Life is a mysterious thing. You plan and you plan, but nothing turns out the way you expect. We've really experienced that with our plans for Jamaica.
When we originally went for our first term, we had the idea that after our first term we would return to the States for a short time and then return to our ministry. However, a few wise people advised us to go for 6 months and see how the Lord was leading us. (Probably the best advice we were given). As our 6 months began coming to an end we felt as if our time serving full time at Sandy Bay Pre & Prep School had come to an end.
We had become friends with the people who were running the Carribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf in the Montego Bay area. We really appreciated the work they were doing, and saw needs there we felt we could help fill. They needed help in the office and I have a degree in Management. They needed help with teams, something Keith was very interested in. What a fit, we thought. So we met the President and VP from the states, and went through the application process. Things seemed really promising, until we got an email that the board in the States had concerns. They told us to wait a year and then see if we still wanted to pursue that avenue.
Looked like we would be settling in Alabama for longer than we intended. Something neither of us were interested in doing. Our heart was in Jamaica and everyday of waiting made us long to be back there even more.
Not too many months later a possibility arose of going back with an organization that has not had a presence in Jamaica before. We would pioneer for the organization. We met with the man who would oversee us, and liked him instantly. We began to pray.
Then another possibility arose. Our missionary pastor at our church in Montego Bay expressed that they would love for us to come full time at Bay Life Baptist. We would do a 1 year internship and directly serve the church, most likely focusing in on a teen ministry, something Bay Life does not currently have. After our internship we would have the opportunity to decide to stay on Full Time. We continued to pray.
After much prayer and seeking some counsel from mature believers we made our decision of what our next step would be.
Apply for the internship and hopefully serve at the church we have grown so much to love. Bay Life. So we applied.
So where are we now? In Alabama. Waiting. Something we are getting pretty accustomed to. I am substitute teaching and Keith has been working maintenance at a camp here in Mentone. We are also currently working with the youth in our church.
So, as you can see this is not what we had planned. But thankfully, our Father is the Sovereign Lord of the universe. His ways are not our ways. He knows far more than we do, and we know what He has planned is abundantly better than what we could have imagined.
So, sorry it has taken so long for me to give an update, but as you can see I wanted to know what was going on myself before trying to update you on it.
Please join with us in prayer as we wait to see what our future holds.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." -Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)
