One day left

Hey Everyone, Adam here!

I can't believe that the summer journey is finally coming to an end. It has been a challenging, rewarding, and growing experience. I know that God called me to Harmons although there many times that I wondered whether it was so. It was nothing like what I expected-- I can't really put in to words how it was different but I know I could never have imagined it being like this.

This week has been a combination of saying goodbyes, cleaning up around the house, and debriefing with the staff to prepare mentally, emotionally and spiritually for going home. Tonight we served dinner to the 40-some Jamaican staff that we employ throughout the summer. From the house crews to the cleaning ladies to the cooks, they all piled in for a delicious meal and some great fellowship. It was really cool to see them all together but tonight was the first time I really realized that goodbyes were in order-- some of them I will not see again before I leave.

I know now that Harmons will never be an experience that I had that I learned from and moved on. Harmons is a part of me. The people here have had such in impact on my life that I can't imagine just continuing on with life. Harmons will, God willing, be a place that I keep returning to as often as possible. To serve those in need, yes; to spread Christ's love, yes; but also because I have friends here that I will never forget about.

We fly home Friday but it's not goodbye, it's see ya later.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. I'd love to talk with anyone about my experiences, but have patience because words can explain only so much.

In Him,

Adam "Chapel Hill" Salloum

Coming to an end...

Hello Everyone! This is the last blog that I will write for the summer. It is hard to believe that in one week we will be making our journeys back home. We say goodbye to our last group on Sunday, and then have a few days by ourselves to say goodbye to all of the friends that we have made. Over the past two weeks I have been hearing the question of how am I feeling now that the time is coming to say goodbye. The only way to truly answer that question is by saying that I have mixed emotions. I am excited about seeing my family and friends, but I do not want to leave this community. I have been blessed to make friends here in Harmons that I know would be willing to do anything for me. Friends who I am extremely close with. Saying goodbye to them is difficult because I do not know when I will be back again. Unlike when I said to goodbye to everyone in the States, there was a set date for me to return. Here I have to tell everyone that I am leaving and that I am not sure of when I will be able to make it back. I know for sure I will come back, because Harmons is Home and such a big part of my life, but it is hard to leave not knowing when that time will be.

Lastly I would like to thank everyone who has supported Won by One to Jamaica and our staff over the summer. Everything that we have been able to do this summer would not have been done without you. I am thankful to each of the groups who have come down and am so thankful to have had the opportunity to meet you all. Finally I am thankful to have had this wonderful opportunity to be in Harmons for the summer, and to become part of this community. To all of my friends here in Harmons I am not saying ‘Goodbye’, but rather ‘Later’.

Love,
Michael

So long sweet summer...I stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays

Hello again everyone!!

This is probably the last blog I will ever write again in my life. Exciting eh? My time here in Harmons is running short. We have about a week and a half left until we fly home and its back to the real world. (I already know that I will be crying a few times a day). But as time is winding down I find myself preparing myself for the switch. I have learned recently something big about myself: I begin to separate myself from people and places when I know I have to leave soon. Although I have noticed this, it is something I plan to work on. I refuse to leave this place with relationships closing down and refuse to let myself become unassembled with this community. Even if that means leaving with half my heart here, I know that the last week of my time spent here will not be half, but whole-hearted.
Thank you all for your continued prayer, support, and love. I am very excited to tell you all about my summer and everything I learned and experienced. But, I am also excited to open another chapter of my life and learn and grow from those experiences. No matter what happens or what comes my way, Harmons will always be home and hold a large part of my heart.

Lovelovelove,

Krista

Hooray Jamaica!

