At the Antigua Airport

Here are the Two-weekers heading home! (Julie, Chris, Dave & Greg, the passport man)

The Two-weekers are home!

North Branch Wesleyan Church tee-shirts for our honorary NBWC teammates!
We love you, Ronnie and Janice! Thank you for EVERYTHING!
Good-bye, Antigua!

Gert will be heading out tomorrow. It was sad to leave her, but she was going to focus on her last couple of days there and enjoy herself. We thought you might enjoy this little story -- when we got to the airport in Antigua, Greg went up to check us in, and lo and behold, his itinerary said he was flying to Chicago and not Detroit! You know, you'd think that one of these days we would look at things and for things ahead of time so we could anticipate the problems! Anyway, praise God, He took care of things and Greg did get to come home with us!

The Barbuda Wesleyan Church

Yesterday, we took Ronnie and Janice on a boat trip to Barbuda, a remote island 36km away from Antigua. There's a Wesleyan church there that they hadn't visited yet. Two of the men from the church toured us around the island. It was a beautiful day!

Please pray for the continued recovery of Gert and Dave who got the "crud" that everyone else has had. And please pray that the remaining two, Greg and Chris, will be spared from it!

Sharing the News with You!

Hi everyone,

I just had the privilege of video chatting with the few remaining team members in Antigua. We made a decision about when we will share about this Mission Experience with the entire church family. Easter Sunday during the Sunday School time (9:45-10:30) the Mission Team will give a presentation and answer questions about the trip. Sunday School classes had been cancelled for Easter Sunday a few weeks ago so this is a great open time slot for the team can share. I hope you will join us then.

I also learned today that a couple of the team members flying home right now are not feeling well. Please pray for them in their travels and for their health too.

Have a blessed day,
Peter.

Hi everyone,
The time in Antiqua has been an awesome adventure. I have enjoyed every
bit of my time - the physical work, devotions, church services, fellowship
with my team and all the people here.
Yesterday morning we gave out bibles and candy to children and adults that walked
by or drove by. I'm so amazed by how receptive they are. Men or women driving by
would stop and ask for a bible. God is working and I love it!! We serve a powerful
and loving God and nothing is impossible for Him. I have come to truly love the
people here and I know God is going to do a mighty work in this community.
I thank Ron and Janice for there heart of ministry. They both inspire me.
GOD IS GOOD!!
Love you all,
Gert

Hey NB Antigua VBS Team!!! Are you out there?

Ron & Janice have these dates open for a VBS team from North Branch to come to Grays Farm this summer - Aug. 20-25 - fly in on Wed. the 20th, do VBS Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday morning service, fly out on Monday. Better sign up fast! Seats are limited!

Prayer walk around the church

Before we left Grays Farm Thursday morning, and after passing out Bibles, we prayed around the church - for the community, for the children, for the church, for Brother Michael, Ron & Janice.

Farewell Team #2! See you soon!

My friend, Omar-William

This is Chris and I'd like to introduce you to a little boy that has captured my heart while here in Antigua. Last week when we went to King George Park to play basketball and volleyball, Greg and I held up the volleyball posts for a group of kids so they wouldn't fall over. A bunch of these neighborhood boys tried to play together, but they needed some intervention due to arguing and fighting. I jumped into the fray and helped get a game organized. Greg did the reffing. During this time, this little boy stood with a sad and pouty face and wanted to play, but was difficult to manage during the game time. After it was all over, I talked to him and asked him why he was sad and he told me he was hungry. I happened to have some trail mix in my bag so I gave him some of that and told him the nuts were the most important. (His eyes lit up when he saw the M&Ms!) He needed to eat them all. He did, and then asked for more. Some neighborhood thugs harassed him for begging. I talked to him about coming to church as well as shared Jesus' love for him. I thought that was the last I'd see him. Well, early this week, who should walk by the front of the church while we were preparing to work, but Omar-William and his brother! They were carrying their school composition books and said they had "moshed poks." Translation: messed up backpacks. Or something like that. Janice and I went out and bought them new backpacks that afternoon and put Bibles in them. When they came by the next day, we presented those packs to them and once again shared the love of Jesus for them. (the picture with Dave's blog shows us giving them the backpacks). I told Omar-William a lot of things, but I also told him I had more stuff for his pack if he comes to church on Sunday. I can't tell you how thrilled he was with that new pack! He hugged me, smiled and still had that smile on his face this morning when he walked by while we were passing out Bibles. I hope he shows up to church at Grays Farm this Sunday!

Please pray for Ron and Janice, Dave and Julie, Gert, Greg and myself as we plan for the service on Sunday at Grays Farm. We are the last team members here and have promised them we will come to church on Sunday. Once we made that promise, Brother Michael has insisted we all preach and lead the service. If everyone who says they are coming to church on Sunday, actually comes to church, then it will be full. I do know we need to challenge the Grays Farm believers to see Jesus in their midst and to allow Him to work through them in order to be a light in a needy place. Again, pray for us. It seems our work is not quite done.

