoyed the work (surprisingly) and the soccer and picking up on sign language. I scored a goal in one of our soccer games! I am looking forward to the rest of the week.
-Rob C.

I have not had time to read any blog entries to date, but I am sure everyone has heard that the trip so far has been amazing. Being blessed with an early morning “body clock,” I was given the opportunity to coordinate all breakfast meals. Besides having the first shot at the shower, this also affords me the added blessing of witnessing some amazing and beautiful sunrises from our vista of the bay here at CCCD. I also wanted to thank God for our youth – their cheerful and willing spirits and servants’ attitudes are a clear demonstration of God’s work in their lives. They demonstrate God’s love through their hard work and love for others in all they do daily with the folks there in Jamaica.
Thank you for your continued prayers. God bless!
-Dr./Col. Mike

Rob C. painting the ceiling.

Singing during VBS

One of the boys from the deaf school giving us a demo of a dance move.

Kyle and Daniel playing soccer this afternoon. It was hot!!!

Pictures!

The kids are singing songs to close the day for VBS. They love to learn new songs and we even learned a few that they wanted to teach us!

Pictures!

Pics from our first day of VBS. It was hectic, but it went well. Here is Megan making a craft with one of the kids.

Pictures!

This is the view we have looking out over the bay. It is beautiful throughout the day, but especially in the morning and evening when the sun rises and sets.

Pictures!

....and the work begins. Here is Mr. Hatton along with Chris (to the far left). He is one of the construction supervisors, and by today has all of our names memorized!

Pictures!

Ahhh...fun in the sun! Mr. Diepenbrock, being the high-tech person that he is brought along a waterproof case for his camera and was able to take pictures of the trampoline out in the bay.

Pictures!

Here is a picture of the church: Rosemont Missionary Church (Building Committee, take note). Their service was excellent and here the choir is singing for the service.

Pictures!

Group picture!

Right before leaving for church we managed time for a group picture. Enjoy this one--it's the nicest we'll look all week.

Pictures!

Here we are schlepping, yep you guessed it-- more food! Notice the cheerful smiles.

Pictures!

The first thing we did after we got off the plane: we ate. Go figure. We shot our wad on our first meal. It's a good thing we bought our return plane tickets in advance.

The first day of work

Today was a very good first day of work. We are all exhausted, but pleased with the amount of work that we were able to accomplish.
Our day started around 8:30 by our division into groups. Some of us were assigned to cleaning walls and painting in the classrooms, others were assigned to working with concrete, and others to raking the yard (which is a huge job!). We have had very few problems with sunburn and dehydration which is a huge praise!
The afternoon consisted of soccer camp and VBS with local kids. Two soccer games were played in the afternoon while VBS was held at a nearby church. We had around 27 kids for VBS. Some of them were not able to stay the entire time, but kids came in and out throughout the afternoon. We are holding VBS in a one-room church so we are learning to be creative!
-Sarah

It has been an amazing trip so far. Unfortunately, I have been a bit sick this morning, and therefore unable to work, but I am feeling much better now. Church yesterday was a new and uplifting experience, and the afternoon swim was much needed. VBS was a wonderful blessing both for us and for the children. God bless, all my love to my family.
-Phillip

We're hot, but we're here and we're healthy

You've already heard that we've arrived here safely, you could probably guess that we're hot, so the only real news is that we're all healthy (healthy bodies, appetites, and expectations for the rest of the week!).
This morning, we got up and went to church where the principal of the CCCD school worships. With our three groups combined, we added significant numbers to the congregation. We arrived at church around 9:30. The service had just started so we slid in about as discreetly as an albino elephant in a tar pit. The service was very uplifting with a warm welcome from the congregation, passionate singing, and uplifting preaching. We left church around noon time and came back to the school to change into assorted aquatic apparel. After lunch we went to a private beach and spent the afternoon swimming, snorkeling, snoozing, and just generally relaxing. We came back around 5pm and were fed another scrumptious dinner after which we held large and small group meetings, and will soon be hitting the sack in preparation for construction/soccer/VBS tomorrow.
Thanks so much for all your prayers for safe travel. Please pray for our first work day tomorrow as we figure out all of the logistics of what to and where to put people. Pray that we'll be able to be efficient and safe in our construction, and that we can minister effectively to the kids we play soccer with and interact with at VBS. We'll see if we can post some of the pictures we took today on tomorrow's post.

