The error of abiding in pride

I wanted to share some things I’ve been learning with you guys. I’ve been learning how selfish I am. And I’m not talking about the selfish in the sense, “Oh I have so much and these people have so little,” though that is something that we should all think about. No, I’ve been hit with how selfish I am in my very nature; my time, my words, my thoughts, my prayers, my expectations. Living in community really reveals how I/we are so used to being able to do what we want and suddenly that is exposed when the person next to you also has their own idea of what they wanted to do at that moment (for instance use the internet. I usually solve this by barking repeatedly at them until they leave out of fright or disdain) This is probably very similar to when you first marry someone and find you now have two people competing over who gets to… fill in the blank (though here I’m going to show my wisdom beyond my years and say that barking will not behoove you in this particular case).

The exposing of my selfish nature in everything I do caused me to look inward at they why. This summer I’ve thought a lot about what it means to bear fruit. I thought about what would counter selfishness, or what would a person look like who was battling selfishness. Would he be patient? Kind? Loving? Gentle? Self-controlled? My conclusion was a resounding “Yes!” and that lead me to the next question, how do I bear fruit? Here I think John 15 sheds light on how to bear fruit, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit…” Though this passage is quite familiar, it is good to really hear what it is saying. What is my role as the branch? Surely I cannot produce the fruit, I can only bear it. In the words of Bob George, I must “maintain a dependent receiving attitude…” the same attitude that Christ displayed for 33 years (Classic Christianity). I cannot produce the Christian life; that can only come from the vine, from Christ living inside me. Last year I got burned out because I was doing everything (college ministry, my church’s worship team, my fraternity, etc) and abiding in nothing but my actions to produce the fruit.

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. comments in his book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, that pride is the root of all sin and that sin in its very definition is a disturbance of shalom, or peace. How true that was for me when I saw that my selfishness stemmed from my pride. How my selfishness did not make me gentle, did not make me patient, did not make me loving, and how that disturbs the shalom of the staff team and the summer. If I am going to be humble (if I am going to contribute to shalom), I cannot live like I am the one who just needs to do the right thing, I won’t be able to, I haven’t been able to. I need to completely abide in Christ, in his truth, and live knowing that it is him living inside me that will allow me to bear much fruit. This is just one of the many things that God has taught me this summer. Those who have been down here this summer have had a chance to discuss a lot of this in the evening discussions that Phil and I have led and I think it is important to see that we are free to simply abide in him because of his grace.

On a different note, I defeated blogspot and new videos will now be posted to the right.

-David

Goodbye CCC. Hello FBC

We said farewell to Christ Community Church today and hours later picked up First Baptist Church of Denton in Texas. Though this group of 25 is smaller than last week’s 42, they will still build two houses, two foundations, open 3 store days, and, I’m sure, haul their fair share of marl. We’re excited to see FBC’s week unfold.


As Lacy said, she and Phil left on Saturday morning for Young Life camp and it hasn’t been the same without them. The rest of the staff was talking about this yesterday as we were attempting to take naps in our hotel room in Ocho Rios at the “luxurious” Silver Seas Hotel. We couldn’t quite put our fingers on it at first but something was different; the team was happier and gelling a lot better with each other. Then it hit us, no Phil and Lacy.

I’m kidding, that is absolutely not true. We quickly found the difference of not having two members of our staff as we had to fill in the cracks so to speak in their absence. We eagerly await their return at the end of this week.

Videos are coming. Unfortunately I’m fighting with blogspot right now to show the latest video but it is being foolishly stubborn. Until I can overcome this insolent electronic enemy I advise you check out my facebook (David Andrew Cover) or just type “Summer Staff VideoCast” in at youtube for the latest videos. Alright, more to come this week.

-David

The arrival of the container...

This week we have been working on a very special project, unloading the container!!! We had a 40-ft. container (about the size of a tractor-trailer) arrive last Saturday. This was our second container, for we had a first container come from Lee's Summit, MO in March. This container came from Pennsylvania, where many different people donated all kinds of items to go inside. It took about 2 months to fill the container in PA before sending it down here. We received boxes and boxes of clothes and shoes, tens of thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies, about 15 bikes that will be given to the workers who live outside of the community and need to ride to work, furniture for Mark and Emily's apartment, and even a fork-lift! All 40 feet of the container was packed to its limit and shipped overseas. As far as a timeline goes, to send a container here it takes about a day to drive it to a port, 2 days to load the container onto the ship, 3 days for it to sail from the US to Jamaica, and about 2 weeks from when it lands on the island until it gets delivered to Harmons. And now that it is here, we are unpacking it! We have about 18 pallets of stuff stacked all the way to the ceiling that we are going through and sorting this week. Our store is more full than it has ever been and we will have an over-abundance of clothes and shoes for the next couple months. We have tons of medical stuff, all of which will be put to use once our new clinic is finished. As you can imagine, this is a HUGE job this week, especially as we try and do it on top of everything else we normally work on in a week. It has been exciting to see everything in action though, knowing that in less than 2 months time, all of it will be given away to this wonderful community who needs it.

