Greetings from Jamaica!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Greetings from Jamaica!

I started the day by getting up at 6:30 am, getting a shower, and heading to Broadway Christian Church for Ironman (our men's ministry meetings) and to attend a deacon's orientation meeting.

Jay McChord had a very good lesson about how all of us need someone in our life to encourage us and keep us "running" our race of life. This was the first week of a four session series that is based on his newly released book. The deacon meeting was a short one. Ernie Perry, our senior pastor, gave a very good talk to us about the proper role of deacons; what they are and what they are "not". He really gave us a good set of expectations and standards. Doug Piatt gave us a deacon's manual and discussed the monthly deacon's meeting and what they will involve. He also shared with them that I would be assisting him in training and organizing the deacons so that they could take on a more meaningful role in our church.

I left Broadway at 10:15 am and headed for the house to pick up my suitcases and have Michelle take me to the airport to catch my flight to Jamaica. I had no problem in checking in and getting through the TSA was a snap! The plane left right on time at 11:55 am. The flight to Atlanta was uneventful and we landed on time. This gave me an almost four hour layover. So, I went to McD's and had lunch, and went on to my gate. I sat down, worked some email, read a couple of chapters from a book, and reviewed my lesson notes for this week's teaching. I linked up with Curt Nordhielm and Dale Cornett, from Boise Bible College, who would also be teaching at the leadership seminar.

Our plane was scheduled to depart for Kingston at 4:55 pm. We started to get a little worried when they started to board the plane and we had not yet seen any of the two (2) church mission teams that were supposed to be on the flight with us. Dale, Curt, and I boarded the plane when our group number was called and about 10 minutes later we looked up and here they came down the aisle of the plane. We found out that their flight in Columbus, Ohio had been delayed for over 2 hours and almost caused them not to make it.

The flight to Kingston started out really bumpy, but after about a half hour or so, the turbulence stopped and the rest of the flight was great. We landed right on schedule. I got off the plane, went through immigration, stopped by the money exchange kiosk, and then went to collect my suitcases. This is where I was most concerned, but when I got to the baggage claim area my suitcases where already there. So, I policed them up, went through the customs check, and went outside to find Dennis and Mary who would be picking us up. As it turned out, everyone's bags made it safely to Kingston. Thank you Lord! This is pretty amazing, especially knowing how late most of the people were getting into Atlanta.

The two church teams did not get a chance to eat dinner, so after we got everyone's bags collected up, they went into one of the restaurants at the airport and got them something to eat. After what seemed like a couple of hours, we loaded up and headed to Old Harbour.

It is now 12:35 am on Sunday morning. Everyone is settled in and resting. Mary unpacked a lot of the food items that the teams brought with them and got out the bottled water, coffee, snacks, etc. for the teams. She finally found the coffee filters, so we are "good to go" for coffee in the morning.

Tomorrow, breakfast is at 8:30 am and church is at 10 am (yea, right?). I will get up at 6 am, start a pot of coffee and get a shower. After church, we will go out and get something to eat at a nearby restaurant and then in the afternoon get things organized for the leadership seminar.

More to follow from Old Harbour, Jamaica!

Blessings!

Fred

Fred R. Waggoner
 
Fred R. Waggoner
4221 Forsythe Drive
Lexington, KY 40514
Home: 859-223-7972
Cell: 859-312-5334
 
Soli Deo Gloria - "For God's glory alone".