~Rob

Arrived safely in Montego Bay!

The team arrived safely in MoBay at the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf (CCCD) Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately the DSL line to CCCD is down at the moment, so updates may be spotty.

Here's the Saturday PM update from Tom (via his Blackberry)...

All the teams have arrived. We have close to fifty volunteers here. Three fifths are guys so we will have plenty of testosterone excitement.

Dinner was fabulous! We had home cooked fried fish with sweet and sour sauce, fancy mashed potatoes, salad, terrific fresh pineapple, watermelon, and danish butter cookies and oreos. We had no trouble finding volunteers to clean up.

Attitudes are being sweetly upheld by our Lord Jesus!

Keep us in your prayers, Tom (for the team)

NOLA Epilogue & Prep for MoBay

Needless to say, not ALL cellphones change time automatically with the annual "Spring forward" to DST (at least not in Commerce, GA.). After a quick breakfast (very quick) we packed up the Bayer van and headed to church at Mitchell Road PCA in Greenville, SC. By the grace of God, the remainder of the trip to NC was uneventful and we were blessed with great weather for the last half of the 875 mile (+/-) trip to Raleigh. We actually arrived back home while the sun was still shining in NC (first time in 3 years of missions trips). Many thanks to all of our family and friends for all your prayer support during our trip. The opportunity to assist in the ongoing Hurricane Katrina reconstruction efforts was a great blessing to us all. Many thanks to all of our geometry teachers from our "formative years" as well.

Next up for the Calvary Missions Team is "MoBay" (Montego Bay, Jamaica). Preparations are already well under way for the trip upcoming in late June/early July. We have 23 folks traveling to the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf (CCCD). See attached web link for more information and pictures http://www.cccdjamaica.net/. Looking forward to slowly but surely learning finger spelling and American sign language.

Best wishes to all for a very blessed and Happy Easter next Sunday.

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s home from work we go

Got to sleep in a bit this morning before enjoying a wonderful meal of breakfast enchiladas and king cake with Jeff, Laura, Jennings and Rhett. Rhett got the baby. We said goodbye to our gracious hosts (thanks for the NOBTS mugs!) and were on the road by 9 AM, only to come to a standstill in a traffic jam of unknown cause just at the Pearl River.


Having already been delayed about 30 minutes, we decided to take a side trip to visit Lagniappe PCA in Bay St. Louis and First PCA in Biloxi (see Hugger house below). Was encouraged to see that progress was being made but was struck by the reality that the Gulf Coast still has a long way to go to recover. (Note to Rich: Waffle House seems to be aggressive in their rebuilding – there are now 11 fully functional between Kiln and East Biloxi).

We are so grateful for all your prayers and words of encouragement this week. It is quite a privilege to be able to serve in this way. Many thanks to Jay & Lilian, Edgewater Baptist, Jeff & Laura (you too, Jennings & Rhett) and Bob & Marilyn (and Rebekah) for hosting us this week. You all were great!

---

NOLA Final Exam Self-Test

To “c” how closely you’ve read the blog this week, we’ve included a little quiz today on the week’s events. “C” how well you do.

