Jamaica Campaign-Installment 3

Welcome to Jamaica Campaign-Installment 3
Services
If you are just joining us, be sure to check out my posts on Installment 1 and Installment 2!
**A small disclaimer-none of my Jamaica photos were taken with my good camera, I had to leave it at home. If you are a client looking for portfolio pictures, scroll down or look through previous posts to the right.**


These first two photos were from the 2006 Campaign-this is what the Hope Bay church building looked like then.

THIS is what the Hope Bay building looks like NOW!
It is SO nice. Several congregations and individuals, along with the East Side congregation, helped pay for the new additions. They now have classroom spaces and a baptistry!

It was so nice to worship in this building with this congregation. I wished that the first timers could have seen the building before to really appreciate what it is like now.

Dean & Bro. Kelly talking after services one night. The baptistry is behind that red curtain in the corner.Here are Dean & Bro. Fitzroy. Fitzroy was baptized during my first campaign in 2004. He is now a student at the Jamaica School of Preaching.

This is Kareem and myself. Kareem is Bro. Kelly's youngest son and is the cutest kid! He has grown SO much since I saw him last.

Dave, myself, and Lindsey after services one night.

My "East Tennessee Dad" and I.

The second baptism of the campaign.
Ms. Jackson was baptized during the first week.
Here is Bro. Johnny Grant baptizing Mrs. Jackson for the remission of her sins in order to become a Christian (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16).

Terra and Ms. Jackson's granddaughter, Shaquan-she's 5 years old.

Singing after Sis. Jackson's baptism!!

Greeting our new sister

This is the Ythanside church building (30 miles up the mountain from Hope Bay). We did Bible studies in Ythanside both weeks and had a Crusade (Gospel Meeting) there the 2nd week.
It used to be a Pentecostal denomination (I think) until the preacher died. They asked Bro. Kelly to preach there. He did and converted several members-about two years ago. And now we have a church of Christ in Ythanside!

The bathroom/outhouse at the Ythanside building.

My #1 Favorite Picture from the campaign.
Lindsey & little Shaquan

Sunday morning worship services at Ythanside.

This was the congregation on Sunday morning at Ythanside (everyone except me-I was taking the picture!).

The Girls!
Lyndsay 2, myself, and Lindsey 1 with the sweet little girls that became our best buds!
Adaajah (6), Shaquan (5) and Camille (7)

My #2 Favorite Picture from the campaign.
How SWEET are those girls?!

Services one night during the Crusade-Derrick is preaching.

Thanks to Lindsey for this shot of Shaquan and I. She wanted to take a picture every night!
My #3 Favorite Picture of the trip......
Sweet Camille was sitting next to me Friday night. She asked me as soon as the sermon started for a piece of paper. I told her no because the girls had had some trouble with playing, writing, etc. during the sermon earlier in the week. As I started taking notes and following along during the sermon, Camille would look at my Bible and try to find the same scripture in hers. I leaned over and whispered to her, "If I give you paper, will you write what I write." She said, "Yes!" with a big smile. So, I gave her a piece of paper and that 7 year old little girl took notes for the entire hour long sermon. She would look at my notes, copy what I wrote and follow along in her Bible. She would circle the verses we were looking at. SUCH a GOOD GIRL! I was SO PROUD. I gave her some "sweetie" (M&Ms) and we bragged on her for a long time.
Here we are with our notes. :) This was such a great lesson for me to be reminded what our children are capable of. I know few parents in the U.S. who would expect their children to pay attention and follow along during a sermon, but they are fully capable of it (especially since we don't have hour long sermons here)!

I hope you enjoyed the 3rd Installment of the Jamaica Campaign.
Be sure to check my Facebook album for more pictures of services.

Other Facebook albums for LOTS more pictures:
Travel & Lodging Fun
Daily Fun
More Daily Fun (Week 2)

Vera Bradley-For Sale

I asked for this Vera Bradley-Petal Pink laptop case for my birthday. I was thrilled when my parents got it for me. I was disappointed and felt really dumb when Wesley laughed and asked how my 17 inch laptop was supposed to fit in a 15 inch case. Good question. I thought I would use it for something else, but now I have decided I should try to get something I would enjoy more and use more. I would exchange it somewhere, but it is a retired pattern. So, if you would like to purchase this BRAND NEW laptop case, please email me denise@skeltonphotography.com or call me 615.804.0925. If you are in the Johnson City or Cleveland area, I will deliver it to you. If not, I will ship it to you at your cost (but I don't think it would be much-less than $5).
The price tag says $38. Since it's brand new, I would like to get as close to that as possible, how about $35?! Email or call me and tell me what you think.
Thanks!

Emmett & Erin

I had such a great time with Jeanette, Patrick and little Emmett last November (despite the freezing weather!) and was so excited when Jeanette emailed me to see about having a family session with a now 2 1/2 year old Emmett and new 6 month old Erin.

We started out in the family room for some playtime!
Patrick got the family favorite Llama Llama Mad at Mama to read to the kiddos.

Time to cuddle Daddy!

Erin loves her Glow Worm.

