February Jamaica Update

During an awful thunderstorm, a monkey found himself stranded under a safe overhang by a raging river. The monkey was quite thankful in the security of his hiding place. But, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a fish stuck in the raging waters of the river. The monkey, with considerable discomfort and danger to himself, ventured into the storm, out on a branch above the river, and rescued the fish. Knowing the obvious comforts of his safe haven, he knew that the only right thing to do was to allow the fish to enjoy his blessing. As he reached his safe place and set the fish down, the monkey seemed very satisfied at his work as the fish jumped around with excitement. Soon, the fish seemed to come to grips with his excitement and he was able to settle down into a peaceful sleep.
In spite of the silliness of the story, suffice it to say that it contains more truth for us than we would like to admit. I stole the story from a book that I am in the midst of reading on cross-cultural servanthood. We have covered the topic in a class while we were in Indiana, in our training before we left, and in numerous books and sermons, but we never envisioned this being so confusing. In the study of missions, there is a labeling system of E1, E2, and E3 for the cultural gap involved in the specific mission between the messenger and the receiver. E1 referring to same culture same language, E2 referring to different culture, same language, and E3 being different culture, different language. The cultural gap between the monkey and the fish was large, but the monkey didn’t understand. He was satisfied to do what was right in his own eyes rather than pursing the situation with the necessary compassion that would consider the fishes perspective. The idea is that there is certainly different approaches to sharing the gospel depending on the cultural gap between the messenger and the receiver. I say all of that to ask us to consider the “E number” of God sending Jesus to Earth to save us. Maybe we could start with E1000, but I don’t know that we can totally understand the gaps that were bridged. Ultimately, we are trying to remember that we have no greater example of cross cultural ministry than in the life of Jesus. It is this type of incarnational ministry that we can see but remains so confusing in our everyday lives. We remain in a largely E1 (the easiest) context and struggle with misunderstandings, communication gaps, and flubups. We are not throwing in the towel nor do we want to paint a negative picture, but at the same time we feel like honesty is a necessity. We feel blessed beyond measure and have no room for any complaint as we continue to seek His wisdom for these issues.
After hinting at our struggles, it is necessary for us to counter with the ongoing accounts of our blessings. We feel so blessed to be able to report that we just enjoyed a week off with my parents. We were blessed by their visit as we experienced sweet fellowship and family time. This remains one of those blessings that we have been unable to get our brains to be able to comprehend. The power of the Christian family continues to be revealed to us in so many ways and the calling remains before us as we seek His grace in raising our family.
With the birth of a new niece this past month (Alea Cosette to Daniel and Kasey Messner), our excitement level has increased as we anticipate the birth of baby#3 this summer. We are continually asked whether we are having the baby in Jamaica or the States. This issue remains in the air as we are waiting for our first appointment with our doctor in Jamaica to get some questions answered. We are certainly leaning towards coming back to the States, but we want to remain open to staying in Jamaica. Ultimately, this again reminds us that all ministry leads to a stripping away of our independence for the purpose of establishing our dependence on Him.
Our work in Montego Bay has continued through the month of February. We enjoyed 3 teams that were all very different. A team from PA, DE, and MD started off our month and parts of this team have been coming for close to 20 years. This is a mature team, skilled people, and hard workers. The 2nd team was an 8th grade group from KY. While different from the 1st team, we enjoyed the team and they did some great work. The team leader has been bringing an 8th grade group for around 13 years (now that is ministry). Our 3rd team of the month was a high school youth group from NJ that was full of life. The team worked hard and taught me a few things about NJ that I had not been exposed to before. The work teams continue to bless CCCD and we are grateful to be a part of the work.
In spite of our struggles and confusion, we rejoice in ways that we have never rejoiced before. The realities of the power of the gospel remain before us and we want to magnify His greatness. We sense the faithfulness of our Lord in the midst a growing understanding of our unfaithfulness. The support we continue to receive from so many is humbling and we give Him the praise.
THANK YOU!!!

Grandpa and Grandma Plattner

We are so humbled by the number of visits we have had from family. Yesterday, Grandpa and Grandma Plattner left yesterday after a wonderful week. The kids loved getting spoiled and playing with G-ma and G-pa. We loved the fellowship and made great memories. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for the visit. You can see pictures of the week HERE.

Haircuts

After the post about Keri's haircut, we received an email from a friend asking why we didn't show the finished product of the haircut. Having grown up in a family of boys, I have never understood "women's longhair haircuts." It always looks the same after the haircut. The explanation is always something about keeping the hair healthy, split ends, dead ends, etc. With that being said, the difference between the before and the after was not noticeable by a camera. It was the same way with my mom, it was never noticeably different. So sorry for no picture, but Keri liked the final product

So, when I think of a haircut, I think of a "real haircut." In our family of boys, we would grow our hair out for a couple of months and then cut it real short, and that happened over and over again. Anyway, the following is maybe a better representation of what a "real" haircut looks like. With Truitt, we wrestled with whether or not we should give him a haircut because the big curly mess on his head fits his personality so well. But, the time had come to shave it off knowing that in a short time, his curly mess would be back.