1. 45 degrees + 45 degrees =




1. 45 degrees
   
2. 60 degrees
   
3. 90 degrees
   
4. Cannot be determined with the information given
   



2. Identify the people in the following picture:




1. Kathy & Lisa
   
2. Mike & Kathy
   
3. Jay & Jim
   
4. Lisa & Jeff





3. Bonus question: Are Jay & Jim related?




1. No
   
2. Depends on the day of the week
   
3. Yes
   



4. Was the following picture taken before or after Katrina?




5. Which of the following tasks did Kathy single handedly complete during the week?




1. Painting door frames
   
2. Painting door frames
   
3. All of the above
   
4. None of the above
   



6. Who is Jay related to?




1. Lisa
   
2. Mike
   
3. Kathy
   
4. Jeff
   



7. What is the name of the NOLA power company?




1. Duke Power
   
2. Entropy
   
3. Entergy
   
4. NOLA Power & Lite
   



8. Where did the team spend the week?




1. On the beach in Hawaii
   
2. Skiing in the French Alps
   
3. New Orleans
   
4. Scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef
   



9. Which of the following is not typical New Orleans fare?




1. Jambalaya
   
2. Crawfish etouffee
   
3. Big Mac
   
4. Beignets
   
5. Red beans & rice
   
6. Gumbo
   
7. Po-boy
   



10. What are some common uses for paintable caulk?




1. Filling “not so 90 degree” angles
   
2. Covering “not so plumb” wall seams
   
3. a, b & e
   
4. Filling tectonic plate boundaries & crevices (given a large enough tube)
   
5. Fill nail holes
   
6. Teeth whitening
   
7. d & f
   



11. What is the name of Baptist seminary in New Orleans?




1. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
   
2. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
   
3. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
   
4. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
   



12. What people group are Josh & Ashley trying to reach with the Gospel?




1. Iraqis
   
2. Auca Indians of Ecuador
   
3. Domari gypsies of Egypt
   
4. Romanian gypsies
   

The night the lights went out in NOLA

Storms last night led to a surprise for us when we arrived at Edgewater to start work, but not for the residents of NOLA (apparently this happens quite a bit). Power was out in the whole church. So, we spent the first part of the morning caulking by the light of an overcast day. Entergy (the local power company) showed up en masse and finally restored the power before we ate breakfast.

"Right horizontal 18 degrees, 82 inches, left vertical 45 degrees..." The directions rang out through the stairwell as the baseboard team spent all day on the stairs - literally. Baseboard and moulding was laid throughout the lobby and all the way up the stairs to the second floor. We coined many new terms, like "caulkable 45 degree angles" and developed our skills at using preprocessed paper (also known as scrap wood) for notes.












After completing the stairs, we realized we still had several hours left to do some additional work, so Jay started us on some chair moulding in the lobby. More measuring, more beveling, more chopsawing, but this time standing up. More geometry, this time to work around light switches and fire alarms. We didn't have time to complete the entire job, but knocked out most of it. Mike made sure he caulked what we completed, so the next group could just finish installing the rest of the chair rail. Kathy completed her eighth door, including windows. She plans to have the paint sandblasted off her skin on return to Raleigh. Now if we could just figure out how to remove Liquid Nail from skin...

We worked a little too long and were late to dinnner with Jay and Lilian and Jim. We had a wonderful meal of (now) famous Creamy Pasta Florentine, salad and homemade foccacia. All was quite tasty, only to be followed by delicious mint chocolate brownies. Thanks, Jay & Lilian.

Tomorrow we plan to leave NOLA before 9 AM headed for snowy Atlanta. We lose not one but two hours on the way home (don't forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour Sunday morning at 2 AM - let me know how that works out for you). Many thanks to our host families - Jeff & Laura, Bob & Marilyn, and to Jay & Lilian for coordinating our efforts and putting up with endless inane questions about the work to be done.

Pleae pray for safe travel tomorrow and that the emotional wheels don't fall off before we arrive in Raleigh. Hope to see you all Sunday afternoon.

Caulk covers a multitude of shims

Baseboards and painting, baseboards and painting…on and on and on. We’ve learned a lot about installing baseboards, moulding and painting doorframes. We completed installing the baseboards and moulding in the church foyer and started installing up the stairs to the second floor. The staircase work threw us for a loop for a while, but a little geometry review helped us again, not without some frustration and character building.

Jay's twin brother Jim, just in from Connecticut where he works for InterVarsity, helped us with some caulking, in between phone calls from folks needing direction for an upcoming trip to NOLA.

