Pictures from my Trip

I've finally organized my pictures!  Thank you so much to all of you who supported me.  It was truly an amazing experience.

I've been asked to consider returning with the Conference Team and in the future with another Library Team.  Please pray with me about that.  It's a big time and money commitment, which is hard for me with my kids getting so close to college (Claire is a junior!!).

But I would so love to return to the Montego Bay schools.  The teachers, students, and community are more gracious, kind, and thankful than any group I have ever encountered.  I was so blessed to get to go.

Click the Logo below to see a slide show of my experience in Montego Bay this summer.

The slide show goes fast, pause it if you need to.  It will automatically replay.

The Backstory and Crazy Faith

If you have the patience to read my thoughts, I'd love to tell you the backstory of this fabulous library. Where it all began...

Ten years ago, a missionary and teacher founded Teaching With Jamaica to support teacher training in Montego Bay.  Over the years, some members of the team have stayed around, some have moved on, and all who have been a part are blessed.  Ten years later, Teaching With Jamaica still hosts a 3-day teaching conference for Montego Bay preschool through sixth grade teachers.  This year, we hosted 145 Jamaican teachers.

Closing Ceremonies at the 2016 Conference

Two years ago, Teaching With Jamaica was allowed to create a school library in Farm Primary and Junior High.  Mr. Victor Newsome, the principal, had been a teacher at the conference for a few years before being promoted to principal and--since reading is fundamental to education--sought help in building a school library.

At a celebration last week, Mr. Newsome shared his success.  In the first year of Farm's library, the school literacy rate grew from approximately 40% to 60%.  In the second year, they advanced from 60% to 80%.  School libraries change lives.

Last summer, the Teaching With Jamaica team went on school tours after the conference ended as they do each year.  They toured Catherine Hall Infant, Primary, and Special Education School.  Mrs. Mitchell, the administrative assistant, was in her first few week of a new job,  She led the tour and even pointed out one cluttered and locked room.  "This is supposed to be our library," she said, "But we ran out of funding and haven't been able to complete it."  Principal Dudley Jennings had been diligent in improving his school of 1300 students by adding a computer lab downstairs and a library space upstairs.  The computer lab had been equipped and was up and running.  But the library was yet unfinished.

"This is our library," Patti Gilbert, Teaching With Jamaica President, whispered to her team.

The view into the Catherine Hall Library space

But ultimately it is not the decision of Teaching With Jamaica to choose a facility.  The Jamaican Ministry of Education must approve requests and decide which school we are able to assist.  The Ministry said a library could be built, but did not share which campus they would allow.

The leaders of Teaching With Jamaica began collecting new and donated books in June of 2015, knowing that they would build a library, but not knowing which library.

That same June, I went to an event honoring Allen High School Seniors of which one was my niece Haley Armentrout.  Haley has always wanted to be a teacher.  Her gifts and abilities have shown already that she will be a master teacher like her mother and grandmother before her!  One of the teacher mentors that spoke at the event was Patti Gilbert.  She shared about Teaching With Jamaica and the books they were already collecting to build a library.

I recall hearing about that mission and thinking, "I could do that."  Already I was intrigued.  But it wasn't until September that Terri Williams, a teacher friend at my school in Wylie, asked me to think about joining the library team with Teaching With Jamaica.  By that time I had forgotten about Haley's event and the news I had heard there.  All I knew was that Terri's idea sounded so familiar, and I already heard the Lord whisper, "Go."

Terri asked me to pray about joining this summer's group.  I told her I'd pray, but I already knew I'd say yes.  It took me a week before it dawned on me where I had heard about Teaching With Jamaica before (in Sunday School when Haley leaned over and said, "You heard it from me!").

I love that the Lord planted that seed in advance and prepared me before the invitation.

Terri Williams and I at the Ten Year Teaching With Jamaica Celebration

So now we come to the work....

In October, I began assisting the team on processing the donated books.  Library processing means affixing spine labels, pockets, and check-out cards to the books for circulation. It means sorting the books into categories of picture books, chapter books, and non-fiction Dewey classifications. It means creating a catalog or list of each book that the library will house.  It took us seven months to finish the work on 6000-plus books.

Just after Christmas, Patti got word that The Ministry of Education had decided on a school for the library: Catherine Hall!

Now we prepared KNOWING who would benefit and praying for those specific children as we worked.  The only thing we knew about the space was that one peek into the tiny cluttered space.  We planned decorations and organizations not really knowing what the space would actually look like as a library.

By May, we had to ship all of our materials.  A huge number of boxes take a long time to arrive and even longer to pass through Customs.  Another concern we had at the time was the fact that we had heard there were no shelves in the Catherine Hall Library.  We prayed for shelves to be built.  We prayed for the materials to arrive on time.

