So Long, Sweet Summer...

Well, the end has come. Today is our very last day in Harmons. I'm still not sure that I even realize that as I type this post. Just the other day, Rachel and I were talking about going home. Rachel said, "this is our way of life now, this is our home." And that is so true. No longer will we be waking up to the sound of roosters, barking dogs, and annoying parrots. No longer will we run downstairs to see Fridgie dancing and smiling and acting crazy. We won't get to hug Mama Gloria everyday. We will no longer go on our walks around Harmons and visit our favorite friends. We won't be in Jamaica. It's so strange to think about leaving this life, this home we've become accustomed to. But today we say our final goodbyes. Today, leaving becomes real...

If I tried to sum up my summer experience in one last blog post, I would not do it justice. There are too many things I am still processing and learning that I would love to share with all of you. I sit here in the office as it rains outside, trying to find the last words. I desire a post that is incredibly meaty and that will capture my summer in a few paragraphs, but it's just not possible.

Quite possibly the most beautiful thing about coming to Harmons is that everyone's experience is different. Whether you've spent a week here, read about Harmons on the internet, or spent your entire summer here, you remember different things, you experience different things. My stories and my experiences are completely different from Debo's and from David's. The things I learned and am still learning are completely different from Chris, Colt, and Phil. Rachel and I will cherish different memories and remember different people. That's what is incredible! God brought us all here for different reasons. He taught us all different things.

I want to thank all of you for an incredible summer! Thank you for reading about us, supporting us, and praying for us. We could not have made it without you! Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we return home to the states.


So long, sweet summer...

Lacy

Happy Birthday Birdie!

Today was a really special day during our visit to the Infirmary. In March, I met a woman who lives in the Infirmary named Birdie. Birdie is old and blind and wonderful. She grew up in Jamaica, and she is half Jamaican and have Native American. She always wears a dress with her hair in braided pigtails, covered up by a yellow do-rag. Birdie is very special to me. Every week this summer, I have gone to visit her. We have spent hours and hours just talking, laughing, reading her favorite Psalms, and singing her favorite songs. She has shown me so much about faith and true trust in Christ. As I sit with her during my weekly visits, I am blown away as she depends on the Lord for every provision in her life. The way she lives now in a place that is so absent of physical love is in every way a reflection of her love for Christ. The way she awaits heaven is incredible; singing about it and praying about it like a party with Jesus is coming tomorrow! As you can see, this woman has deeply moved my heart this summer. I am so thankful to have her in my life!

Today we celebrated Birdie's birthday! Her birthday is actually next week on August 15th. But since we will not be here next week, we decided to celebrate today. We greeted Birdie as usual, with a big hug and then sat down to be with her. We sang her "Happy Birthday" and gave her her favorite sweeties (or candy), peppermints! She even sang her birthday song along with us, so excited to be celebrating a week early! We're not really sure how old Birdie is. She doesn't remember the year she was born and there is no record of her birth at the Infirmary. From the way she looks, I would guess Birdie to be somewhere in her eighties (possibly nineties). For the rest of our visit today, we sang with her and read her favorite Psalms, 27 and 62. (If I were you, I'd look that up right now and read about the exact conditions of Birdie's life!) Today was a beautiful day and I just thought I would share it with you...

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord...
Psalm 27:13-14

Only a few more days,

Lacy

Interested in Summer Staff?

Many of you might be interested in our Summer Staff Program. Maybe you have either visited Harmons this year or you have read about it this summer. However, here is some information about Summer Staff that you might like to know.

Each year, Won By One To Jamaica hires qualified college students that commit to 12 weeks of work in Harmons for the summer. Summer staffers primarily invest in relationships with Jamaicans in Harmons and with the American team members who come down to serve.

