Soon Come! (Thursday July 26th)

Lots of mixed emotions the last few days!   Today was really really hard saying goodbye to everyone :(. 

Thursday July 26th - We celebrated "Thank you Thursday" and it was the perfect ending to our trip, but it made it even more emotional.  We started our day attending 4 a.m. adoration, etc.  It proved again to be a very moving and wonderful experience and we swear they were the singing the loudest the have since we've been there :).  The first time I cried was when one of the residents prayed for his mom "wherever she may be" because it was her birthday, it was so sad but so sweet at the same time.  I was able to record the kids singing, I'm so glad I'll be able to listen to it when I'm missing them!  We also got a picture with Monsignor Ramkisoon and Father Garvin.  Monsignor (on the far right) is the founder of Mustard Seed, which now has homes in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, and Dominican Republic, pretty amazing!  Father Garvin is his right hand man, he told the story about how he thought Monsignor was crazy when he bought him a plane ticket and gave him $100 dollars to go start a home in Zimbabwe.  That home now feeds over 500 children daily, I want to go there so bad one day!  MSC Zimbabwe.  They are both so inspirational and I'm so glad we got to meet them!

After adoration we enjoyed breakfast with the short term group from Atlanta.  Then we got ready for our last day of summer school.  We had a lot of fun as usual with the kids who were all dressed in their Sunday best for our celebration.

Of course they couldn't wait to put on their "Give Thanks" tee shirts that we made (excited is not even the word, they were so proud of their shirts!), and they represented us well sitting at the front of the chapel :).

Some of the boys helped play the drums and tambourines :).

We were lucky enough to have Marlon (Natalia's assitant) be our MC he ran everything and did a great job! 

One of the residents read a poem, we sang songs, listened to a skit, and shared what we are thankful for!  The poem was called Be Thankful:

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know everything,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

-Unknown Author-

We thought it was really appropriate for the day and it was great that one of the residents read it.  Once again we were blown away by how little the residents have but their amazing ability to thank God for everything.  One of our students said that he was thankful for "life, and for God waking him up this morning"!  As everyone was listing what they were thankful for some of the staff prayed for us and that started the tears again.  At the end we played the song "I Saw What I Saw".  Kathryn wrote a really nice "thank you" so the three of us took turns reading it, definitely hard to get through especially because now we feel like part of their family!  This is our volunteer group for summer school under our "Thank You" banner (Marlon, Nicholas, Lindsay, Janeel, Kathryn, Shanique, myself, Mandy, and Breanne - Melanie helped us last week :).

We took a few group pictures that I love even if they are a little chaotic :)! 

After the celebration we went shopping for some last minute items in downtown Kingston.  If you want to appreciate true Jamaican culture come to downtown Kingston.  We were looking for toys for the kids, and although we weren't successful with the shopping we had a great time walking through the streets.  Downtown is so crowded with people walking that on most streets cars can't make it through.  There are people EVERYWHERE.  Every inch of the pavement and store fronts are covered with vendors selling anything from CDs to underwear.  The vendors are constantly yelling about how amazing their products are and often try to pull you over to check it out.  There are women giving haircuts and manis/pedis under umbrellas out in the street.  There is reggae music blasting from every other store and most people are singing or dancing along.  Although it sounds overwhelming we loved it, and because we've been here a few weeks we appreciated it even more!  We went to "Tastee" for the last time and got Jamaican patties (so good!).  We really enjoyed our last trip to downtown.

Then we had to come see the kids one last time!  Saying goodbye to these kids was one of the hardest things, for them too :(!  As most of you know I never cry but I cried the majority of the day. 

As everyone was saying we have to come back so we told the kids as all the Jamaicans say, "soon come!".  I just couldn't say goodbye and now I have the bug so I have to see them again asap!  I have so many ideas of things that I'd like to help them with and I'm really praying I'll make it back!  

Also Mustard Seed sent me a link to one of the residents that I referred to in an earlier blog (its not the same video but its pretty cool!).  You can also see some other links that introduce other residents that we were able to spend time with (we taught both Brandon and Ricky).  Check it out when you have a chance :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRGUSL-ILq0&list=UUINDu-HsMkkP1SypxIQ1sbA&index=6&feature=plcp

I'll be writing a few more blogs to thank everyone, but just wanted to describe our last day and how much we'll miss this place!!