Now, I have not mentioned yet that Patti had given us a theme to consider as we prepared for our trip---the teaching team and library team alike.  We were to have "Crazy Faith," faith that defied logic but rested solely on God.

Crazy Faith and our gracious Jesus brought us many miracles.

In June, with a departure date of July 16 looming, there were still no shelves and our boxes had not arrived in Jamaica.  But at our June meeting, one of our teachers, Britni Haskin, invited a parent to come speak with us.  Camille Simpson was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and came to talk to us about Jamaican people and culture.  She overhead the mention that there were no shelves.

"You must have shelves," she told Patti.  Camille's father still lives in Kingston and works in construction.  She contacted him and he got lumber at 50% off and arranged for a carpenter to go to Montego Bay and build the shelves in Catherine Hall.

On July 15th, when even Mr. Jennings was beginning to wonder if this library would really be built, a truck arrived with lumber.  Another truck arrived with our thirty-plus book boxes from Customs.  On July 16th, our team flew in from Dallas.

On the same day we flew in, the shelves were constructed.  On July 17th, while we unpacked at the mission housing, sorted conference material supplies, and prepared for the teaching conference that the teaching team would lead, the shelves were stained and varnished.  And on Monday morning, July 18th, we arrived to find a room larger than we expected, shelves dry and new and more perfect than we had hoped, and a school bustling with summer school activity and children asking us when they could check out the books we brought.

Crazy Faith.  A God that does the impossible.

Before.
 Read the next post for the story of our amazing week.

**Hey, team, if I have told any part of this story wrong, please email me or comment.  I want to tell it all exactly as God unfolded it.  Thank you!!

Arrived!!

We arrived today around 2 pm. The second group arrived at 4:30. There are 20 of us getting settled in today. Tomorrow we will sort all our supplies---boxes of teaching material and library books--after church.

I'll post pictures when I get a better wifi connection!

Thank you for praying!!

Jamaica bound!!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying and supporting my mission trip to Jamaica!!

We leave Saturday to assemble the library in Catherine Hall School!!  The other teams of ladies attending will be teaching the Education/Teaching Strategies Conference sessions. But my team will be sweating and unpacking!

On Thursday of next week, we will be able to show off the new library to the Catherine Hall teachers and teach them strategies to use library resources with classes and how to develop and encourage young readers.

Please continue to pray for us this week and next, specifically:

• Safe travels
• Safety of our families while we are away
• God's glory to be evident in our work
• Opportunities to share God's word with Jamaican teachers and others we encounter
• Safe return on 7/23

Thank you!!

Trusting Him,
D'Anne

Paid in Full!

So, is it cheesy or ironic or poetic or amazing to realize on Good Friday that God has literally paid it all??  Yes, salvation and redemption!  But He even takes the small things of life and unburdens us.

I have never been on a foreign mission because I never felt I had enough money, nor did I really want to ask my friends to pay my way. I decided to serve in Teaching With Jamaica because the call was so specific and special. I prayed daily for God to help wth funds, but I waited a long time before actually asking others for help. 

Most of my team began talking to friends in October. I waited until January and February because I just didn't know how it would work. And in 2 1/2 months, my trip is fully funded!!

Paid in full!

Mostly from people I don't even know--friends of friends and family from far away. Thank you so much to all of you who contributed financially. And thank you to all of you who prayed and will continue to pray. 

He is amazing, faithful, and good. 

<3, D'Anne

The Work That Comes First

Before we can assemble to new school library at Catherine Hall School, we need to get all the materials ready.  We have approximately 200 boxes of books that were all donated to Teaching With Jamaica.  Over half will go into the library and the other fourth or so will be donated to the Jamaican teachers for their classroom library.

Each woman I am traveling with will have a different role.  We have broken into teams: Upper Math, Lower Math, Upper Reading, Lower Reading, Special Education, and Library.  While the other teams are working on what strategies and techniques they will teach to the Jamaican teachers, the Library Team is getting all the books shelf-ready.

To get the books shelf-ready, we need to sort all the books by fiction and non-fiction, sort them by author, label each book with a library spine label and pocket, and input each book's information into a spreadsheet that will act as the "catalog" for the school library.

Here is my work space today:

It takes me about 45 minutes per box to catalog the info into the spreadsheet.  Our goal is to create a real, working library for the school.  So we can't just donate books and put them on the shelf.  This library will be organized and ready for classes of kids to search the paper catalog (no internet!!) to find a book they like, locate it on the shelf by the call number, and check it out using the card system (remember that old system??)

I have 12 boxes in my car to work on over Spring Break.  And so does each of the other ladies on the team!  Abundance is a blessing even when it means an abundance of work!

Thank you for praying that we can get all these books ready to ship on time.  The books will be boxed and sent in May to ensure that they are there at the library waiting for us in July.