Just to let you know, I will be gone for the next week. Therefore, the other summer staffers will be taking over and writing the blogs. I hope you are looking forward to some different voices on here. Also, be checking in soon for some new videos. The camera was broken but is now up and running again. I know David has some sweet ideas in mind, so new videos should be up soon!

One Love,

Lacy

Maybe our definition of "mighty" is not the same as God's

Dear Readers,

David Cover here, I asked Lacy if I could post on the blog to tell a story that many of you have been a part of. Those of you who have been to Jamaica have shared the experience of going to the May Pen Infirmary (some may know it as the Poor House), an experience that reminds me of the limit of language when I’m faced with describing it. In short the Infirmary is a government run facility (which means it’s the first to get funding pulled) where people are left to live out there lives in desolate conditions (picture one of the worst nursing homes in the U.S. and multiply that by ten). Each week we go to the Infirmary with the teams and every person who goes there will say they went in expecting to go and minister to the broken but found that it was themselves who were ministered to by men and women there. Phil once said that he has come to view the Infirmary as “a holy place” and I feel that to be true. God is in the Infirmary. There is a picture of total dependence on Christ and the promise of Heaven that is easily hidden in our every day lives but is exposed when we are hit with a sight of total depravity.

In my experience there, I have been hit by different things at different times but none stand out to me as much as my friendship with a woman named Pearl. Pearl does not belong in the Infirmary. Bed ridden by Multiple Sclerosis and a host of medical issues, Pearl was withering away physically, but completely in tact mentally. Perhaps that’s why it was so pleasant to visit with her on our trips there. And perhaps why it was also so incredibly miserable. Many residents of the Infirmary do not realize their situation. Unaware of their surroundings, unable to carry on cohesive conversations, mentally challenged or unstable, they don’t understand that no one else can care for them, that this is the rest of their lives. Pearl, on the other hand, was educated, and sharp. She’d been a veterinarian. She’d been adopted. She’d been an only child. And that’s why she was in the Infirmary… with her parents dead, there was no one left to care for her as she battled MS. But Pearl told us again and again that she had no regrets about her circumstance, that circumstance doesn’t change who God is, that God is good and God is faithful. “I thank Him for my life – yes, even my life here.”

I remember the first time I met her, I was spending the whole of the day at the Infirmary and I had been frustrated by interactions with incoherent men and women too broken to even interact and I wandered up to Pearl’s room at the advice of a friend. I sat down and started talking to her and was immediately hit by her presence. Pearl was full of wit and humor and patience. We began to talk about her life and she told me of all the dreams that she had when she was young and the struggle of disappointment at not being able to do those things. I was hit by her vulnerability and was listening in tears. Pearl’s faith was sound and her desire to live out her faith was equal to her belief in God’s plan. But on this day she told me that she was having a tough morning, the pains of her diseases were flaring and she was feeling despair at being left to lie in bed “wasting away.” She said she was struggling with being mad at God for putting her here when she wanted to go and serve him; to spread his Love even. She said she was praying for relief when I walked around the corner into her room. She said as she watched me listen to her story and saw how I was hit by her life she was reminded that God was using her to spread his Love. That since she was unable to go to people, he was bringing people to her, as every week a team came and every week someone’s life was hit by her story and her dependence on God.

I wanted to tell all of you that Pearl passed away early this week. Sorrow and sadness are appropriate (Jesus wept when Lazarus died) but I will admit I am filled with joy that she has gone Home. Pearl lived a life abiding in Christ, that’s all she could do, living in dependence and receiving everything from him. How reassuring it is to know that God will say “well done my good and faithful servant” to a woman who spent her life lying in a bed just the same as he would say to a person who devoted his life to serving the poor. I always think God is going to use important people. You know, the mighty people to reflect Jesus. In this case, He used a crippled lady hidden away in the middle of Jamaica to impact the lives of countless Americans. What hope that brings for the rest of us to see God’s power and providence. Thank you, Pearl.


