Jamaica Mission: Schedule, Lodging & Food
- Kevin DemingTypical Schedule
Your time in Jamaica will be coordinated in cooperation with a local team of leaders. During your trip you will have the opportunity to connect with families in need. This mission trip is sure to grab your heart with a love and respect for the Jamaican people. Below is a basic schedule for the week, but we approach this with flexibility because our ultimate focus is on relationships.
Each morning, there is time set aside for devotions and quiet time. Experience Mission has devotionals/journals that are available for purchase or teams can supply their own. This is a valuable time and we strongly encourage everyone to spend it with God journaling their thoughts and experiences as the days unfold.
Each evening 30-60 minutes are set aside after dinner for worship, prayer and a short devotional by our staff. Following this evening gathering, there will be time scheduled for individual teams to meet together to share, debrief, have fun and deal with team issues. We make this time a priority for you to spend with your team.
Day 1
3:00-6:00 pm Groups Arrive
5:00 – Leader’s Meeting
6:00 – Dinner
7:00 – Orientation Meeting
8:30 – Team Time (a time for your group alone)
11:30 – Lights Out
Day 2 – Day 6
7:15 – Breakfast
7:45 – Devotions and Quiet Time
8:15 – Group Prayer
8:30 – Teams leave for Sites
12:00 – Lunch
3:30 – Finish Work for the day
4:00 – Break and Clean-up
5:00 – Leaders meeting
6:00 – Dinner
7:00 – Evening gathering (as a whole group)
8:30 – Team time
Day 7
7:00 – Breakfast
7:30 – Cleanup/ Packing
8:30 – Commissioning
9:00 – Pictures and Good-Byes
Lodging & Food
Lodging
You will be staying dormitory style at either a local church or school in Catadupa. Both places provide beautiful scenery and a chance to mingle with locals throughout the day. These facilities are rustic, not luxurious but sufficient. Volunteers should come prepared to leave “the comforts of home” behind. Team members will be sleeping on the floor and should plan to bring a blow up mattress, light bedding or sleeping bag and a pillow. Consult the chart below for details about your accommodations. Changes may occur.
|
Description
|
Teams in Catadupa normally stay at a local church. The church is on dirt roads surrounded by farm land and beautiful mountain scenery.
|
|
Sleeping
|
Your team will be sleeping on concrete floors, so mats/air mattresses are essential. Bring your own bedding. It is generally warm at night; however, it is cool on occasion. A travel sheet and a light-weight sleeping bag rated down to the mid-50’s are ideal. Accommodations will be dormitory style with male and female sections.
|
|
Showers
|
Natural Spring- There is a natural spring within walking distance, and this is by far the most popular choice for showering among the teams. It is about a 10 minute walk from the church. Water comes down the side of the mountain, and there is a limitless supply. It is an open public area designated for bathing and washing, so bathing suits are required. Teams should bring t-shirts, shorts and sandals to walk to and from the spring. It is a beautiful place and the cool water is so refreshing!
Outdoor Facilities- There will also be makeshift showers at the facilities where you are staying. These consist of PVC pipe and outdoor shower stalls. There is no hot water but given the warm temperatures cool water can be nice. All water at the facilities comes from drums so there is a limited supply.
|
|
Bathrooms
|
There are outdoor toilet facilities. They contain modern flush toilets, but this water comes from a drum and has poor water pressure. When water is low or pressure is down, teams must flush using buckets. These facilities are simply a row of stalls; there is no common area and no sinks. Volunteers wash their hands in outdoor sinks.
|
|
Water
|
There is no running water in Catadupa. There are many spigots and sinks on the facilities, but all water comes from a drum, and water pressure is gravity based. Treated drinking water is available for volunteers 24/7.
|
|
Electricity
|
There is electricity at the facilities, and there are a limited number of outlets. The electrical service is not as dependable as the United States, and outages are fairly common.
|
|
Security
|
Your rooms can be locked and locals monitor the facilities to ensure that your possessions are safe throughout the day. Jamaican men designated by the local pastor stay on site all night. While you may have heard reports about gang wars and violence in Jamaica, it is important to understand that this is because of issues in the larger cities. You will staying in a safe, rural community where violence is not an issue.
|
Food
A wonderful team of local Jamaican women will be preparing and serving meals. You will have an ample selection of tasty food.
We will have purified drinking water available at all times for your team members.
Team members should plan to bring their own plate, bowl, cup and silverware for meals.
How do we contact someone in case of an emergency? You can call the church office and they will have 2 emergency contact numbers of the staff members for experience missions.
Those are two great things we need