On May 25, a group of 27 missionaries from Bloomington, Bedford, Martinsville and Indianapolis, Indiana, boarded a plane bound for Montego Bay, Jamaica. Our goal was to share Jesus with the children in two different orphanages, and our theme for the week was "Jesus our Forever Friend."

After six hours on two different airplanes and four hours in a bus, the mission team arrived at the East Jamaica Seventh-day Adventist Conference office in Kingston, Jamaica. Though it was late, the group received a warm and friendly welcome from conference officials, members of the Macedonia Adventist Church, the local church with whom the mission team would work, and other members of the Adventist community. Thanks to the diligent preparation of the on-site coordinator for the trip, the group was quickly divided into smaller groups and sent to seven local host homes, where they stayed during their time in Kingston.

During the next week, the mission team divided their time between several different projects in the morning. Projects included painting and tiling the Macedonia Adventist Church, painting benches, playground equipment and the surrounding walls at Glen Hope Place of Safety Nursery, and whitewashing the trees and rocks in Glen Hope Place of Safety.

Each afternoon the mission team went to Maxfield Park Children's Home, the largest orphanage in Jamaica, housing approximately 120 children ranging in ages from 0 to 18. There they taught the children songs, used puppet shows to illustrate moral lessons such as obeying the rules and the importance of forgiveness, reenacted Bible stories such as Joseph and Esther, and played games and created crafts with the children. What a blessing it was to see the children learn the songs about Jesus! Many of the children learned to pray for the very first time that week.

Each evening the mission team worked with the Macedonia Church in community evangelism. Seven youth from the mission team and Fernando Ortiz, mission trip leader, preached on different nights on a variety of topics. The week of evangelism culminated on Sabbath as the mission team worshiped with the Macedonia Church members and visitors from the community who attended the evangelistic meetings nightly. What a blessing it was to see young people give their hearts to the Lord and choose to follow Jesus into the watery grave of baptism. Three baptized were members of our mission team, who decided in Jamaica to commit their lives fully to the Lord.

All too soon the trip was over, and mission team members said their goodbyes. No member of the mission team will ever be the same. We are grateful for the hospitality and love by the children and the members of the Macedonia Church. This trip touched our hearts, as we realized the joy that comes from sharing Jesus with those around us. Our team has returned with deeper appreciation for our families and love and support that we so often take for granted, and a new zeal to spread the gospel of Jesus with those we meet. Each soul is precious whether young or old, and it is our calling to be missionaries to everyone we come in contact with.

Melissa Kast is a member of the Bloomington Church in Indiana.

For more pictures and testimonies of the trip, visit www.ImmersionMissionTrips.com.