Team #2 leaves bright and early tomorrow. How we will miss them! They have inspired me, just as Team #1 did, only in new and different ways. I praise the Lord for Tony and his passionate, physical work on the Grays Farm Church; for Debbie Bowman and her courage and joy in the midst of not feeling well and yet still managing to minister and share with us and the Antiguans; for Austin and his joy in working alongside the team and his openness with the Antiguan youth; for Ray and his desire to see improvements in the community and a hope for our continued connection to Grays Farm; for Andrew and his new passion to share the love of Jesus with those he meets; for Deb DeSantis and her joy in absolutely everything, even doing some of the dirtiest tasks; for Gert and her love and compassion for the people we met on a day-to-day basis. I have been so blessed by our teams! I can't wait to get back and share with all of you what a great God we have and how amazing He is that He put together the people into these teams that would serve Him for the specific tasks that were laid out for us each week. Only God could do that!

Thank you so much for having the patience to get to the end of this blog! Thanks to my kids for sharing comments and keeping up with your parents! I love you, MA&A, J&E, J&C!

Andrew on King Obstinate Street in Grays Farm in front of the church, passing out Bibles.

Adventure!

Dave Richardson is officially the fastest man currently residing in Antigua...
- I'll finish that thought in a minute

The day started off with the team handing out Bibles to the people of Gray's Farm. It is amazing to see the hunger these people have for the Word of God. We had a number of people walk up to us asking for Bibles for themself and family members. I had a man come up to me asking for a few Bibles, only to see him 5 minutes later, opening his Bible on his front porch.
We spent the middle of the day relaxing and enjoying this beautiful island. After the beach, Curtis picked us up for a late-night deep-sea fishing trip. I set some Bibles aside for my buddy Ron, that I met on Tuesday asking if I had any Bibles aside (Ron is a security guard on the pier that I met while I was looking for the rest of the team on Tuesday. He asked me if I had a Bible and of course I had none on me, nor did the rest of the team - great missionary work eh?) Turns out that the pier we went out fishing off of was the same one that I met Ron on.
I met a fellow security guard and gave him a few Bibles for his family and again, he took it right into his office and started reading - I wouldn't recommend him as a security guard. So Ron came down I gave him a few Bibles and he continued to ask where he could go to church. I brought him over to meet with the guys that I was with (I have no clue where the churches are). It turns out that Curtis knows exactly where he lives, lives very close to him, and is picking him up for church on Sunday. I thought that whole sequence of events was pretty cool.

...Dave's story continued:

So Ray, Ronnie Jones, Greg, Dave and I (the real men of the group) got on the boat and headed out into the dark ocean - w/o taking dramamine, because were men! Greg caught the first and gave his line to Dave. Dave's first cast brought in 4 fish (there are 4 hooks on the line) - he goes "I think I caught something!" haha. So he sits down, minutes later I catch Dave out of the corner of my eye jump up and knock everything near him off the bench and procede to vomit EVERYWHERE! Ray and I thought he dropped something off the boat because of how fast he moved.
Long story (which is already long) short - Dave, Ronnie AND Curtis (the Antiguan native) all threw up multiple times while Ray sat down after catching a fish and thought he was going to be sick. So Greg and I stuck it out fishing while the rest of the girls - I mean guys - sat around staring into the horizon with the other 3 natives laughing at them.
*Here's the kicker - on our way home from the trip Curtis goes "I get sick every single time." Here we are thinking that this guy goes out all of the time and couldn't ever get sick. That was awesome. What a great way to end this amazing journey.
See you all at home - Love you Ma n Pa!

Team #2 - R&R day

Passing out Bibles and candy at Grays Farm. People wanted Bibles more than candy. The news spread that we were passing out Bibles and we were swarmed!
After a prayer walk around the church with Brother Michael, we gathered for the last group photo under the swingset.

Hello from Antigua this is austin writing I would just like to state that this has been an awesome experience and has totally changed my view on many of the things I have such as a roof over my head ,safe runing water and electricity things many of the people here go without. The best thing about Antigua itself in my opinion would be the people here because they are verry friendly. My grama has been fealing better after a day or so of rest . I would like to thank all the people at home who have been supporting me and the team financialy and with prayer.

Fresh Paint & a New Swingset

Front Doors of the Grays Farm Church---nicely painted
Nice Swingset!

Austin working on the swingset.
Tony giving a hand to the swingset.
Dave doing some touch up painting.
Gert & Debi painting a boundary wall.

Winding Down

Greetings from Antigua. In many ways it seems like we have been here forever in other ways it seems as though we just arrived. I hope that this blog has not seemed too self indulgent, if it has please accept my apology on behalf of the teams. It is just that when you see the dire need before you each day and the opportunity to minister to real people with names and faces, you are excited to share the news with as many people as possible.

