Do Something Cayman » Volunteer Report

Reflections

Do Something World - Cayman — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:59:29 +0000

Today is Monday and the week of ministering in Grand Cayman has come to a close. This has been one of life’s experiences that I will hold close to my heart. I have been blessed to work with a group of outstanding people throughout this campaign. My immediate team was made up of a group of women that had a love for the Lord and held nothing back in sharing that love with each other and with the children we presented the Gospel to.

As the week progressed, we continually experienced feelings that spanned all emotions. We missed our families that were still at home praying for us. We began each day with excitement and nervous anticipation. We experienced great joy when hearts were broken and lives were changed, and we had our hearts broken by the stories and prayer requests we received from the children and adults alike. We shared the highs and lows with each other and grew closer together, sisters and brother in Christ. It was a bonding experience.

We came to give, but as the scriptures foretold, we received ten fold. What we take with us is immeasurable. I personally learned and grew, not only from the children, but also through each of my teammates. They all taught me something, about themselves, about me, and about God and his wondrous love. My teammates have been servants of the Lord and servants to each other. They allowed me to serve and to be served. From the simple things like helping someone with a drink of fixing their plate, to a hand on the shoulder, a hug, and prayers of encouragement during those times when our tank was on empty.

This has been my second mission for God. Through my first mission, God taught me to hear his voice, loud and clear like the spoken word. He showed me that he is omnipresent in ways that defy words. This time He gave me passion. He spoke to my heart, and told me how He died for me in a very personal way some 2000 years ago.

Today we head for home tired and drained, excited to be returning to our families and friends. We are better for being here. God has done amazing things in and through each of us.

David – High School Assemblies

The Final Deaf Team Updates!

Do Something World - Cayman — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:23:53 +0000

Last Friday was the first day of the Festival. God is so great! You can check out the live recording and see all the people, J it was neat! A Deaf mom rededicates her life to go and she has a Deaf husband, who already follows Jesus and two hearing children and make sure you remember those two children for the other story.

Last Saturday morning, we went out to see the sting rays and the Deaf group came with us. It was fun and the best part of it was the young Deaf lady got saved! She is filled with questions and is hungry for God’s Word! We will use videophone often to help her grow spiritually with God and of course to answer more of her questions! Hahaha

Saturday evening was the last night of being with the Deaf group. During the day, I asked one of the Deaf man name Charles to take me to Maude’s house. She is Deaf and has two hearing children. Charles and the other Deaf kept saying she is not home because all the windows are closed and there is no car. They told me yesterday and again today. However it was bothering me and I had deep desire to just stop by her home and try to knock her door and see if her hearing children would answer the door. God was really putting that burden on my heart. Finally, after the last visit with the Deaf and was on the way to the Festival, I again told Charlie to please just stop by the house and see. We did and sure enough the Deaf mom and her two hearing children were home! The mom was sick and didn’t feel good for the past two days, please pray for her, but…. I had to drag her older daughter who is 20 years old to go. Guess my aggressive pays it off after all; she finally gave in and went with us. That night at the festival, the first altar call, the daughter came forward and got saved!! Praise the Lord! Then the other Deaf mom with the Deaf husband’s two children got saved! They are 9 and 6 years old, and so precious! Please pray that God will pour his blessings to this Deaf family J

One other Christian family, hearing mom who signs and a deaf daughter, who is the future generation for the Cayman Islands because both mom and dad sign, the Deaf daughter is a smart young lady who has a lot of potential in her to lead the Deaf Community. I took the opportunity to explain about trinity in depth, and making sure she understand who Christ really is, not just to pray and follow her family’s tradition. She prayed with me and rededicated herself to the Lord. I am blessed that God gave me the opportunity to really explain about Christ, and the bible in depth to make sure she has the foundation of her faith.

We arrived home safely last night. I am looking forward to share more stories about what God has been doing at the Cayman Islands God bless you and thank you again for your prayers, donations and your finance support. This would not have happen without you all being part of our team!