News today was that we were to get power to the second side of the building, but once again emergencies took precedence over routine maintenance and the church power was put on hold. Pray that the power would be turned on before next week, so the teams arriving with electricians can troubleshoot any additional issues.

After a full day’s work that started early (6:30 AM), the team headed downtown to the French Quarter for dinner, Cajun fare for most of us, followed by beignets and chicory coffee at the world famous Café Du Monde. Tomorrow, more baseboards and moulding up the stairs and for a change of pace Kathy will attempt to paint doors only with her left hand.

Semper Gumby and Monsters, Inc.

It was a beautiful, cool morning in NOLA and work started early, even before the shirred egg breakfast. Mike and Lisa caulked the previous day's baseboard and moulding work. After breakfast, we completed the baseboard and moulding of the raised stage area and the obtuse angles on the front of the stage could be ignored no longer. Lisa ran off to Mike's Hardware (no relation to the Colonel) to fetch the Bill T.-endorsed tool for the job. It's been a few years since any of us have taken geometry, but using our new bevel tool and a lot of scrap wood for drawing, we were able to bisect the obtuse angles, set the saws appropriately and make some pretty tight joints. We were high-fiving all over the place! (Editor's Note: Kids, geometry will come in handy some day, hopefully while you're still young enough to remember it. So, study hard.)














As we finished the baseboard work in the sanctuary, our next job was to be installing sills and chair rail. After some reading in Unca Bubba's handy-dandy construction book and consultation with Jay, it was decided that we would continue with baseboard work, this time in the foyer. Semper gumby!

Kathy now sees door frames in her sleep, reminiscent of the conveyor-belt-of-doors scene from Monsters, Inc. Three coats of primer on two more metal door frames with side excursions of caulking, taping and a trip to the airport during rush hour to pick up her cousin Jim, Jay's twin brother, rounded out Kathy's day.

Edgewater Baptist has a Wednesday evening meal and Bible study/prayer that we were able to attend. A great meal of hamburgers/hot dogs was followed by a challenging message by Chad from Galatians 1:1-4. After a time of corporate prayer (please pray for a little girl named Madison - see prayformadison.com for details) it was back to work 'til 9:30, putting the baseboards in the foyer. And more painting for Kathy...

Tomorrow holds more of the same. Maybe some baseboard work up a set of stairs (Bill, get ready for another call). And more painting for Kathy....

You got to dance with the one what brung ya

The most time wasted is the time wasted getting started. Well, we wasted no time getting started on tearin' up Tuesday. The learning curve from Monday served us well as we easily completed the baseboards around the perimeter of the sanctuary. We continued to shy away from the obtuse angles on the stage. Maybe we'll try on Wednesday.














Next on the list was the decorative moulding on the top of the baseboards. Instead of sticking with what we knew from the baseboard installation, we tried a novel approach for the moulding but realized we couldn't "cope." Ancient words of wisdom rung in our heads, "You got to dance with the one what brung ya." Hence, we returned to the tried and true methods, with Miter Master Lisa deftly handling the miter saw (left-handed, even) and Saw Hero Mike hacking out trapezoids to assure tight fitting joints.

Mike and Kathy took a short side trip to Belle Chasse for Mike to receive his Legion of Merit medal for "exceptionally meritorious service in positions of increasing responsibility, culminating a 30-year career as Director of Support Operations, 377th Theater Support Command." Congratulations, Mike! Even with this break in the day Kathy continued to faithfully paint the myriad of metal door frames.

Work was suspended at 6 PM in order to entertain our gracious host families. A fine dinner was had and NC gifts were presented (even from UNC, although we're not sure why).


After cleanup, we worked another hour to complete the moulding on the sanctuary floor. The evening ended on a high with Jeff figuring out how to "cope." (See Unca Bubba's book, page 260. By the way, thanks Rich. We use it every day, and we're taking good care of it.)










Tomorrow we look forward to more moulding, painting, maybe even a few window sills. Please pray for safety and relief from some soreness. Good sleep is a request, as well. Thanks for your concern and prayers.