Hey guys and gals,
Wow…pretty crazy that the summer’s already coming to a close. Our last group from Mecklenburg Community Church is here right now and then we have four days as a staff to say goodbye to all our friends from the summer. The team is a mixture of 18 students and adults, so it’s really intimate and personal. One really exciting thing about this week is that my parents are here!!! They’ve watched me and my sister come down for five years now, and finally get to experience everything themselves and meet all my Jamaican friends. So far everything’s been sweet; I’ve gotten to work with my dad twice at a house and a foundation and my mom got to go to the store and infirmary for a full day. I’m really excited for the rest of the week and think it’ll be a growing week for all of us personally and together.
Another really exciting thing that happened recently was that Michael and I got to stay in Harmons this past weekend. We got up early to say goodbye to Carmel on Saturday then slept in a lot more. Then we found Pops, Tarraine, Kashka, and Little John and headed up to visit Mr. Reed in John Robinson. He lived a while in England and we talked about everything from his farm, car, house, technology, jobs, smoking, God, and everything in between. After that, we walked back and played regular and French dominoes with Barry, Pops, Bull, and Kashka. Then, we made a glorious dinner for 8 awesome Jamaicans (most of them previously mentioned) of macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, bread, and kool-aid. It was great to serve them and we had some great conversation. Afterwards we played drug dealer and mafia, and then we watched Batman Begins. Tarraine and Barry fell asleep. Later that night Michael and I cleaned upstairs in our boxers because no one else was at the house and we felt like it. The next morning, we went to the Open Bible Church in Green Pond with Pops which was very enjoyable. Then we watched the Harmons cricket team play the all stars of every other team from their league because they won the tournament. Hung out with Danika, Rashan, and Lamar. After that the team got here and I went with Suma to pick up my parents in Kingston.
Anyways, it’s going to be a bitter sweet week and a half or so. Definitely not ready to leave, but I’m starting to get ready for a tough transition and the next stage of my life. Please pray for my week with my parents here. Pray that my last days with Jamaicans would be meaningful and that we’d finish strong. Thanks again all you students who are reading this who have come this summer! I loved getting to know you and serve with you. You guys ministered to us just as much as we were able to do for you. Hope everyone has a great end to their summers. Adios!
John

He's Everything

Hey everybody, Tay-Tay here.


Some of my favorite nights here in Harmons is when we host a talent show at the Harmony House during courtyard time. It is always such a fun time for Americans and Jamaicans alike, as brave souls show off legitimate and silly talents alike. While some acts are quite ridiculous, (like for example we had one guy tonight who stopped a moving fan blade with his tongue), others prove to be quite moving.
Our team this week from Charlotte, NC performed a well known drama choreographed to the song “You’re Everything” by Lifehouse to close the show. You can see it for yourself here:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA


While I have seen this particular skit performed on numerous occasions, it never ceases to reach right into my heart and strike a chord. As a result I cry practically every time I watch it, whether online or in person. Embarrassingly enough, I even cried watching the team practice earlier this week. I guess I just can’t help it…I become so overwhelmed with emotion when I see an accurate reminder of how even though as humans we are in perpetual brokenness, Christ never ceases to stretch His love over us as a shelter.


Something I have been learning this summer is how to let God into my own personal brokenness and pain, and seeing this skit once again has reminded me of just how much He loves me and was willing to sacrifice it all in order for me to live whole. In the end, I have realized that no matter what we try to replace God with in our life it will always fall short because He is all we need to fulfill us.If you are feeling broken, or even if you’re not, I would encourage you to take 5 minutes to watch this powerful skit as a reminder of just how great His love is for us.


Love from Harmons,
Tayler

Reunions

Hey everyone, Adam here.

Carmel Baptist has been here two full days now and it's been awesome hanging out with them. It helps that it is the youth group that I grew up in (the picture is of me and Emily Nolte, a girl that I went to youth group with for years and then interned with last year for the youth group). I've really enjoyed reuniting with youth leaders, friends, and students that I've led in various ways throughout the years. Seeing how each individual has grown physically and spiritually is truly amazing. Some of the kids I remember as timid 7th graders are now taking on leadership roles in the church. How humbling to see that God is raising up the next generation while I've been away at college. It can be easy to subconsciously fall into the mindset that God is only at work where we currently are. Thank God that this is not the case, because the impact that I am leaving is so small in the grand scheme of things.

I'm struggling to accept the fact that I have less than 3 weeks left in Harmons. There are so many things I still want to do and so many relationships I want to invest more into. I can only find rest knowing that God had a purpose for me this summer and I may never fully know what it was. Although I may never see the fruit of my labor I trust that God knows what he is doing.

