Back to work in Jamaica October 27, 2013
Singram Medical
We finally got this project approved!!! It had taken a long time but this project will help our Prospective Jamaican Missionaries get their medical work completed for their mission requirements. We had to go to downtown Kingston to find this Medical Supply Warehouse. The one we are looking for is upstairs and to the far right. Each set of doors you see is a different business. There is plumbing, auto parts and many other types of business’s here.
Wheelchair
Mr. Edwards would not let me put his chair together for him, he wanted to do it himself. This gentleman is getting his second chair from us. He got his first chair 3 years ago. He was rolling down the road and was so happy he was singing to everyone he saw. Then he rolled by an older woman who was much worse off than he was and he felt so bad for her. Here this old lady who was trying to get around without help, who couldn’t walk; and here he was younger and stronger than she was in a brand new chair…so he gave her his new chair. It took a while for some friends to find him a broken down wheelchair that he has been piecing together and fixing all this time while he waited for another chair. It takes a long time to get the chairs here and then to have the correct size available. So after a three year wait he finally got his new chair. He was singing again and rolling all over the road. It was a pretty busy road too. Everyone came out of their homes and shops to see what all the singing was about. Mom started to get a little nervous but when everyone realized we were the ones who brought the chair they were all excited for us to be there and everything was good.
When we went to the emergency container two members were cleaning up around the Spanish Town Chapel. They had been working all morning and most of the afternoon. The only tools they had were the head of a shovel and their hands. The only tool most people use is a machete and their hands. So they would pick up a hand full of dirt or a couple of bricks and walk to the back of the property (at least an acre) where they dumped the debris. Then come back and get another hand full. All total they moved about five or six pickup loads. They were about half done when we got there. We let them use the humanitarian wheelbarrow and in about half an hour later they were finished. Notice the shovel head.
Still haven’t goon fishing yet but we did talk to some fishermen. One man had a fishing pole which is kind of unusual; the other man had a hand line. Fishing line wrapped around a plastic pop bottle. They tie a heavy rock on the end then throw it out into the sea. He had some cloth tied to his line every ten or so feet so he could tell how far out he was. If they keep the line tight they can feel the fish bite.
Good friends going home.
Wheelchair
Mr. Edwards would not let me put his chair together for him, he wanted to do it himself. This gentleman is getting his second chair from us. He got his first chair 3 years ago. He was rolling down the road and was so happy he was singing to everyone he saw. Then he rolled by an older woman who was much worse off than he was and he felt so bad for her. Here this old lady who was trying to get around without help, who couldn’t walk; and here he was younger and stronger than she was in a brand new chair…so he gave her his new chair. It took a while for some friends to find him a broken down wheelchair that he has been piecing together and fixing all this time while he waited for another chair. It takes a long time to get the chairs here and then to have the correct size available. So after a three year wait he finally got his new chair. He was singing again and rolling all over the road. It was a pretty busy road too. Everyone came out of their homes and shops to see what all the singing was about. Mom started to get a little nervous but when everyone realized we were the ones who brought the chair they were all excited for us to be there and everything was good.
When we went to the emergency container two members were cleaning up around the Spanish Town Chapel. They had been working all morning and most of the afternoon. The only tools they had were the head of a shovel and their hands. The only tool most people use is a machete and their hands. So they would pick up a hand full of dirt or a couple of bricks and walk to the back of the property (at least an acre) where they dumped the debris. Then come back and get another hand full. All total they moved about five or six pickup loads. They were about half done when we got there. We let them use the humanitarian wheelbarrow and in about half an hour later they were finished. Notice the shovel head.
Still haven’t goon fishing yet but we did talk to some fishermen. One man had a fishing pole which is kind of unusual; the other man had a hand line. Fishing line wrapped around a plastic pop bottle. They tie a heavy rock on the end then throw it out into the sea. He had some cloth tied to his line every ten or so feet so he could tell how far out he was. If they keep the line tight they can feel the fish bite.
Good friends going home.
We have many things we do here including taking some of the senior missionaries to the airport for their final flight home. This sweet couple even got to stay overnight with us for their last night in Jamaica. Elder and Sister Wright have flown to their home in Idaho. They were our CES Couple and did a marvelous job with the Seminaries and Institute here in Jamaica. They served with some definite challenges but always had happy hearts, willing hands and a ready smile. The will be greatly missed. Elder Wright is scheduled to have a surgery in the near future and we want them to know that we are praying for them. It should be noted that they have jackets with them. They are for when they get home. Neither of them ever used them while serving their mission. Jamaica is much too warm for that! We also get to be “school bus drivers” starting last Friday (E/S Wright, one more item for the resume for the All Inclusive Resort!). Our mission President and his wife are at a Mission Presidents Seminar for all of next week so we are chauffeuring their children back and forth to school with our other more normal duties.
We had a granddaughter Elizabeth Kate Miller celebrate her 7th birthday on Sunday the 27th. We were able to Skype with her and sing happy birthday to her. She is such a cutie and we love and miss her along with ALL of our family and friends. Our hearts and prayers are with the Chaston’s as Elder Chaston continues to recover in the hospital in France. We are sure that they will be sorely missed when they must leave for home in December. Knowing Doug and Marsha as we do they must be struggling with this but the Lord knows of their dedication and willingness to serve Him. Their mission may have been shortened but it has been a successful one.
Please continue to pray for us as we are praying for you too. Each one of you is precious to us and we cannot imagine our earthly existence without you in our lives. Thank you so much for your love and support…
Mom and Dad
E/S Murdock