doing laundry

Jamaica is beautiful

janclaus fellowship, healthcare in a third world country , , ,

I will say that Jamaica is a very beautiful country. The people are really loving and friendly and even though I had a hard time because of the heat I am so glad I got the opportunity to minister there. The ministry house was lovely but had no screens on the windows. When night came and you had to have the lights on, of course the bugs were drawn to the light. But those are things you manage to live with.

The view from the mission house
The view from the mission house

When a team volunteered to come build a house the cost of materials and food was included in the amount of the trip. The ministry would see that all supplies were purchased.

The people who were chosen to have a house built for them also had to participate in the building of the house. The ministry provided all the materials and all the meals including lunch out on the work site. The teams worked from eight in the morning till five at night Monday through Friday. At the end of that time the house was finished.Image_00133

It was always a big deal on Friday when the team leader presented the new owners with the keys to the house. On the day before the presentation the team would go out and buy things needed to keep the house clean. At the presentation the owners were also given the cleaning supplies.

Presenting the keys of the finished house to the new owners. Note cleaning supplies.
Presenting the keys of the finished house to the new owners. Note cleaning supplies.

All of the team members were from one church and a lot of them were youth groups. There were a lot of different denominations that came down. The love for the Lord was evident in all of them. We had five different teams while we were there.

A finished house
A finished house

Before I finish telling you about Jamaica, I want to say cool is a relative term. When they told me the house didn’t need to be air conditioned because it was in the mountains, it didn’t mean much to me. If it was any cooler it would have only been a couple of degrees and of course the humidity was still at one hundred percent.

Both time and laundry time at a typical house.
Both time and laundry time at a typical house.

I am so thankful to have had this experience. The people will always remain in my heart. For people who have so little they are a joyful and loving people.

Thanking God for experiences,
Jan

Enjoying different cultures

janclaus neighbors, Praying for people , , ,
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Our first apartment in Jericho

Our first apartment in Jericho was about 2 miles from the Jesus House. As the crow flies it probably wasn’t even a mile but we had to walk on the roads to the house. Our apartment was on the second floor of the building and it was quite nice.

It didn’t have a washing machine and there were no laundromats so I did laundry the old fashioned way, by hand. The Jesus House had a washing machine, so when I had a load of towels or jeans we called a taxi and took the clothes there to wash them.

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doing laundry the old-fashioned way

One of the fun things about living at this apartment was the neighbors. The woman who lived downstairs with her son was really nice. We called her momma and her son’s name was Mohammed. Every evening they would sit outside and, since it was winter, they had a fire. Many of the neighbors came out to chat and the children would play in the street. Of course we didn’t know the language, but they always made us feel welcome when we joined them

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Momma & Bob

Evening wasn’t the only time they sat outside. They sat out during the day too. Mohammed was crippled and couldn’t talk plain so he didn’t work. Many days he and momma would sit outside and neighbors would come and talk with them for awhile. There were opportunities for prayer for people and they let us pray with no problem. We prayed in the name of Jesus, but they didn’t care. We saw several healings.

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Momma, son Mohammed, and a neighbor

After awhile the neighbors started bringing us food they cooked. Most of it was absolutely delicious. We figured some neighbors weren’t such great cooks because other neighbors brought us the same dish that was excellent.

While we lived there I so enjoyed the times together even if we didn’t understand each other. I also remembered when I was little and people sat outside and talked in the evening. I loved those times when all the kids played together and their parents talked.

Feeling nostalgic,
Jan

The Widow’s House

janclaus The Widow's House, Ukraine , , ,

There are several things here in America we take for granted. We have so many appliances that we don’t think about. When we were in Pulin, a small village in Ukraine, we oversaw the Widow’s House. We took in widows who had no one to care for them. Some of these widows came from very small villages and did not have appliances of any kind in their kitchen. Continue reading →