I love these adorable chairs Jeanette got for the kids-I think she said they came from Pottery Barn.
The facial expressions crack me up here.

How beautiful are these eyes?! They remind me of what I thought Emmett's from our last session.
Amazing.

After playtime in the house, we went to a nearby historical place to explore. It's close to the family's home and they love to take walks there.

He is looking so grown up!

Sibling Love

Emmett is still a fast runner and he is still way into cars (be sure to see him driving in the slideshow!).

This was HILARIOUS! Emmett saw the chickens and said, "Bite! Bite!" He apparently thought they looked tasty!

A volunteer was there working and offered to let Emmett feed the chickens. He LOVED it!

Then, we headed back home for more cuddle time in Erin's nursery.

Patrick & Jeanette, thanks again so much for allowing me to spend time with your family. I can't wait to come back in a few months for Erin's 9 month session!
I hope you enjoy your slideshow.
Be sure to register to view all of the images when they are available tomorrow.

Sneak Peek

Do you remember sweet little Emmett from a session last fall? Now, he's a big brother!
I had the privilege of hanging out with Emmett and his family Saturday evening. Here's a sneak peek for you until I finish.


How adorable is that baby Erin? She is 6 months old.
Playtime in the living room.

Tickle time!

Jeanette and Patrick, I had such a great time with your family! I can't wait for you to see the rest.

Jamaica Campaign-Installment 2

Welcome to Jamaica Campaign-Installment 2
Daily Fun-Week 1 !!

**A small disclaimer-none of my Jamaica photos were taken with my good camera, I had to leave it at home. If you are a client looking for portfolio pictures, scroll down or look through previous posts to the right.**

Here's a map of Jamaica to show you where we were. We were in the parish of Portland on the right.

Here's a closer up map of Portland-the area where we worked was Hope Bay. We have worked in Hope Bay for several years. There was a Crusade (Gospel Meeting) in Hope Bay for both weeks with Bible studies being conducted each day. We also worked in Ythanside, having Bible studies daily both weeks and a Crusade the second week only. Ythanside isn't on the map because it's in the mountains and it's small. I would try to tell you where it is, but I don't know! :) I just know it took about 30 minutes to drive there from Hope Bay and it's in the mountains!!

Wesley and I worked in Ythanside both weeks. This was the beautiful view that greeted us everyday! The East Tennessee mountains have NOTHING on this!

Here is a typical Jamaican house.

This was what our drive was like everyday. They are doing construction on the roads. Apparently, in order to fix the roads, you first have to tear them up.

Each morning, we had breakfast at 7 a.m. and left the villas at 8:30 to go to the Hope Bay church building for a devotional and brief meeting before we went to work.
Dean went over who was going where, etc. each day.

Wesley did a great devo on how we are working in the Christian Battlefield (Ephesians 6).
Johnny (to the left of Wesley), Wesley, and I came just as Dean and Jenna were finishing a study with Tom (in the center). Tom's mother was baptized the first week and Tom was baptized the second week.

Oh yes! This was a fun day!
On this morning, Dave drove us to the church building. We turned in to the church building and heard "CRUNCH." Then we heard, "Splash" Dave ran over the water line.

Dave after he ran over the water line.
Please notice Johnny in the back left who is laughing very much at the American driver!!!

The water people were already coming that day to fix a leak, so they fixed the broken pipe too.

When we returned that night, this is what we saw. :)
Terra, myself, and Lindsey one morning.

This was something we saw everyday-a big truck coming down a steep hill on a small road. The trucks were carrying rocks from the rock quarry at the top of the hill to where they were doing road construction.

This is Johnny & Wesley conducting a study with a lady (that's Tom's mother in the back).
To get a study, we basically did door knocking. We walked in our area of Ythanside and invited people to the meeting and asked if they would also like to have a Bible study. The Jamaican people are very receptive and are happy to study the Bible with us, most of the time. Their culture is very different in that they basically "tell it like it is". They don't get offended if we show them something in the Bible different from what they have been taught before. Our group conducted 180 Bible studies over the course of the two weeks and we had four baptisms while we were there.
What did we teach them? Generally, we asked where they attended church and asked what things their church taught. We would address those according to what the Bible says-showing them the Scriptures and having them read it for themselves. One lady told us, "I appreciate you studying the Bible with me. No one else does this. Everything you said is from the Bible. Whatever you teach is from the Bible.”
We made sure that we covered the plan of salvation in each study. If you have any questions about this, please email me deniseskelton05@gmail.com

Believe -John 8:24

Repent -Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38

Confess Christ-Matthew 10:32

Be Baptized for the remission of sins-Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21

Live a Faithful Life -Rev. 2:10

This little boy was SO QUIET and he wouldn't say a thing to me.....until I brought out the M&Ms!

The Ocean. I LOVE the ocean! This was the first ocean I had ever seen (three years ago when I first went to Jamaica). It is so beautiful.

Wesley got to drive while we were in Jamaica. He was a good pot hole dodger.

See, I told you the next installment wouldn't be as long! :)
To see more pictures of DAILY FUN, click HERE to see my Facebook album.