One Antiguan in particular has had a deep impact upon me in the past two weeks. His name is Brother Michael (in the red shirt). Brother Michael is currently filling the pastoral vacancy at Grays Farm. He was assigned to this position last summer after the prior pastor left/resigned. Now while we have been in Antigua we have experienced some flashy, bold, dynamic, powerful preaching from a number of the pastors within the Wesleyan Holiness Churches. None of these adjectives would appropriately be applied to Brother Michael. He is laid back, quiet and when you speak to him you have to listen carefully during a conversation because his sentences tend to trail off into oblivion. Brother Michael is pastoring the Grays Farm Church, a church which has a bleak future, a church which if you asked a number of people they would tell you it is on its way to extinction. Most of its attendees are women and senior citizens. A church which is smack dab in the middle of one of the poorest and most crime ridden areas of the St. Johns area. A church which lacks instruments (with the exception of a tambourine) during the worship service. A church without a designated worship leader. Certainly not a church that an aspiring pastor would covet. Yet Brother Michael, a retired teacher, has a burden for this church and the people of Grays Farm. He serves the church and its people faithfully and to me that is the key. The Lord does not call us to be flashy, He calls us to be faithful and obedient!

When we first met Brother Michael I would best describe his demeanor as wary. I don't think he knew what to make of this "missions team" from Michigan. His countenance was like someone who had been beaten down by life's experiences. Each day he would be there at Grays Farm with the team. He would occasionally interact with team members and others in the community. As the days progressed you could see a transformation take place in his soul. He became more engaged with the team members. As physical improvements to the church were completed you could sense a restored pride in what was being accomplished. He would provide a tour for church members as they dropped by the church to see what was happening. During this time my conversations with Brother Michael became more prolonged and you could tell he firmly understands who he is and what his strengths and weaknesses are. He certainly understands that he is not the most dynamic personality but he is willing to stay the course at Grays Farm and to minister to that community. During this two weeks Brother Michael has been transformed from a wary observer to my friend.

Yours in Christ
Dave

A short take on today

Lisa has electricity and a new paint job on her house and fence!!
Here's the swingset!!

Tuesday Ministry & Sights

fixing the hoop at King George Park. a rasta came by and said, "thanks for all you've done."
Austin's gone over the edge on this trip.
team 2 taking in the sights of English Harbor

You never know how much you have until you give a cheap frisbee to some children and watch them have hours of fun. I think to myself it's just a frisbee. To think that we take so much for granted. My kids have so much more than a frisbee. I look at myself and I have so much more than a lot of these people yet I am wanting more. God has blessed me and my family with so much I have learned that life isn't about stuff but life. When John writes in chpater 10 verse 10 that God has come to give you life and life to the fullest, it becomes so clear here.

It's has been cool to see God work. Yesterday I was walking around the church "Gray's Farm", and listening to the group talk. Because our team was there, they weren't able to have their pre-school this week. Parents were upset and I can understand them having pre-schools of my own. I felt bad and started to think about the little school that impacts families around that church. I wanted to do something to give to them at the school. I thought that it would be cool if we could build a small swing set for the kids. I didn't know if we had the money to do it or if we could find tools to build it. Today we found that we can build it, we have tools coming, and the pre-school will have a small swing set in the back of the church. We serve a cool God!

Pastor Tony
Assistant "Missionary Pastor"

WOW!

Wow! That's the only word that comes to mind when trying to describe my experience. God has done some amazing things in my life while on the trip and it is just incredible the transformation that has already been made in my thought process on life and my Christianity.
The day started with some painting at the church where I then left with Greg, Chris, Julie, Ron and Janice to Lisa's (a native of Antigua) house to get some various odd jobs done around her house. That was an amazing experience in itself just to see how she lives, what she lives in, and then to see how happy and blessed she is. If I had met her in the states I would have thought this lady was one of the richest women in the world and had everything! She has nothing when it comes to materials, but she feels so blessed and so happy because of the power of God in her life.
I met an amazing man on the pier today who works as a security guard and talked with him about Christianity and he immediately asked me for a Bible. Of course we had none on us, but don't worry, I'm heading back there with 20 Bibles on Thursday so he can share with his friends too.
I could go on and on about the people of Antigua and the way the have blessed my life, but I have an annoying youth pastor breathing down my neck waiting to blog.

To Ma - Thank you so much for the responses, I miss you so much, and wish you were here to take care of me (but don't worry, I have 5 other mom's in Julie, Debbie x2, Gert, and Janice all taking great care of me - you'd be proud!) I'm getting ragged on about how I'm a momma's boy, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I can't wait to get home and give you one giant hug!
To Pa - I miss you so much and I hope you've been feeling better! I've been praying everyday for you and I know you've been praying for me! Thank you for your amazing love and kindness towards me and I cannot wait to get home to see you!
Love you all!
Andrew

Bringing security & help to Lisa & Genesis

We have taken on a project to help Lisa & her baby to get electricity hooked up to her home and to put bars in her open windows for security.

The New Backyard of Grays Farm Church

Check out the newly painted bathroom!
Check out the cleaned up backyard! Three truckloads of STUFF was hauled out!