I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19: 25-27

It's Hot and Sweaty

Hello friends! Here I am sitting in the office at 8:00 at night, sweating... I've got to say, it's absolutely fabulous! We had a long and hard work day today with our new team from Christ Community Church in Leawood, KS. Christ Community Church has been coming to Harmons for several years, so it is a neat privilege to have them here again.

Staff Bio #6

Name: Rachel Schomaker
Jamaican Pet Name: Paj

Age: 20

Hometown: Lee’s Summit, MO

High School: Lee’s Summit High School

College: Mizzou

Major: Finance

Activities: Bicycling, Bonfire-ing, Snorkeling, Cooking

Interests: Reading, Coffee, Organizing, Trying to Paint, Horseback Riding

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Book: Life of Pi, Irresistible Revolution

Favorite TV Show: Prison Break, The Office

Favorite Foods: Sushi and Chipotle

Favorite Jamaican food: Pork Pit

Favorite Music: just about anything

Biggest Dreams: to do something remarkable with my life, I just haven’t figured out what that would be yet

Job in Jamaica: Hospitality and helping in the store

Biggest thing I’ve learned lately: That God is in control and I am not. Not to try and make my own plan, but to trust in His.

That's all for tonight! Be sure to check back frequently this week because I am going to be posting more than normal, just because the summer is winding down and there is lots of neat stuff to write about that is going on in Harmons!

One Love,

Lacy

Bring on the rain!

Sorry for the delay! We have been without electricity and internet for the past couple days. It has been an incredible week once again! We were fortunate to have 4 days of rain this week! Though it might not sound too exciting, rain in Jamaica is a huge blessing. Before Wednesday of this week, it hadn't rained for over 7 weeks in Harmons! As you can imagine, this is amazing for the community of Harmons. There is no running water or underwater plumbing system in Jamaica, therefore Jamaicans have to get their water elsewhere. Most families collect rain water off their roof, having water run down a slanted piece of zinc into a big water basin or cistern. For laundry, many families just use rain water that they collect in a big concrete well. They either fish water out of it with a bucket, or the well has a spicket on the side where they can get water. If it hasn't rained in a while, the water company in Jamaica will come to Harmons where they will fill up 2 huge water tanks (1 at each end of Harmons). When the water trucks come, you will see ladies lined up at the tanks, ready to fill their 5-gallon bucket and carry it back home on their head. At home in the states, water is probably the one thing that is most taken for granted. And in Jamaica, it is the one thing that Jamaicans are most thankful for. So thank God for the rain! Bring it on!!!

The summer is quickly winding down. I know I can speak for all of the Summer Staff when I say that I can't believe we will be returning home in 3 weeks. Harmons has become our home for the past 2 months and has shaped each of us and taught each of us more than we could have ever imagined. We have experienced things here that couldn't happen elsewhere. We have learned things here that no where else could teach us. God has stretched us here in ways that only His glory could shine through. The next few weeks will be amazing, and God will continue to do His work. We will say farewell to Carmel Baptist on Monday, and pick up our next team, from Christ Community Church in Leawood, KS. I know that some of you use this blog to know what's going on here in Harmons and to pray for us in any way we need. We would love for you all to pray for our last 3 weeks. Pray that we would not start to shut down. Pray that having 3 weeks left would be motivation to get out in the community and really give it our all. Pray for our strength and our health. (There is usually someone on our staff that is sick and we are all frequently exhausted!)


God bless,

Lacy

Welcome Carmel Baptist and Colt Baxter!

Welp, this is our 8th week here and our 6th team. This week we have a group here from Carmel Baptist Church in Matthews, North Carolina. There are 29 people here and all of them are new to Harmons! We are very excited to have them here this week. Today was orientation and our first workday! Here is a picture of Carmel Baptist from the tour this morning:
Also arriving this week is our 7th Summer Staffer. Colt Baxter moved in yesterday! He was unable to come the first half of the summer because he was doing his clinical rotation for vet school. Colt will be in charge of the work sites along with Chris DiVietro. He is on summer staff and we are so excited to have him here for the rest of the summer!
Staff Bio #5

