Day 3

It was another beautiful morning in Jamaica, and as I walked up the stairs to the lodge before breakfast, I caught this sight and just had to capture it on film.

If you look closely, you can see Kingston in the background.

This was day one of actual work, so after breakfast and devotions, we quickly divied up jobs and got to work. Tom (pictured above) was our resident electrician for the week, so he basically wired up all areas that were untouched by electricity on the complex. So this is Tom getting started on some electrical work in the director's office.

A new missionary was on his way in on Thursday, so Monday we worked on turning this kitchen into a bedroom for his daughter. (There were two kitchens in this particular unit: not quite sure why...) So this was the beginning stages of demolition on this room. I got to chip that tile off the wall that you see there behind the guys, and that was real fun!

This is all the junk that we pulled out of the kitchen. I should make it a point to say that once we did start working on Monday, I quickly realized that any desire to paint or clean anything was totally and completely absent from me. I found myself just really wanting to get my hands dirty and do as much "guy" work as I could! This told me that God wanted to stretch me physically while I was there as well as spiritually and emotionally: and stretch me He did! He started with having me help pull apart this kitchen. Fun, fun! A different group of guys got started working on a new set of concrete stairs on the other end of the compound that would lead from the missionaries' house down to the NEW coffee storage facility.

Since the orphanage is located in the heart of the Blue Mountains where they make the worlds.best.coffee.ever!!, (have I already mentioned this before?) they grow and roast it right on site (privately at this point) to help fund the ministry. So I learned a little bit more about my favorite beverage while I was there, and that being that the beans after having been picked, need to be dried out like this every day for about two and a half months before they are ready to be roasted. So everyday they lug about thirty or so (maybe more) HUGE burlap bags filled with these "green beans", down to this cement slab where they lay them out to dry for about 5-6 hours a day. Then, they bag them back up and store them until the next day! It's a very interesting process! Anyway, this NEW coffee storage facility will enable them to store AND dry the coffee all in the same area, so there will be no transporting the beans back and forth (which is a TON of work) until they are ready to be roasted.

At the end of this particular day, I helped helped to haul the beans back in, and rode in the truck with these bowls of beans in my lap. The other bin was what we took from to satisfy our coffee addictions while we were there.

Showers were a treat after all that hard work, cold water and all (we were not privy to many hot showers while we were there). Unfortunately, our water supply did run out temporarily (the pump was on the fritz the whole time we were there), but only for a short time -thank God - because I think that after our first day of hard work - we ALL needed one!

It quickly became common practice for us to assemble ourselves at the dining table in the lodge at the end of every day and challenge one another to Phase 10, Dominos, Scrabble, etc. I wish I could say I won even ONE game while I was there, but alas, I didn't. But you bet that I'll be on TOP of my game once our reunion night rolls around! (Evil laughter ensues!)

These times were especially fun for me because I got a chance to get to know everyone so much better! You really get to see people's true character when they're in a spirit of competition: and if you knew everyone, I could tell you so many funny stories about them all, but you don't so I'll spare you. Just know that those nine people made me laugh harder than I have laughed in a really long time. Our game nights were a blast!

It was another early night for everyone, as it seemed that no one was really sleeping all that well since we had arrived there. There's something about the altitude change, or being in a different country, or working harder than your body is generally used to: but something was keeping us all from getting quality sleep. Tylenol PM quickly becomes a staple on missions trips from what I hear, and rightfully so. But at any rate, day 3 of our trip, and day 1 of work came to a close, and we were all lulled to sleep, yet again, by the sound of crickets chirping outside our windows.