Thank God It’s Friday

Do Something World - Cayman — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:22:30 +0000

At first one might get the feeling that we are glad the week is coming to an end. In fact, our team is saddened that today we participated in our last school presentation. As we have ridden an emotional rollercoaster this week, we have been continually rejuvenated by the Holy Spirit. We followed the amazing primary School team in presenting to the students at Triple C Academy. The primary school children and faculty were engaged and it was so much fun to see the interaction between them and the volunteers.

Next was our turn with the upper grades. Again, the students and faculty were engaged and tuned in the message. 15 of the attendees, including one of the adults chose to accept Christ as their personal savior.

This afternoon we head out the festival site and prepare for the beginning of the “Big Event”. The next two days should prove to be overwhelming, rewarding, and exhausting. We are about to see God move in wondrous ways.

Thank God it’s Friday.

- David, School Assemblies

Community Projects in Prison and at School

Do Something World - Cayman — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:20:06 +0000

Today we started our day with the students from our school, they gave us an appreciation cermony. They sung songs, recited poems, created skits and actually made us beautiful homemade Thank you cards.

As the students arrived for the assembly our team (Construction) and Medical team joined hands and created a archway for the children to enter through. We also passed out yellow and white “do something” bans. Everyone laughed and hugged knowing this would be our last day, it was bittersweet. We laughed, we cried, we were overwhelmed with their loving kindness.

All of our team members recieved a school pin from the principle. We in turn presented him with an official team T-Shirt. We also gave token gifts to the cafeteria cook for the wonderful meals all week and we left one of the puppets with the firstgrade class ( they loved petting the green turtle from El Cajon).

The prison team completed all of their projects and joined us later at the hotel. We had a two hour break and quickly changed into our Green shirts as we traveld to the Black Pear for the festival. The festival was superb, this is where you take over….I hope you were all on line watching the streaming -live website.

We danced and praised the Lord. The most magnificent even was when one of our students from school was met by one of our Rock members as she gave her life to Christ. The child remembered the construction team member and hugged her. God always has a plan and prepares the way prior to us knowing the plan. One person from San Diego and one Child from Cayman at this time at this moment. God is Love! God Knows. We are thankful we followed his plan for God saved a child tonight, one of many others who gave their life to Christ.

We are thankful we followed his directions and did not lean on our own understanding. We are a “Do Something World”!

Building Legacy

Do Something World - Cayman — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:14:51 +0000

It is Thursday, and unfortunately I had to sit out and stay behind at the hotel due to being sick. But from what my teammates told me it looked like the Sports Ministry had another blessed day. They visited 3 schools today, Savannah Primary, John Cumber, and Grace Christian Academy. At Grace Christian my teammate Annie mentioned that in addition to sports the kids wanted to show us some cool things that they do. So with the teachers’ permission some of the kids sought out wild iguanas and brought them back to us to see. Others climbed up on to the roofs and climbed up coconut trees in their uniforms to bring us coconuts for its juice to drink.

But at Savannah and John Cumber legacy was being built. My teammate Randy told me that when he was at Savannah that there was kid named Shawn who was considered one of the “hi-risk” kids, meaning he was one of the ones that would always get in trouble. One of the things Randy did was pray for him then gave him accountability by designating him as the Sportsmanship Minister for his school. His roll was to become a school leader and to show his peers how to demonstrate good sportsmanship. Similarly, at John Cumber, the Sports Ministry team had the opportunity to witness the room extension and murals that were built by the Construction and Community Projects Ministry groups. He mentioned how beautiful everything looked and what an impact this will make for future students and teachers to come.

I feel both experiences at Savannah and John Cumber have a unique analogy. The idea is “building a legacy.” By giving Shawn accountability, his memory, his story to his peers and even those who he may designate to take his roll after him, will remind others of how a group of foreigners came to visit him and help change his negative to a positive. Likewise, at John Cumber, the establishment of the new partition and murals will not only be a reminder for the teachers and the students of the school, but it will provide them with long lasting stories and memories to share for decades. Although legacy was built not by design, planting the seed demonstrating God’s love for strangers showing them that they have the ability to maintain and share such love for their community and build “discipleship” is everlasting.