Alea Cosette

We are thankful to announce the birth of our niece, Alea Cosette, daughter of Kasey and Daniel Messner! As you can see from her picture she is absolutely beautiful! Kasey and Daniel have been living in Switzerland for over a year now, so Alea can brag until she's 18 that she's half Swiss. As we are miles away, we ache to hold her and kiss those sweet cheeks, but trust that in His time God will bring us face to face.
Congratulations Kasey and Daniel. She will be such a blessing to you and you will be wonderful parents!

Christmas in February

MeeMaw and Pompaw Plattner just arrived for a week long visit. With them, they carried all of the kid's Christmas gifts that would not fit in our suitcases. The moment didnt quite have the drama of Christmas, but we captured it anyway.

Trials Turned To Gold

We found ourselves sitting in the dark under candlelight yesterday evening. We were exhausted and hot. Without electricity we are also without water, which after a day of sweat and grime we were feeling somewhat miserable. As we did our share of complaining of the inconveniences of the situation, we were also reminded of our blessings.
Our sending church asks for prayer requests weekly. As we sat together and started acknowledging and praying for the many needs we see around us our complaints quickly became thankfulness for what we have been blessed with. We can be thankful that we do have electricity and water most of the time. (They have been without water for about a month now at Knockpatrick). As we prayed for the financial situation of our mission and of those we come in contact with daily, we could praise God for his provisions to us. We prayed for a couple who's 3 year old son has daily allergic reactions, as our 3 year old enjoys health and strength. As we prayed for those dealing with sickness and even facing death, we could praise God for our health. As we prayed for those fighting spiritual battles and those who do not know Christ as their Savior, we could praise God for our salvation. As we prayed for a couple that is struggling with and feeling burdened by pregnancy, we are able to rejoice and praise Him for the new life he's given to us. As we experience health, joy, and victory we do not exalt our position above others, but acknowledge that it's only God's goodness and grace in our lives. We also acknowledge that we do experience trials, we do not always praise him as we should, and with our blessings we do not always give God the glory that we should. It's only when we pray that God can turn our trials into gold.

Please pray with us:
*Pray for rain, as those at Knockpatrick feel the effects of it.
*Pray for the financial situation of JDV (Jamaican Deaf Village)
*Pray for Nick and Tricia Zaugg, as their 3 yr. old Solomon deals with daily allergic reactions.
*Pray for Josh and Sarah Aberle and their 5 young children. Sarah is struggling through cancer that has spread through her body.
*Pray for Nigel and Bianca, a young couple from JDV. Pray that they will find joy in the new life God has given them.

A Piece of Paradise "Dogs"

Jamaican dogs are not like American dogs. In general, Jamaicans do not like dogs like Americans like dogs. They are scared of them and so the main purpose for dogs is for security. Anyways, Jamaican dogs generally all look the same with the main characteristics being skinny, mutt, scrounging for food, barking all night, and always walking along the road. At CCCD MoBay, we are blessed with 3 dogs that are not like other Jamaican dogs. They look different, are well fed, washed regularly, and really like white people. The main reason for all of the nice things about the dogs is a wonderfully nice lady who comes down on work teams and she adores the dogs. She brings them canned food, flea stuff, beds, biscuits, medicine, and more things than a dog could ever want. She is a wonderful person and the kids always enjoy her coming. She typically leaves behind a large bag of biscuits which the boys love giving to the dogs. From the video, you will see the boys feeding the dogs biscuits. The kids personalities shine through as Drew is the one who loves to feed the dogs one biscuit at a time letting them eat out of his hand. Truitt on the other hand, does not like close contact and would prefer to take large handfuls of biscuits and throw it at them. Enjoy!

Catch up with the kids

You can catch up with the kids on HERE on our pictures page. And as you can tell from the video below, they are still singing. In the middle of the video, you will witness Truitt exhibit his skills as the worlds fastest Pray-er. We will post more on that another time.

Meet Rich

This is Richard.
Rich has been on 3 work teams that we have hosted and he definitely ranks in our top ten favorite work team members. Let me tell you a few things about Rich.
1. He is committed to serving the Lord.
2. He is committed to his family. He fought Pennsylvania homeschool legislation for the right to teach his kids at home. They won and also helped change laws for others.
3. He works for Harley-Davidson, loves motorcycles, and lives in York, PA
4. He is very creative, artistic, and handy
5. He loves the deaf children
6. He is a beautician

I am guessing that the beautician thing threw you for a loop. I told him that myself. Keri had been wanting a trim for a long time and we cant find anyone to cut her hair down here. So, in the past we have waited for a work team member to come along who likes cutting hair. When I learned that Rich was a beautician, I quickly tried to get Keri an appointment. It was funny. I told Rich that I had to get pictures because Keri has never had a beautician that looks like him. He did a great job and he wouldnt take a dime for his services. I am sure we will try to get another appointment next time he comes. Thanks Rich.

