Relationships, Compassion and Basketball

After three full days in Jamaica it is hard to know where to begin to communicate what myself and others have experienced here. After building a foundation and working on a house the first two days, I was excited to see what God had for me today. So, David Skeen and I built a wall at the local school so that they may have an additional classroom for the children. Having the children run up to me and almost tackle me because they were so excited to see an American help them was wonderful. They ask all kinds of questions and wonder what America is like. But even greater than helping the children was getting to know the other Jamaicans that were working alongside us on the project. Little John, Dash and Bigga are all about my age and found my lack of skills with power tools their morning entertainment. Yet, they put in a great amount of energy in order to develop a relationship with me. I found it incredibly convicting that these Jamaicans are willing to open up to me about their families and past with no hesitation, and assume that I should be willing to do the same. I enjoyed my time with them and David incredibly beneficial. And then we went to the infirmary this afternoon. There are no words to describe the infirmary. After I walked in there I decided I was going to pour out all of the compassion that I could in an hour on these people. I spent most of my time with eleven men that shared one room, some of them sitting in their own feces. All of them begging you to read scripture and love on them. I will need a few days in order to process what we saw and did there. That's all that can be said at this point on the infirmary. Lastly, tonight, I played 2-on-2 basketball with David Skeen against two Jamaicans. I did not know that Jamaican basketball is similar to Jamaican Dominoes in that it is full contact, but I figured it out quickly. I went ahead and ran with it, realizing my best option to win was to put one Jamaican in a headlock and plow my way through the other to make a basket. David Skeen and I ended up beating Team Jamaica 15-12 in the end, but more importantly, we bonded with the Jamaicans in a way that we don't see too often back home. To my family, I cannot say how much I miss you. I thought of Hannah all day yesterday hoping she would have a wonderful birthday, and I'm sure she did. I pray everyday that God will watch over you as He is watching over me here. Katie, I miss you terribly. Not hearing your voice everyday has been tough. Please tell Sarah, Hannah, Steph and Annie that I love them very much. I have so much to share and I hope that when I come home you see a change in your husband and father. Thank you for your sacrifice so that I may serve here.

God Bless.
Dave B.