Thanks everyone for the continuous support!

In Him,

Adam

HOLA!

HEY! It’s McKenzie.

The summer staff is reading Spiritual Direction, a book inspired by the thoughts of Henri Nouwen. To be honest, I am not really a fan of reading, and I really don’t enjoy being assigned chapters to read and having conversations about the assigned chapters. But, fortunately some things in the book have really stood out to me, so it makes the assigned reading a lot more bearable!

One chapter, called Who am I?, talks a lot about how we are God’s beloved. Even though the word beloved makes me cringe, the chapter has really made me consider the love God has for each of us. I am not sure that anyone can really comprehend this love, because no one I know can even come close to loving like God does.

Anyway, at one point in the chapter, the author is discussing how we answer the question, “Who Am I?” Like, if I were to write a definition of myself for everyone around me, what would I say? One paragraph says this:

“How much of our energy goes into defining ourselves by deciding “I am what I do,” “I am what others say about me,” or “I am what I have”? When that’s the case, life often follows a repetitive up-and-down motion. When people speak well about me, and when I do good things, and when I have a lot, I am quite up and excited. But when I start losing, when I suddenly find out that I can’t do some task anymore, when I learn that people talk against me, when I lose my friends, then I slip into the pit.”

He goes on to say that this approach to defining who we are is flat out wrong. None of these things define who I am. The only thing that truly defines who I am is that I am God’s beloved. It sounds kind of weird to say, “I am McKenzie and I am worth so much to God.” But it is so true and so forgotten in today’s world. It doesn’t matter that we have a lot of things. It doesn’t matter that we work 99 hours in one week. It doesn’t matter that a friend is talking against us right now. It doesn’t matter that we have made 400 mistakes in the past day. It doesn’t matter that we are recovering addicts. None of these things should be defining who we are.

Maybe this passage has a lot more significance to me than it does for you. This past week was one of those breaking points in my life – one that I think we all experience once in a while. Like when everything that you have been pouring yourself into backfires and breaks you so far down you can hardly breathe. Working in the store every day of every week all summer caught up to me, and I began to feel so weak and frustrated with every aspect of the store. I wanted there to be more clothes to give to the shoppers. I was frustrated with a few people who wait outside the store every day and ask for more. I was mad at myself for not being able to say no. I was mad that the kids’ clothes had run out again. All of these problems are out of my control, but I took all of them upon myself. If I was a better store manager, I should be able to provide for everyone. I heard people cursing me, saying that I couldn’t provide for their families. I saw people walk away disappointed that the store didn’t have what they needed. I heard Americans complaining that working in the store was boring. I was defining myself through the store, through the shoppers, through things that don’t matter.

The only thing that we should allow to define us is that we are worth so much to God, that we are His beloved. We are beautiful, precious beings to God, and we can never do anything that would make Him stop loving us.

Alright, that's all I have right now. Thanks for reading!

Just Bloggin

Hello Everyone! I am finding it hard to believe that we are already coming to the end of July. We are now finishing with our 5th group, and only have 2 more to go. This week has been the craziest that I have ever seen the Harmony House. With a group of over 50, there seemed to be someone every time around. At times it was a challenge to have so many people in the house, but we have overcome the obstacles and have had an amazing week.

The past two weeks since the retreat have seemed to just fly by. I have received a lot of help in these two weeks from a good friend and previous Courtyard Director, Debo, who leaves on Sunday. Thanks to Debo, we have had some of the best Courtyards the past two weeks.

This week I was once again able to spend time with my good friend James at the infirmary. On Wednesday, he was sick and was not himself. I was unaware of what to think; just watching him lay there in pain. I was fearful that it might be the last time that I got to spend with James. I remember praying with him, and for most of the way back from the infirmary. Praying that God would remove the pain that he has been suffering from. Thankfully, I received word on Thursday that James was back to his usual self, and most of the pain had left after taking a little medicine. It feels like such a relief to know that James is doing better than he has been the past couple of weeks. I look forward to the time we still have left to be able to spend together.