A Piece of Paradise - Mold

It is hard to capture in a picture, but all of the odd green stuff in the picture is mold. It grows quickly and often at our Knockpatrick home. During the rainy months, this "creature" would visit us approx. weekly. If we did not clean certain surfaces weekly, it would soon look like the picture above. The stuff is nasty, it gets on our clothes in the closet, and it makes things feel dirty all of the time. We have now learned that we need to empty our closet when gone for a long period of time. Anyways, I usually try to spin posts like this to say something positive, but I have not found it yet regarding the mold. If you have ideas regarding how to manage this, please send it our way. Please do not say, "maybe you should try a bleach solution," because we could dip it in pure bleach and it doesnt help. Thanks and enjoy a bit of paradise!

January Jamaica Update

“Thou shall not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.” While this might seem like a slightly odd inspirational verse for our January update, give me a chance to explain. Growing up, I was aptly taught the ten commandments as God’s moral standard for all people. Rightly so, I was taught that I should not use the name of God inappropriately or without purpose. And, by the grace of God it was never something that I really struggled with and this is why the inspiration of this verse feels odd. Anyways, it was couple of years ago that I was introduced to another understanding of this verse. Whether rightly interpreted or not, I don’t know and for the sake of this letter I don’t care because the point holds true. The idea goes like this. What does the word “take” mean? Generally, it does not mean “use” but rather means “to obtain, accept, or claim,” you know what “take” means. So, with our more common understanding of the word, “take God’s name in vain” would read something more like “Thou shalt not claim to be God’s without purpose” or “claim to be a Christian without being hidden in Christ.” Now, that verse takes on a new meaning and challenge to my life. It becomes more than just a list of phrases and words that I should not say, but becomes a reminder of the standard to which I am called considering “whose” I am. I am a Christian, and I cannot claim that lightly or in vain. Since arriving in Jamaica, I have been confounded by the Christian culture. I would consider the country more Christian than America. Most public schools hold regular devotions, the national anthem is a prayer, and there are Christian things everywhere. But, the country remains embattled by dominating sins. Daily, the people who have taken the name of Christ are living outside of His high calling. They live a life that is supposed to bear His name but by all apparent evidences is vain. So, this calling to “not take the name of the Lord in vain” has become both a “high mark to press towards” for me personally as well as a prayer for this country that I love. I do not want this to come off as broad stroked stereotype of all Jamaicans, the faith that I have seen evidenced in the lives of some Jamaicans is humbling and God honoring. But, I want to call everyone to this prayer that the Lord’s name is not taken in vain in my life, your life, Jamaica, America, etc. For reasons that my mind cannot understand, God has orchestrated that we be His body on the Earth, as His body we bear His name. May we live a life of purpose such that our lives give His name glory.
We have had a blessed January. On our most recent work team there was a man who had a standard answer that he gave in response to “How ya doin?” He would respond quickly, “I have more blessings than for which I can say grace.” This rings true for our first month back from our Christmas holiday. We hosted two teams at Knockpatrick and then moved to Montego Bay for one team. The teams will continue through April and life will remain busy. Hosting teams remains a joy and is very encouraging.
We rejoice in answers to prayer. Early in our time in Jamaica, our hearts were quickly drawn towards assisting deaf graduates in going to college. It is not possible for the deaf to go to college in Jamaica. As you may remember, we sent out a prayer request months ago looking for families who would be willing to host deaf students to attend college in the states. We are ecstatic to report that we have had a family step up in Central Illinois to host a girl from the Knockpatrick campus to attend Illinois Central College. The student has been accepted by ICC. There is one obstacle remaining as the student must apply for a student visa at the US Embassy. Lord Willing, all will go through and the student will be able to move to the States in July to begin school in August. Remember this situation in prayer and we remain hopeful for more families to step forward as hosts.
Just the other day, Keri commented that we have only been in Jamaica for one month. We both simultaneously agreed that it has felt like 3 months, but not in a bad way. The days have not been long in bad ways and we have been busy, but it feels like a long time since we arrived back in Jamaica. In the midst of our joy, we continue to wrestle with the struggles of working cross culturally. We pray for grace and wisdom so that we can fulfill God’s desires for our work in Jamaica. Our heart remains that we bear His name faithfully and model that name as adopted children to all in Jamaica.