Name: Colt Baxter
Age: 24
Hometown: Imperial, Missouri
High School: Seckman Sr. High
College: Mizzou (University of Missouri) –College of Veterinary Medicine
Major: Veterinary Medicine
Activities: Horse back riding, rock climbing, mountain biking, school, Army reserves, catching up on sleep
Interests: Veterinary Medicine and the above mentioned list
Favorite Colors: forest green and maroon
Favorite Team: STL Cardinals
Favorite Book: The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Favorite TV Show: Man vs. Wild, Myth Busters
Favorite Foods: anything but canned spinach and artichokes
Favorite Jamaican Food: Gloria’s potato salad
Favorite Music: Country
Biggest Dreams: getting out of school and starting a family
Job in Jamaica: Work Site Coordinator
Biggest thing I’ve learned lately: how to correct for a torn cranial cruciate ligament in a dog

One Love,

Lacy

About the week...

Well here we are at the end of another week. This week flew by! Loudoun Valley did an incredible amount of work this week! They built 2 houses, made a foundation for a new house, dug a pit for sewage, and gave about 55 families new clothes! It was an awesome week and so I decided to ask a few of the team members to write a little bit about their week. Here is what they had to say...

"There is only one thing about Jamaica that keeps me coming back and that is the people. Their attitude towards life is always positive. They are surrounded by stress and bad situations and somehow find a way to look past them and appreciate the good things that are going on. I love Jamaica for its wonderful people!" – Nathan Milam

"This week I learned that God is love and mercy. He is not an overbearing God who wants to punish us." – Sage Hawn

"At the infirmary I was talking with a man and he asked me to read Psalm 27 and Psalm 109. I asked him why he wanted to read these chapters and he said they were his. I had a hard time reading the Psalms because I felt like I was reading his story to him. I was struck by how the bible is the story of our lives now! Before the trip I was thinking about the gospel and John 3:16. The part that struck me was “for God so loved the world…” It was my theme for the week. I am always surprised by God’s love. It never works the way I expect, yet it is definitely visible." – Nathan Hollenbach

"I love Jamaica because of so many things! I love the loving, joyful, caring, faithful and considerate people, the beautiful weather, the fruit, the families, the children, bag juice, and the friendliness! I love Jamrock!!!" – Tatum Maddux

"I always enjoy seeing my old Jamaican friends and catching up. I also loved to see the new students step out of their comfort zones and interact with the Jamaicans." – Kevin Hayba

"My favorite part of this week was getting to know the Jamaicans and learning from them about their History and about Harmons. I also loved when they took our group to a water hole after some hard work. It was the clearest water I’ve ever seen and we were able to swim in it and have a good time." – Rachel Zoetis

From just a handful of the team, you can see that this was a great week! We're off to Ocho Rios in the morning and we will be back on Monday with our next group.

Until then,

Lacy

Welcome Mark and Emily!

Like I said earlier in the week, Won By One To Jamaica just added two new staff members, Mark and Emily Boespflug. They arrived on Monday with Loudoun Valley, and I wanted to dedicate a post to introduce you to them and let you know what they are all about.

Mark and Emily have been married for 15 months. They met at Geneva College in Pennsylvania and graduated together in 2005. Mark has two degrees, one in philosophy and one in music, and Emily has a degree in human services. After they got married in 2006, they moved to a cabin in Colorado in the mountains.

Emily first experienced Jamaica in December of 2002, when she came on a trip with her school over Christmas break. After that trip, Emily fell in love with the community of Harmons and ended up spending three summers in a row here on summer staff! Mark first came to Harmons during Spring break of 2005, when he and Emily led a trip together. Since then God has given them a huge heart for the Jamaican people and now they are living here!

Mark and Emily will be living here for 2 years (if not longer!) Though they have gained the title, “missionary couple,” they will just be living their life here. One of my favorite definitions of “missions” is “living life in another place,” and that is exactly what they’ll be doing here in Harmons. During their time here, they will have several different roles, all of which focus on Jamaicans. They will be engaging with Jamaicans on emotional and spiritual levels, really pushing and pursuing Jamaicans to strengthen their life with Christ. They will also be overseeing the school sponsorship program that Won By One To Jamaica has. School here is about $40 a month so Won By One To Jamaica set up a program in which Americans can sponsor children to go to school. They will be checking up on over 60 families here, making sure the children are doing well in school. Another unique thing that Mark and Emily get to do is show the community of Harmons what a loving and biblical marriage should be. Marriage is very uncommon in Jamaica so this will be an awesome way to show a community what a love and marriage that honors Christ looks like. As you can see, Mark and Emily are going to do amazing things here in Harmons!