If you recall, the school we are working with is Catherine Hall Primary School.  Here is some information about the school itself.

Catherine Hall Primary School is located in the Westgreen Community, approximately 2 miles from Sam Sharpe Square, and to the west of the Fairfield intersection.  The school opened in 1976, with a Principal and 30 teachers, and provides primary education for students between the ages of 6-12 year old.

This complex also houses a Kindergarten Department, which caters to infants within the 4-5 years age range.  There are five classes in this department; 2 for 4 year olds and 3 for 5 year olds.  The programme is designed to equip students to function effectively at the Grade 1 level. 

There is also a Special Education Department, which was built through the instrumentality of the Dutch Government, and 1 teacher. The programmes are designed to meet the needs of students in the Region who have special needs that affect their ability to learn.   The students are grouped according to their abilities, and are later mainstreamed when sufficient improvement has been made.

(From the Catherine Hall Primary School website.)

 

And an update on my fundraising:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who have generously given to my trip.  I have raised $1050 of the $1300 I need.  

God is good!

Thank you for support and prayers!!

Dear Friends and Family,

I am excited to share with you how God has answered a prayer for me.  

As many of you know in the past I have pursued spreading God’s Word to children by teaching Sunday School, leading Vacation Bible School, and, most recently, by returning to the public school system to teach and be a librarian.  I am in my fifth year working with the Wylie Independent School District.  My first two years I taught 7th and 8th Grade Language Arts, and now I am in my third year as Library Media Specialist on a 5th and 6th Grade campus.  But I have been praying for God to show me how I can step out of my own arena and make a difference for His kingdom.  I have concentrated my witness to my “Jerusalem”, but I want to extend that to other parts of the world.

“You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Pictures of my school here in Wylie, Texas

I have been presented with an opportunity to participate in a different type of mission trip in July 2016. I will be a part of an organization called Teaching with Jamaica through Jamaica Link Ministries. As a group, we will develop, plan, and present a 3-day education training conference to 120 teachers from Western Jamaica. Our mission is to collaborate with Jamaican educators and empower them with additional teaching strategies and resources to ensure that the children of Jamaica are receiving a superior education.

Because of my expertise as a Librarian, I will be working on a special team to build a school library for the Catherine Hall School for Primary Grades, Infants, and Special Education.  We are currently preparing hundreds of donated books from picture books to chapter books to professional learning material to be available for the teachers and students of Catherine Hall School.  

Pictures of Catherine Hall School and the room that will be transformed into a school library!

Jamaica is a land of tremendous beauty and warmth. However, there is also tremendous need in this vacation paradise. Poverty abounds and most families struggle to survive. Many of the schools in Western Jamaica lack the basic materials such as crayons, construction paper and teacher resources that we take for granted. Here my students have thousands of books to choose from and build their reading abilities and imaginations, but in Jamaica the idea of having a library stocked with age-appropriate books is profound.  

Pictures of past Teaching With Jamaica Mission trips

I am writing to ask for your help in 2 major areas.

First and foremost, I ask you to pray. In September, we began planning teaching sessions, collecting needed materials, communicating with the Jamaica team, collecting library materials and processing those books to be ready for the library shelf.  Please pray as you are led and for these things specifically:

• Join me in thanking God for the blessing of so many donated books.  We have so many that we cannot accept more.  But now we must get the materials ready for library circulation.  
• Please pray for us to get all the books prepared in advance and for company sponsors to help pay for shipping all the books to Jamaica.
• Please pray for our safety when we are in Jamaica.  We will fly out on July 16th and return on July 23rd.  
• Pray for Claire, Charlotte, and Carris to be content while I am away.

In addition, I would also like to ask you to consider providing financial support. I am responsible for raising $1,300 for my expenses and needed materials for the conference this year. Would you consider supporting me with a donation? I have included my address below if you feel led to contribute.

Should you feel led to contribute, all payments are tax deductible and our treasurer will send you with a tax receipt. There are 2 easy ways to contribute financially:

• You may send me a check, payable to Teaching With Jamaica. Please be sure to put my name in the memo line to support my account.
• You may go on PayPal and send a payment to teachingwithjamaica@yahoo.com . Again, please be sure to put my name in the notes section, and send it as a gift so that the organization does not incur any fees.

You may also simply write a check to me, D’Anne Mosby, but know that if you choose that option your donation will not be tax-deductible.

I am so grateful to have your support and prayers this year. I am extremely excited about the opportunity to use the gifts God has given me to help other teachers and children.

Please send me an email at mosbyfamily@gmail.com if you would like to receive updates throughout the year and after the trip.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Matthew 19:14

In Christ,

D’Anne Mosby

1600 Redcedar Drive

Wylie, TX 75098

Thank you from my family as well!