This past week was also a little difficult for me in that my Grandfather was taken to the hospital on Tuesday due to small stroke. Knowing that he was lying in a hospital bed, and the rest of my family gathering there, was a struggle. However, he is going to make a full recovery, and I looking forward to being able to spend time together when I return home.

At the times of these struggles, it may feel like we are all alone, and that we to take everything on our shoulders. But God is always there for us. He is our Shepherd who watches over us. He protects and guides us. It is in times of struggles that he is waiting there willing to carry us.

In Christ
Michael

The life of a Jamerican

Hello all. It has been quite the summer and it is slowly winding down. There are only three weeks left and know for a fact that if I were at home working, summer would be dragging on. Even though summer is going so fast, I am determined to make the most of every moment. So for your entertainment I am going to give you a rundown of the fun things I do!! (Other than my job responsibilities).

…Walking to the store to get peanut punch (my favorite)---Peanut punch is like a chocolate peanut butter milkshake in a bag…MMMMM

…Sit in the kitchen in the morning and chat with friends (One of my favorite parts of the day)

…Visiting Nancy and Shalom with Mac

…Visiting Winsom and Nordia…and eating salt fish (doesn’t taste like fish but like salty jerky) and breadfruit (fruit that tastes like bread) and drinking lemonade. Sitting on their beds while they sing and being treated like a real friend.


…Walking to the store to buy sudsud and a blue bar. (sudsud is soap used for washing and a blue bar is used for whites and it gets them whiter than I have ever seen laundry)

...BEEF MEDLEY NIGHT!!! (the one night we don't eat chicken!)

...Making smoothies with Josh and Neil for the team (and eating all the fruit!)

…Making coffee with Dean and Ira…it is a real treat let me tell you.

…Hanging out with Jay (who is in charge of the store).

…Play with the Shaffer kids!

…Walk to my mento, Taylors, house and watch funny movies.

...Laughing until i can't handle it anymore.

I love Harmons. I love the people who have become my family and friends. I love walking down the street. I apologize in advance for all the people who have to deal with me when I get home;). Ha

K adios

Lovelovelovelovelove

Kristaaa

Bloggidy bloggin

Hello All!
This is John. It’s pretty late and I’m tired, but it’s my turn to blog so here we go! I know we say this about every group (and it’s always true), but the group from Hope Lutheran has been really awesome. They’ve worked really hard, and really loved on the Jamaicans a ton. We built a house for Lisa and getting to spend more time with her family was really a blessing. Over the last few weeks the Henry family has really blessed me a ton. From messing around with the kids, having some awesome conversations with Lisa and her parents, to getting cornrows, I really enjoyed the time. They came to courtyard tonight which was really cool (If any Louden/Wesley people are reading this, Lisa said thanks to you guys and I gave her the names of all you who helped build the foundation). So yea, It was a busy week, but I finally feel like I’m getting pretty adjusted to the schedule and my place here in Harmons. I finally know the majority of the people who come around the Harmony House, and I’ve gotten go deeper a lot with some of the workers, my mento, and a lot of other friends. Even though I’m getting excited for my next semester in of college, there’s no way I’m going to want to leave.
Besides the group, there are a couple other people who came down that I’ve gotten to know such as Debo, the Belts, and Jim. Hanging out and talking with Debo has been quite fun, as well as Jim and Jeanette. Life is definitely hectic, but I’m still learning to rest in God and he will fill me up to get through the day. Oh yea, did I mention the retreat was awesome? Definitely needed to get some relaxation time and it was a good time to refocus personally and as a staff. Oh yea, did I mention the rest of the staff’s awesome? Well they are. I’m really proud of them and they’re really good at their job and fit well into that role.
Yea, So I don’t know what else you guys would want to hear about. Hung out with Tarraine, a Jamaican I’m mentoring yesterday, and got to go to meals on heels at Judith’s that night which was sweet. I had a really good time talking to and working with Ganga today, as usual. Played some soccer in the field, then had all the Friday night activities. Overall, a great week and I’m looking forward to the next group of 50ish people. Hope everyone is doing well.
John