While visiting with Mark and Emily this afternoon, I asked them what they were most worried about and what they thought they would miss the most from home. Mark is most worried about getting some kind of jungle rash, and Emily is worried about driving. (Driving in Jamaica is CRAZY!) Mark said he will miss the Colorado mountains and wildlife more than anything, and Emily will miss having clean feet!

So there you go! I hope you now know a little more about Mark and Emily and what they are doing here! We are very glad to have them on staff and super excited to spend the rest of the summer with them!

One Love,

Lacy

Staff Bio #4

(Chris on his 22nd birthday, last week!)

Name: Christopher DiVietro
Jamaican Pet Name: Beast

Age: 22

Hometown: Wenonah, New Jersey

High School: Bishop Eustace Prep

College: Allegheny College (Graduated this May)

Major: Double major in Neuroscience and Religious Studies

Activities: Ran decathlon for the track team, Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Interests: Reading; anything that allows me to live out Psalm 46:10 à “Be still and know that I am God...”

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Team: Philadelphia Eagles

Favorite Book: Anything by Soren Kierkegaard

Favorite TV Show: Anything on Discovery, History, or HGTV

Favorite Foods: Sushi

Favorite Jamaican Food: Saltfish and Ackee, Peanut Porridge

Favorite Music: Christian Metal, Country

Biggest Dreams: Have a family

Job in Jamaica: Worksite Coordinator

Biggest thing I’ve learned lately: I’ve been reminded of just how faithful God is. In Him we truly do live and move and have our being.

Welcome Loudoun Valley!

Today our 5th team arrived! We have 39 people here from Loudoun Valley High School in Purcellville, Virginia (a school in the suburbs of Washington, DC). This is a different group, simply because they are not a church or a youth group, but a group of students from a public high school! This is Loudoun Valley's 5th year to Jamaica and the majority of their team has been to Harmons before. Loudoun Valley is known for their hard work. (For example, out of the 39 people here, 9 are getting up in the morning to go running!) Every year they come with serving attitudes, ready to get a ton of work done for the community of Harmons. Loudoun Valley has contributed in a couple of neat ways: One, their cross country team sponsors 3 runners from Harmons. They provide running shoes and other equipment, etc. And two, they came up with the idea to start raising money for a computer lab at the Harmons All Age School, in which Won By One To Jamaica built this past year. We are very excited to work with them and serve with them this week!

Also arriving today was the Medical Coordinator for Won By One To Jamaica, Leslie Drover. Leslie (see picture below) is a nurse in Los Angelas and has been on staff here for a little over a year. Leslie organizes several medical trips throughout the year. Please click here for more information. Leslie is a graduate from the University of Missouri, which is how she first experienced Harmons. She has been coming to Harmons frequently since her first trip in the Spring of 2002. Last year, Leslie was able to pursue two of her greatest passions - nursing and the Jamaican people - by joining the staff of Won By One To Jamaica. We are extremely glad to have her here this week!

That's all for tonight!

One Love,

Lacy

Retreat Week

As you know, this past week was our summer staff retreat. After we said goodbye to our last group from Conroe, TX, we began a week of rest and rejuvenation. We were joined by Josh and Erin Shaffer, and their 3 children, Lane, Ty, and Aisha, as well as Jim Newberry, his wife Tina, and their 2 daughters, Mallory and Bailey. Jim is our spiritual mentor for the summer. He is the one who led our pre-Jamaica retreat as well. This week he served us through meetings and one on one discussions and evaluations of how our summer has been going. One thing that Jim has taught us is to adopt an attitude of intensity. He says that we should either be partaking in intense engagement or intense withdraw, modeled after Jesus himself. This summer is pretty much all intense engagement, so this past week was our intense withdraw. We were able to rest and relax, process a little bit of what we have been experiencing, and evaluate ourselves to kind of map out and plan the rest of our time here in Harmons. Each of us summer staffers spent a lot of time by ourselves, praying, journaling, reading, and just replenishing. We had a wonderful week! We returned to the Harmony House last night and are spending the next few days cleaning, getting the house ready, and finishing the apartment for our new missionary couple that moves in Monday! (More on this later...) Now we are exactly halfway done with the summer. And yes, this is a little hard to believe. Thank you for praying for our retreat!

Check back on Monday,

Lacy