At the school...

The younger people of the group had the opportunity to share the Easter story in two public schools.

More pictures and videos to come.

Hello fellow readers! My name is Madeline Smith and I will be writing to you today about my experience so far on the wonderful island of Jamaica. It has definitely been a crazy 5 days so far. The teens and I have gone to two schools already and preached the good news to the children very clearly. It's amazing how much bible knowledge they have at such a young age. Yesterday's school experience in particular was amazing because we had the opportunity to actually intermingle with them before school started. They all flocked to our bus on jumping up and down with joy and huge smiles. Immediately they began taking each teen, as they exited the bus, away and started hugging on us and we were able to invest in their lives right their exchanging love to them while we were also receiving it. One girl in particular had a notepad full of tattoos.  she went around asking teens whether they would like one. She would place the whole sheet on your arm and take you to the water area which was made of cement and had 4-5 faucets on it.  it had a step made of cement for the kids to reach also. She then took your arm and placed it under the faucet patted it down to ensure that it was wet enough. Kids surrounded you as she worked magic. Once it was wet enough she would take you then to a place in the sun, still patting your arm as you moved, to check whether or not it was ready.  if it wasn't back to the faucets.  if it was, a beautiful tattoo would appear on your arm. I personally got roses and flowers.  others mainly got scorpions. We didn't want to leave when it was time to go.  you could definitely tell that the kids didn't want us to leave either. Back to the worksite we went. Each ride we endured was quite frightful. The roads were very curvy and tight especially when we were in the mountains which is where our worksite was located, forty-five minutes away from the missions hotel that we would stay at first.  thirty one people in a bus is crazy.  especially when we drive back from a long day of work in which we sweated beyond the normal amount that a person should. Even right now, halfway through the trip, people who didn't know each other that well have formed relationships with one another that will last a lifetime. I love this 2013 Jamaica Team that I have been blessed to be with and know that with this experience God either has or will continue to use us all to his will. Just remember one thing there's no problems man.  only situations. Ya man! :D Stay tuned to hear more about our trip here in Jamaica. See ya later man!!!