Each summer staffer is assigned a job for the summer including: Spiritual Formation Leader (Phil and David), Worship Leader (David), Store Manager (me!), Hospitality Coordinator (Rachel), Work Site Coordinator (Chris and Colt), and the Community Outreach Coordinator (Debo). These different positions make up all the work that is done here in the summer.

To be eligible for summer staff, you must be at least 1 year out of high school, have experienced at least 1 week of mission work here in Harmons, your finished application and 3 references must be received, and you must complete a personal interview.

You have been reading all summer long about the different experiences we are having and really what the "meat" of being on summer staff is all about. From my own experience, I can tell you that this will most likely be one of the most challenging and stretching summers of your life. I can also tell you that without a doubt, it was one of the best decisions I ever made to commit to 12 weeks in Harmons. This summer was difficult, messy, hot and sweaty, and hard. But at the same time, it was absolutely beautiful. I grew more this summer than I ever have in a 3-month period. I learned more. I experienced love in a way that doesn't exist in the comfort and ease of life in the States. I experienced the front lines of spiritual battles. I became broken for this world. I saw God in people, in places, in experiences. And I was stretched so thin and was run so ragged that I lost myself so that Christ could be the one living in and through me.

If you have ever thought about doing summer staff, I urge you to pray, think, and talk about it. It is never too early to start preparing yourself for next summer! If you would like more information about summer staff, please visit www.wonbyonetojamaica.com. Or if you would like to ask anyone of us any specific questions about our summer here, please send us a message on facebook and I'm sure we will reply!

One Love,

Lacy

Our Last Week in Harmons...

Good morning readers! Lacy here again. Phil and I got back to Harmons last night from our week at Young Life camp. I must say, it is great to be back with our team and back in Jamaica. We are at home again in Harmons! This week we have a very large group with us, combined of 2 different churches. We have Noland Road Baptist Church here from Independence, Missouri, as well as Westside Baptist Church from Jacksonville, Florida. There is a total of 45 team members here this week, occupying every single bed in the Harmony House! Neither church has been here before, so this week will be a new and great experience for everyone. We are excited to see the work God has planned for this week...

It is also our last week here in Harmons. The summer staff will all return home this Monday, August 13th. It is a bittersweet time this week, as we will be saying goodbye to all our friends and family here in Harmons, as well as looking forward to going home to our friends and family there. We will be spending each evening this week debriefing from our summer. We will be processing our experience as well as preparing mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as we go back home to the states. This will be a very difficult week for all of us, so please keep us in your prayers. Thanks so much! Check back again soon!!!

One Love,

Lacy

P.S. - check out all our new videos! They are really great!

Staff Bio #7 (Seven, biblically complete. Coincidence? I think not.)

Well the time has come for the next staff bio, oh wait... the LAST staff bio. I heard from a source on the inside that Lacy purposefully decided that I would be last. Well, you've waited all summer, I'm sure, so here it is...


Name: David Andrew Cover, II
Jamaican Pet Name: Scratch
Age: 21
Hometown: Columbia, Missouri
High School: Rock Bridge High School
College: University of Missouri - Columbia
Major: Classical Humanities (the study of Greek/Roman culture)
Activities: reading the Bible through osmosis (placing the Bible on my head open to a page), quiet times, loving people, encouraging people, going with the flow
Interests: The Bible, people, Love
Favorite Color: blue
Favorite Team: Our team, the team of everyone working together!
Favorite Book: The Bible
Favorite TV Show: Desperate Housewives
Favorite Foods: chicken of any sort
Favorite Jamaican food: turns out, they have lots of chicken here
Favorite Music: John Mayer, Maroon 5, Rascal Flatts
Biggest Dreams: To go to Peralandra
Job in Jamaica: Official Encourager, Co-Leader of large group meetings (with Phil)
Biggest thing I’ve learned lately: That if you’re the last staff bio to be posted then you should send a message to Lacy to say I will not be taken for granted as the chaff to be gleaned by the peasants! If you want the serious me then go to the place where serious relationships are made…facebook.