God Opens Doors

We just wanted to give a few quick updates on what has been going on here. This week, the Lord opened the door for us to share at a high school in Cayon for their all school assembly.  I did a few worship songs which always gets their attention because most of the people here have never seen or heard someone play guitar live before.  Brandon then shared the Word and we passed out over 200 tracts to all the students. Praise the Lord for opening awesome doors!

On Monday evenings, Brandon and I have started going out to Fig Tree, a community on the other side of the island, to begin a Bible Study. To make a long story short, Mavis, the woman who helped us start the AWANA program, has started cleaning up a youth center and a church adjacent to it so that it can be used for ministry. She invited us to come do a Bible Study and told us the people of Fig Tree are hungry for something like that to come along. So we showed up for the first meeting and as soon as we began, people just started flocking in to see who was meeting in this old church that never gets used. There has been over 30 people each time we have been. The way the Spirit of the Lord is moving there is unlike anything we've experienced. Continue to pray that the Lord would continue to stir up hearts and change lives in this community! The Youth Center needs a lot of work done inside and out, therefore it will give the mission teams coming this spring and summer plenty to do while they're here! 

Basketball is still going strong and the adult league that Brandon and I play in will begin soon. It is truly such an opportunity for Brandon and I to be involved in the community in this way. We get to play a game that we love and have the chance to talk to so many Kittitians while doing it. Pray that we would have a boldness to be a light and a witness to everyone we would come in contact with through basketball. 

Thanks to all who take the time to read about what God is doing here in St. Kitts! Be blessed! Or in Kittitian slang, "Bless Up!"

What The Women Are Up To

Everyone has been fully informed about what has been happening here ministry wise, but I thought it might be nice to tell you what other things our days consist of (particularly for myself and Wendi).

On alternating Tuesdays, Wendi and I get to go the local coffee shop. By ourselves. No kids allowed! It's a lovely time; we sit in the free AC, Wendi gets a chai, we snack on donuts, talk about books, the Lord, marriage, life in St. Kitts (the good and the bad), and all that other girl stuff. This next Tuesday we are, Lord willing, going to try out a different coffee shop in town that we heard about from our fellow missionary friends!

Wednesdays, Wendi and I take turns making dinner for the five of us and a snack for the Bible study group that night. It's a good way for us to try out our Pinterest recipes! This week however we had a cook out with Bible study. Brandon grilled, Wendi made her delicious potatoes, and I made dessert. It was a good time of fellowship and food!

Every other Saturday, we also take turns going to AWANA, and staying home with Audri and Keaton. Its been a good way to do things for us. This way we are both getting to pour into the AWANA kid's lives, and we are both able to work alongside our husbands in ministry. We share two groups; a group of Sparks girls and a group of TNT girls. Both groups are really thriving with this program. Last week one of the girls in our Sparks group received $12 AWANA dollars for finishing two sections in her book. I think she ended up memorizing and reciting 7 verses that night! We were all very excited and impressed!

On Sundays, we are blessed enough to attend a women's bible study with some girlfriends from CCF. This is a really great way for us to be refreshed. We fellowship over dinner and dessert with our sister's in Christ. Right now we are coming up on the end of our workbook, Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby.

We try to have beach/pool days at least once a week depending on the schedules and the kiddos. Hopefully we'll be able to spend a bit more time around the water now that it is getting very HOT! Wendi and I are also getting food plans made for the fast approaching CCBCi practicum next month! We are super excited to have visitors and some helping hands! 

The Past Few Weeks

So it's definitely been a few weeks since our last post and we apologize for that! My parents have left and gone back to Indianapolis. It was a sad day but we are grateful that they were able to spend three weeks with us here and truly experience the culture of St. Kitts. We love and miss you Mom and Dad!

During my parents visit, we had a mother and daughter from Canada, named Lindsey and Jordin, contact the Grayson's after seeing their blog and requested to do some ministry while they were here for a day from their cruise ship vacation.  It was really amazing that people would desire to reach out and minister to others while on their vacation.  We painted another room in Nicole's house, a woman who comes to our bible study.  We have done quite a bit of work on the house including tiling a shower, running basic plumbing so she has water, and almost painting the entire interior.  We're thankful for the help these ladies were able to give. 

But it didn't stop there! The ladies went and bought groceries for Nicole who is a single mother and raises one of her own children along with 3 other children living with her temporarily. Nicole was so blessed by the love that these ladies had shown.  After we were done with painting, the ladies had brought an entire hockey bag full of games and candy to donate to the Children's Home.  This was mine and Brandon's first time to the Children's Home.  The kids received the gifts with excitement and the director was thrilled.  It was a neat way that the Lord used to give us another contact and now there are many service opportunities for mission teams to go and do at the Children's Home.  We have the Calvary Chapel Bible College of Indianapolis coming towards the end of April and are really excited for what the Lord wants to do through them. 

The Bible Study on Wednesday nights has been going great. We are continuing our study of the book of John and we seem to be getting a regular group of about 10-12 people coming.  The Lord has been faithful to bring people and we know and trust that all we need to do is be concerned that we are focused on Him and not on the amount of people coming. He will take care of the rest. 

Brandon and I have continued coaching the Junior basketball team for the community we live in.  Our team is the Bird Rock Uprisers!  Right now we are 2-1 but should be 3-0! It is a blast and we both really enjoy it.  Pray that we would both continue to be able to reach out to these guys and share the love of Christ with them.

Continue to pray for the AWANA club that we just started.  It is going well and we are definitely seeing fruit, but pray that the Lord will provide more leaders and give us wisdom on how to best run the AWANA club here in St. Kitts so that it will minister the most effectively to this culture. 

Pray for a new Bible Study that we are beginning on Monday nights on the opposite side of the island in a community called Fig Tree. Through a local woman that helps with AWANA, we have been told there is a need there for good Bible teaching and the people of the community desire a bible study, so we are simply going and bringing the Word and we're excited to see what God does! Thanks to all who read this and care about what God is doing all around the world!