Birthday in Jamaica!

I tried to get this done on my birthday... but three days late isn't too bad right?

They also had a surprise birthday dinner with cake and such... but I didn't have my camera. It is weird though because two other students' birthdays are October 19th. Here's a little clip of breakfast that morning :)

                                                              

So last week we had an opportunity on Saturday to go downtown and do a street feeding. I knew I would love it, so I volunteered to go. Let me tell you, there were some of the saddest people I have ever seen. We brought a huge thing of oatmeal, cheese sandwiches, hot cocoa, and some kind of veggies for them to eat. We just sat with them, talked to them, and sang a few songs... nothing too special, but it was another one of those experiences that really makes me grateful for what I have. Here are some pics from that morning.

I want to take advantage of these kinds of things every chance I get. Encouragement and attention are some of the strongest tools we have to help someone out. It doesn't matter what we have or what our message is, in the end we all just want to be loved. So yeah I am definitely looking forward to going again!

Greatest challenge of last week: getting enough sleep. our speaker this week was intense with out of class work... and we had another school here so I had to get up an hour earlier to cook breakfast. But, the times where we are the weakest are when we see our biggest strengths! 

Best thing that happened: got re-baptized. Great story behind this too if you ever want to talk about it :)

So yeah it has been a great/tiring/stretching/looooong/exciting week... but some great work was done. Here comes the sappy part by the way...

I have been able to really relax (in my mind at least) for the first time in my life and I've had a chance to think about who I really am. I have always struggled with my view of myself and the reason for that is I never took the time to figure it out. I have mistaken activity for achievement, and in doing so I've hurt many people along the way. I just want you to know that if I have ever hurt you in any way... I'm really sorry. I know who I am now.

Anyway... if you made it through that... here are some random pics for you to enjoy :)

Me just throwing my bud Joel. nbd.

Bananas... almost as good looking as
the ones Camree is sending me ;)

Care package that only took 4 weeks to arrive!
Thanks mom and dad :)

my MANLY dresser




Ok... what number is this? Great game ma mom taught me :)

That's all I have for this one.

p.s.- Outreach info is still being worked out... but once I know, you will know.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Torch Run!

So it has been a little while since I updated, but I have been crazy busy... again. This is a little taste of what I did last Tuesday.

intro from ywam50.com

We had four groups go to four different spots of Jamaica. My group went to Port Antonio, Portland. We ran through  every parish in Jamaica and all groups headed toward Montego Bay for a concert celebration. We all lit our torches and started running at 5am and the last group arrived in Montego Bay at 10pm. It was definitely a hard day, being 98 degrees and 300% humidity, but it was a day that I will never forget.

click to make bigger ;)

Runnin for Jamaica!

                                                                            

Here's some less interesting stuff about what I am feeling or whatever...

Overall I've been great. This place is really starting to feel like home and everyone here is becoming really close. I was able to do my laundry, finally. I have only done it once... but nobody cares so I don't mind either. I'm really interested in the clases. Last weeks speaker was Mike Huckins and he spoke on truth. Lots of stuff I have never thought of... really got my brain working. 

Highlight of last week: swimming every day... twice.

Lowlight of last week: waking up at 2am to a thousand biting ants in my bed mmmmmm it wasn't just a bad dream.

Even though I am always busy and on the run, I am never stressed here. There is something about living and doing everything with purpose  that makes every complication worth fighting through. It just feels... right.

Miss all of you and I hope everything is good. Keep the emails and messages comin :)
                  sean.janas@yahoo.com

                  twitter.com/seanjanas
                  facebook.com/seanjanas

p.s.- We found out where we might be going on outreach. I can't tell you right now because it is not for sure, but it is a place I thought I would never go and I am very excited. More to come soon :)

p.s.- Midnight snack mmmmm

Tropical Storm Nicole

So it has been raining for three days straight. We lost electricity and water for 24 hours and it continues to pop on and off . I can't do laundry because we have to hang our clothes on lines and it won't stop raining! Fortunately we are on a hill... but a lot of Jamaica is in ruins right now. Pray for the nation and that the heavy water will stop. I took some video clips, but they definitely do not do justice. I have never seen such crazy weather!