Our First day(city of refuge)

Just to catch you up, since I have not written about this in quite sometime, last year I went on a missions trip to Jamaica with my church(the group is pictured above) I blogged about it on and off but never had any pictures to show. I didn't take a camera thinking I would be able to purchase a disposable at the Jamaica airport(wrong) So when I last wrote we had just arrived and I just found out my one and only roommate would be the Children s Minister of which I had recently had a falling out with(God has a sense of humor) the next few blogs i will show a few
pictures of the trip and highlight a few memorable experiences.

The CM whom has perfect hair, makeup and clothes(my roommate) was up and preparing for the day. I on the other hand just wanted more sleep. I crawled out of bed and walked across the tile floor to my suit case. Ms CM had already organized her belongings, prioritized her day and was in the shower. I decided I was not quite ready for all this movement so I grabbed a cover up and stepped outside.

WOW I walked out onto the front porch and was in total amazement and a bit disoriented. As far as the eye could see was a small winding road. It was busy and every so often the blare of a truck horn would cross the mountain ridge. I for the first time could see the path we traveled so very late last evening. I also could see the large and small homes in which speckled the mountains surrounding us.

As i looked over the porch railing it was about a three story drop down into a tropical forest and at the very bottom of the drop of was a small tin shack, in which a middle aged man lived. Just to the left of that dwelling was a cement small house with a clothes line hanging. A house with a few people living in it. Neither home seemed to have electricity or plumbing.

The rest of the rooms on our side of the building housed a group from a church in Texas. A total group of about ten people. One was the pastors wife and her two children, another a member of the congregation and her son. The youth pastor and a few others. They had arrived a day or two before us. This was their first trip. Their church was just starting a missions program.

With a small sense of adventure I wondered off to see the property. Down the walk way and around the corner I was able to see the driveway we crawled up, It was amazing we were able to get up the hill at all. By this time several of my team were out and about. Most of the folks who had been to the mountain before were already perched at their favorite spot for a morning devotion.

I started the climb of about 15 steps which lead to the main hall. This is were we would eat our meals, have all group gatherings and our nightly devotions. It was a beautiful old building . The back side was an out door porch. You could see for miles in every direction from the porch. You could see back down the mountain to the city of Kingston. You could see over the rest of the property and the dorms which housed the 60 plus children from ages 6mths to 13 years old. You could see the new buildings in which we were their to help build. You could see the house where Paster Puffpaff lived, but was the original building they lived in with the first children who came to live on the mountain. But, most of all you could see the porch was on the very top of the mountain and every thing we would be doing was about (not kidding I counted) 115 steps down.