We spent Tuesday afternoon at the church building hanging out with Kadeish (9) and his nephew Jeremiah (4).  Kadeish was baptized 2 years ago when we were in Antigua for the group trip.  Unfortunately he doesn't come around much except for when we are there so we are hoping to get him connected to the church members while we are here so he'll stick around after we are gone.  We got to meet with Mrs. Felix, the principal at Villa Primary school right by the church.  She was very welcoming and encouraged us to come back and visit again.  By the way, they need 2 teachers right now so if any of you are done teaching or don't even teach to begin with but want to come teach for the remainder of their school year, I just about guarantee you'll be hired!   I got to see my beloved Jehlaine.  He was in my group 2 years ago and honestly he was a trouble maker but he found a place in my heart and I've cried almost every time I've seen his picture or thought about him.  The principal encouraged us to reach out to him because he needs some guidance.  He didn't see me so I'm hopeful that one day soon we can visit.  

God is obviously working here even in ways I can't explain right now but we feel his presence more than ever in our lives and in what we are doing.  We also feel the prayers.  Please keep them coming.

 We are excitedly anticipating the next move God will make.  Stay tuned!

The 20 minute road we traveled to get to the beach-y'all I can't even explain it.  It was crazy bumpy and slow moving.  

Lizzie with some of the houses behind the church building

Tuesday afternoon bible story time.  Jeremiah didn't' have on pants!  Of course my girls asked about that later!

Beef Patties!!!

Church with Kadeish and Jeremiah (asleep in Kadeish's lap).

Me and Walker trying out the selfie stick (proof that I am on this trip!)

The girls doing some computer learning work

Raining at the beach picnic

Neo, Dennison and the girls in their funny hats #wearepale

Some of the ladies enjoying the water

We found Walker's chips!!

Bless

Exhausted

Yes, you read this correctly.  Chicken feet.  I am totally grossed out by the nails and fingers.  Great price though!

$13.54 US!!  Twice as much as home

Dinner with friends!!

We found more pumpkin fritters

One of my new favorite sayings.  This is so true!

Jeremiah sleeping on Will during church-one of the first kids we been able to interact with outside the church family

I know y'all are tired of seeing my kids sleeping but they just don't sleep in the car much so this has been funny for us to see.  We do have a pretty good drive to church each day though.

3 2 1 Go!!!

Sunday

After telling you how expensive food is here, we have never been so happy to get some cheaper food from home!  Thank you Mark & Gena and Russ & Emily for bringing some things that we can eat for the next few weeks and it not cost an arm and a leg.  Lizzie was most excited about the vanilla wafers and probably asked me 10 times that day when they would be here.  

Yesterday we had church and what was called a Whole Day Fellowship.  We were there from 10am-6:15 pm.  Let that sink in.  That's a long day and while we were exhausted, it was awesome.  It is so neat to see the members enjoying spending an entire day hanging out with one another and not being in a rush to get home.  I feel like in America we are always in a rush to get to the next thing and would have a hard time spending the entire day selflessly.  (Something we need to work on)  We started out yesterday with class and then church and then we ate a wonderful Antiguan meal.  I'm not even sure what all I ate and I'm not sure I want to know but it was all good.  We did have Roti which we had been hearing about.  It was VERY good.  This is the best definition I've found of what I think we were eating.  

Wrap roti

A popular wrap made by folding a combination of meat and vegetable curries inside of a dhalpuri roti. The curry or stew often contains potatoes and/or chickpeas as a filler as well as the essential meat component, although vegetarian options are common as well. Popular fillings include curried chicken, goat, conch, duck, beef, shrimp, and vegetable. An assortment of optional condiments are also common such as pepper sauce and mango chutney.

I'm probably very wrong about that but it was very good.  After lunch we had a meeting with the elders of the church to discuss the camp and VBS this summer and to make some plans for our family as well.  It is so great to see leaders from different churches and backgrounds working together with Jesus being the common denominator.  The elders and wives are very willing to work together to do what is best for bringing kids to Christ.  Although both groups speak English, the combination of our Southern drawl and their Antiguan accent sometimes makes it difficult to understand each other. Most of the time this is not a problem though.  After the meeting, we had dessert and then sang a few more songs before leaving.  Gena took us around the Villa area after church and we tried to find some of the houses of the kids that we'll hopefully be spending some time with.  We took some notes so that hopefully we can find the kids soon.  We finally made it home around 7:15 and had some leftover hotdogs and then off to bed.  Walker slept all of 40 minutes THE. WHOLE. DAY.  He was such a trooper though.  While he is a fantastic baby, he hasn't mastered sleeping anywhere so unless we're at home or he's in his carseat he isn't sleeping much.

Today we are off to the beach for a BBQ picnic with the church.  It is a holiday here, called Whit Monday.  Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday (also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit) is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. Thank you google!

Enjoy the pics.  Most are from the whole day fellowship yesterday

Yay for food!

The essentials from home!

The kids being silly on the steps of the new church building

Sleep where you can

We found Jahmar-one of the camp favorites!!

Dennison holding Walker

The teens playing taboo

Washing dishes with Mrs. Denise

Walker's hair has been interesting in this weather, it hasn't affected Will's one bit!