-Marlino, Sports

Taking It Up A Notch

Do Something World - Cayman — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:13:54 +0000

It is Wednesday here in the Caymans and the Sport Ministry Team has one of the longest days today. We found ourselves back at George Hicks to minister to 3 other schools out of the 7 that are housed here. I did my 3-minute testimonial today and I witnessed some interesting things. I had asked the boys, “How many of you believe in Jesus?” Everyone’s hands rose to the sky. Then I asked, “How many of you read your bible?” Slowly hands started to drop and some showed some embarrassment on their faces for doing so. Finally, I asked, “How many of you live your life for God and according to God’s will?” With that, everyone’s hands drop to their side. This reminded me why God called all of us to do mission work in this country. There is no question that the Cayman Islands is “paradise.” So why should anyone seek God if they have “everything” here? Based on what a pastor told us the other day, he said that mostly everyone on the island believes in God, goes to church, but at the end of the day it stops there. No one is doing anything more. I believe that our mission is to unite all the churches together and help them establish a platform to “Do Something More.”

On the other side my teammate Bre shared her childhood testimonial in the girls locker room. Bre’s story told a very heartfelt and touching story that left a very lasting impression on many of the females who had their attention locked in on her. Some shed tears, while others were just in awe, and some even consulted with her after her talk eager to know “how was were you able to forgive?” It was a very blessed day for Alan as well. Alan led altar call for some of the schools saving over 38 students. In addition, at First Baptist Christian School, he experienced 5-minutes of fame for not only having the most popular sport all the kids wanted to play, but at the end of the session the kids surrounded him wanting to talk to him more, asking him for his autograph, definitely our most improved player and a well deserved round of applause back on the bus.

One of the biggest highlights of the day would be when one of the boys in one of our classes had a pink backpack with holes in it and malfunctioned zippers. So Cody told the boy to take out everything in his backpack and traded him with his newer DC backpack so that the boy would be able to “fit-in” with the other kids. Other significant things I can say have been happening are numerous prayer circles, kids really starting to engage with us and remembering our names, and the feeling of impact from the presence of 12 foreigners that walked through the schools to demonstrate discipleship. Tanya our prayer leader mentioned to me today that a student came up to her and said that he was a Christian and had asked to pray for her! It was such a great day for the Sports Ministry to take it up a notch.

- Marlino, Sports

Medical Miracles

Do Something World - Cayman — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:09:43 +0000

Thursday, our last full day with the children at John A. Cumber primary school finished with displays of our Lord Jesus’s grace. The clinic and classes in the morning were filled with energetic student eager to learn. Smiles beamed across the room and the name of Jesus echoed through the gymnasium all day. The Lord allowed the classes to arrive in a different time frame than what was expected. The team performed exceptionally. Adjustments were made on the spot immediately with a large group of students. It was amazing to see how far the Lord had grown this team over a few short days. Prior to Monday morning, team members were praying for the Lord’s guidance and help to teach the elementary population. The Lord had scheduled multiple opportunities for the gospel to be presented to a number of students. Students were given an opportunity to pray. It was pure joy to see children praying and thanking Jesus for salvation. Joshua – Cayman Medical Team

Prayers from Hell

Do Something World - Cayman — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:08:09 +0000

