The Cuban Team is back on American soil!

Jamie just called to confirm that they've landed safely in Miami and are headed into customs!  What a whirlwind the past few days have been--the team is definitely tired, but happy to be almost home!

She apologized for the lack of updates over the past few days--they weren't in an area with either internet of phone service as they worked.  Most of the team's cell phones should be working now though, so feel free to check in!

As I said, they are headed into customs right now, then have a 6-hour layover in Miami before heading to Atlanta.  Their final flight tonight takes off from Atlanta at 10:05 pm (EST) and lands in Denver at 11:29 pm (MST).  They're flying on AirTran Airways flight # FL 309.  See you around midnight tonight if you're going to pick up students!

Leaving Greystones...heading to Belfast

Well we are officially sad to leave Greystones this morning.  It has been a wonderful time of working, hanging out and having fun here at the YWCA aka "the Shire" as Jimmy referred to it.  The people here have fully welcomed us and it will not be fun to say our goodbyes today.  

Our group is heading north to Belfast on a charter bus ride.  We have the HUGE privilege of getting a private tour of Stormont, (Parliament), by Deputy Prime Minister Danny Kennedy this afternoon.  I was told this is equivalent of getting a tour of the White House by our Head of Senate.  We are very honored and excited!  We will be having dinner there this evening also after an extensive tour of the city and learning more about the history of Northern Ireland.  

Tomorrow we will be working with Habitat for Humanity in Belfast all day.  We'll learn more about their reconciliation project.

I am not sure of what Internet access will look like our last few days, so if this is our last post, we'll see you back in Colorado on Thursday night!

This trip has been beyond wonderful and our team has gotten closer than I had ever expected.  God is so good and I can't wait to share all the stories and pictures with y'all!

Still loving life in Cuba...

Jamie has phoned in another report from a happy, healthy, excited team!

Friday, January 2 was spent on the farm where most of their work has been so far. So far, they've dug trenches, worked in the fields, made ladders, and dug out a septic tank--only 1 foot left to go until the tank is finished! They expected to be done by the end of today.

The team spent Friday evening at the Presbyterian center with a youth group--they got to hang out, get to know some students, and lead an awesome worship time on the roof of the building. Truly an unforgettable time with the younger members of the Cuban community in which they're working!

Saturday was spent primarily in a center for the handicapped--the team got to spend time hearing about the lives of the people there and encouraging them in their situations. Jamie reports that the one-on-one time they spent was packed with meaning for the team.

She began to tell me about their Sunday morning at church, but her call cut off...I suppose that's to be expected when phoning in reports between countries! Overall, each check-in has been overwhelmingly positive and upbeat--it sounds like everything continues to go smoothly for our Cuban team!

Thanks for checking in! Remember to keep both our students and the people they are working with in your prayers!

Trip to Bray, and church in Greystones

Hey all,
We just got back from church a few hours ago and have spent the afternoon "sabbathing" for lack of a better term. Just wanted to give you an update of the first few days of 2009. On Friday, half of us took the bus to Bray, a small town about 5 miles north of Greystones. The other half of us went up to the church where they had been working previously and finished up the projects that needed work there. (Assembling re-painted benches, painting the front gate, cleaning, etc.) In Bray, we volunteered at a youth drop-in center located in an old abandoned warehouse. The center is called the Factory, and it is run by two young individuals, Rob and Lisa. We spent most of the day painting and trying to get the center ready for kids to start coming in, and instantly fell in love with Rob and Lisa. They were so appreciative and welcoming, that we decided to take the whole group back to Bray on Saturday, work, and then have a pizza and a movie party that night. Rob and Lisa had morning plans, so we decided to take the hour and a half walk to Bray along the coast and around Bray Head to the Factory. It was a beautiful hike that allowed us to see some of the most beautiful sites Ireland has to offer.
We spent the afternoon painting, painting, and then painting some more. Once we were finished, we set up a bunch of couches around a large piece of drywall to project the movie upon. We watched "Once," a movie based on an Irish singer, and enjoyed pizza as well. After the movie, we somehow started a spontaneous dance party.
Once we settled down, we shared a few of our stories at the Factory with the volunteers there, and then spent some time praying over the future of that unique ministry. After waiting nearly an hour for our bus, we finally made it home.

This morning we attended church at Hillside Evangelical Church, where half our group has been working part of the week. It was a great service and we thoroughly enjoyed the lunch some of the church moms prepared for us (soup and sandwiches, with of course, tea and coffee). Since then we have been relaxing and catching up on our napping. We can already sense the bittersweetness in leaving Greystones in two days, as we have made some dear friends with the locals here.

I hope all is well back in Colorado, and also with the Cuba team.
Stephen

Happy Cuban New Year!

We have a new phone-update from our Cuban team!

They are LOVING their time in Cuba--nothing but beaming reports to give.  They celebrated the New Year at the farm on which they're working with a traditional pig roast and bonfire.  During the course of the night they set aside time for intentional team-building time, the highlight of this being an opportunity to write mistakes of the year on a piece of paper and throw them into the fire.  Watching the past burn and be forgiven and forgotten by the Father was an incredible chance to enter 2009 on their knees--starting each new day with a clean slate and a new opportunity to step deeper and more fully into relationship with our Lord.

On New Year's Day the team broke into two groups to attend different church services.  Jamie raved about how wonderful it was to experience the local worship alongside their Cuban brothers and sisters!  Three team members were given an opportunity to speak, and the whole team felt more connected to this Cuban community after coming before the Lord together in worship.  

Overall, they have been working hard on the farm, taking some time to relax on the beach, and deepening relationships with each other, their Cuban contacts, and the Lord.  Jamie asked me to emphasize that they feel so blessed to be serving in their current situation--the whole process of getting into Cuba was so worth it to be there working now.  The first half of the trip has far exceeded the team's expectations, and they are thankful to have another week to work, serve, and worship together!

Please continue in prayer for the families and communities that they are working with and for team safety and unity.  The lasting impressions of their work come directly from the Lord's hand, so let's join in supporting them in prayer that they would remain in the center of His blessing during this trip and as a team throughout the New Year!

happy 2009...cheers!

We had a very festive New Years Eve here at the YWCA last night!  Some of the guys built a pretty impressive bonfire. Well I just stole the computer from Mohead(this is jimmy now) and want to talk to you about our awesome bonfire. We burned the Christmas tree from the YWCA, which I don't like calling it that because men on this trip too. I am going to refer to the place that we are stay as the "shire" because that sounds better. So we burned a tree, a couch and other household objects. All in all it was a great night. Today we toured Dublin and had a blast! We rode a tour bus through Dublin that showed us the majority of the major attractions in the city. The team is meshing amazingly well together and we couldn't ask for a better one. Tomorrow we head back to work. One group will be at Hillside Evangelical helping do work on the church, and the other group with go into Bre' to work with local students.

peace

jimmy