Another beautiful day in the Cayman Islands, and another opportunity to share our testimonies and the love of our Lord and Savior. Today was a little different for us, as we had an opportunity to share the gospel with with both elementary and high school kids. We first split off into three groups, I was lucky enough to be part of the high school team. As we began to share our testimonies, we could see the power of the holy spirit working in these kids just as we had seen all week. No matter the school, the age of the children, or the location, the desire to know God was always clearly demonstrated. Out of a group of 17 students, we had 8 receive Christ into their hearts, but the best part, was two of the 8 were school administrators. On a spiritual high, we joined our amazing and fearless leader Lisa for the elementary school assembly. It was so fun to watch her glide effortlessly from a fun game of “Jesus Says” to asking these precious little faces about why sometimes we don’t always do what Jesus says. Laughter broke out when one adorable outspoke little boy responded to Lisa’s question “Who here knows someone who doesn’t know God” and he shouted out “The devil Ma’am?” Not quite the answer we were looking for, but hilarious none the less. After tons of hugs, pictures and prayers we hopped back in the bus to head out for lunch and quick stop at Hell. Hell, the city, that is. You can imagine the jokes and one liners we all fired off as we pulled up to The Devil’s Hangout souvenir shop. We poured out and into the shop for some “Went to Hell and back” T-shirts, and some postcards (strait from Hell) and were promptly greeted by the devil. The devil was actually the owner of the shop, who explained to us, in his Hell, even the devil is saved. He then pulled my team mate Sarah aside to ask her about another one of our team mates Amy, and the pain she’s been experiencing in her hands. Apparently, he had heard of her pain from his pastor, who had come to pray with us earlier this week. He had it on his heart to just pray for her, right then and there. The divinity in this story is that just moments before, Sarah was praying with Amy and expressed the need to gather as many people for prayer as possible for her healing on this trip. Imagine their surprise when the devil himself was an answer to prayer. We continue to learn so much ourselves with every blessing, every prayer and every heart that turns to Christ.

Update from Community Projects Team

Do Something World - Cayman — Fri, 14 May 2010 02:41:06 +0000

Today we split our teams to cover God’s additional plans. Some of the team stayed on site at John C Cumber School to finish the construction project, while others traveled to the Prison to help paint the cells. We also used part of our team to work on a back drop for Beauty and the Beast for our school (yes it is our school now, we are a part of the entire campus).

When we heard that our team was covering extra territory we knew God was putting us to the test and we are his faithful servants. The construction team plugged in their equipment, when they were done their blue “community” T-shirts were cement gray, their mask and skin covered with dust and dirt. The mural team rolled up their sleeves and when they were done their knees and back hurt from mapping, creating grids, and painting; their blue T-shirts were dark brown and their skin was covered with paint. The team that went to the prison had to start from the beginning cleaning, scraping, stripping and than start the painting the floors, ceilings, walls, and bars….we wont tell you what happened to their blue ‘community” T-shirts.

We are so blessed to see how God prepared his plan and provided us with the patience to work through the projects! We are stronger warriors for Christ because the pain was not bad, in fact the set backs helped us work harder as a team which gave us more power through Christ Jesus!

We are happy to report the construction team has completed their project of adding 3000 square feet to the school! Go team, go! The mural for the school play is complete! Indeed that is a miracle since we just started yesterday and the size of the mural is 33′ x 12′! The prison ministry is almost complete, we only need to add finishing touches, what a team!

We arrived back to our hotel at 5:15 we had 45 minutes to run to our rooms, shower and return to lobby to meet Foster our bus driver who will take us to Black Pearl for our dry run “walk through” in preparation for the Do Something Festival tomorrow. We are tired, exhausted however everyone shows up in the lobby at exactly 6pm, refreshed and ready to go! Foster gave us a special tour of the Island as we made our way to Black Pearl.

We are experiencing the time of our life through the magnificent works of the Holy Spirit. We have seen our projects do full turn around to successful accomplishments, we have witnessed to strangers and each other, we are seeing small children accept Christ and adults praising and shouting for Joy in the name of Christ Jesus. We are happy to be God’s most humble servants. We are happy to “Do Something”!

We started the day with devotions , shared by Anissa. God is Love 1 Corinthians 13.

Day 4: Deaf Team Update

Do Something World - Cayman — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:29:56 +0000

Amazing day filled with inspiration and blessings. Watch the video to see what has inspired me so! I spent the morning with two Deaf Blind here on the Island. In the afternoon I spent time visiting a Deaf girl who is 15. I was able to sit with her and talk with her about future leadership opportunities and the possibility of leading the Deaf here on the Island. I also shared more about ASL with her mom and another hearing woman. I think they now have a better understanding about the depth of the language. We had a good way to end the day. I shared my testimony about the Deaf blind woman on the beach. And it really affected the hearing team too. Some of them asked me to share my story again later with others. And it gave me the opportunity to educate them more about the differences in Deaf from the USA and those living here in Cayman and about our role here this week impacting the Deaf community.