Ocean Dance

So I've been informed that it's good just to let everyone know we're still alive and doing great here in Sri Lanka. We have been pretty busy but in the past 2 days we've actually been busy taking a couple of days off. We usually get to a computer when we're done at the church unpacking boxes and because we stayed away from there this weekend we didn't get a chance to update the world on our progress. Heather and I did get to an internet cafe a couple of days ago but because there was a creepy guy pretty much standing over me as I read my email I didn't feel all that comfortable sharing my life with him.

We did get to see the Indain ocean first hand (some more than others -our good friend Christine couldn't help herself and went in clothes and all) on Wednesday. However, pretty white girls are somewhat of a show here and Christine drew quite the crowd. If we were charging we could have actually made some good spending money. But all that aside, it was so beautiful and am so blessed to have seen yet another magical part of this planet! So we're still at the church doing the same ol' same ol' this past week and probably next. There are still a LOT of boxes. Imagine a whole semi filled to the brim with stuff unloaded into a small room and then 3 or 4 girls spending the days unpacking and organizing them. It's a PROJECT!

So Christine, Heather and I are still searching for EXACTLY what we're going to be doing here to best use our resources so keep praying that we can see that clearly! I'm keeping my eyes open for everything and anything I'm supposed to see here!

Sunday is almost over and the week's quickly approaching so pray for rest and peace for us here. Yesterday was my friend Kelly's wedding and it was the first day I felt the distance from here to home...it's further than I realized.

I know next time I will have more actual information to share but for now I guess I'll just have to leave you all with the fact that we saw an elephant chained to a tree...and that's normal!

Talk amongst yourselves...

Love, Jasmine

One Month Later

I was talking to the girls last night about how weird it is that it's only been a month since the tsunami and since then I've been in CT, CA, Las Vegas, London, and Sri Lanka all within 3 weeks of that event. I can't even understand how that worked out...but by the grace of God.

So today is one month from the day but as far as we've seen there have been no big "events" or anything today...but then again we're pretty limited in our interactions with the ilsanders during the week. We take a "3 wheeler" (which is equvalent to a taxi in NYC only in the amount on the island - I think they run on a lawn mower engine) to the church every morning. We unpack, repack, sort and stack boxes of food and clothes all day except for our little lunch break we take out on to the courtyard. We've been packing good ol' PB & J's and we're cherrishing every bite because they don't have crunchy peanut butter here (that we've seen at least) and we're almost down to the 2nd - and last - jar that I brought. Good call on the 2 jars right Shawna!?! Then we work for the rest of the day and hope to make it back home in time to do our daily crunches and push-ups before dinner. We are very well taken care of by our "host family" who has become such a HUGE blessing in our lives. Sri Lankan food is wonderful but we keep wondering how they are all SO SO skinny cause most of it is bread, fried or sugar. I still haven't figured it out yet, but if I do I'm bringing THAT back to the states for sure!

It's definitely a very simple life that we are living here and it's really beautiful. No TV, no movies, barely any music (but thanks to the iPod we have hope) and lots of reading. It's amazingly refreshing to my soul and my body after a long day of hard work.

I can't help but say thank you every time I get a chance to write because I am overwhelmed by the emails I get every day! Every single one of you are so amazing in the ways you encourage me and you have no idea the smiles I get when I get movie trivia games or I see people's names that I haven't even talked to in years in my inbox. It blows my mind. I am so blessed to have such great family and friends across the world. Keep the emails and comments a comin' because each one reminds me about why I'm here and helps me get excited about what's ahead.

Pictures are definitely to come soon but the pictures on Sarah and Vegas' site are from Sarah's camera and are not mine. I hope to get them up at some point though.

Oh yes, by the way, someone reminded me that because we are not working with Vegas and Sarah at all anymore that maybe our support should go somewhere else but that is NOT NOT NOT TRUE! Mine and Heather's contact is still:

Dave Brubaker
Bayside Church
8211 Sierra College Blvd Suite 440 - Roseville, CA 95661
PO Box 2336 - Granite Bay, CA 95746
Phone: 916-791-1244 ｷ FAX: 916-791-5052

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Keep praying for us daily. I know there is HUGE potential to reach the world through this little country island in the Indian ocean....

Until next time...

Jasmine

Oh yeah, I have to give a shout out to Christine's mom who is an avid supporter and inquisitive reader that wants to stay informed and up to date on blog-lingo. You are a baller yourself Cindy!

Today and Tomorrow

After 7 days of falling asleep at 6 and waking up before the sun, smelling like bug spray and sweat, and nibbling on bread because everything else is too spicy I think we're finally adjusting. We've all managed to stay up past 10 almost every night (minus our narcoleptic friend Heather) , gotten used to ALL the new smells, ok, not all of them, and get this, I chowed down on some curry from the family we are living with. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Here's the deal though, we have decided to focus more on a specific area of how we are going to help. It almost seems impossible, since the destruction is so massive, but we have been incredibly blessed with the people we have met and therefore have resources to give to people who have little or nothing at all. Christine, Heather and I are focusing all of our energy on the short-term goals since we will only be here a little bit. Vegas and Sarah however have some amazing long-term ideas and hopes for this country so they'll get to be focusing all of their energy on that. Now that we have figured out where our hearts are, we can both be more productive for this country and we are very excited to see what God has in store.

Because of that, Christine, Heather and I are not part of the "strike team" anymore and I only say that because the things that are written on that blog aren't really associated with us anymore. Either way, pass this on to anyone that you know that has been reading the blog so that they know that's not us anymore and here is where you can find me.

The 3 of us girls, and Martin, have spent the past few days inside the church's side building unpacking boxes of food, clothes and anything you could think of, from a HUGE semi that was shipped from Dubai. I can't tell you the feeling that I've gotten from opening these package and seeing endless amounts of flour, sugar, rice, and boxes filled with clothes for people of all ages and sizes. Everytime I picked something up I thought about the person that put it into the truck and the person who brought it to be shipped and the person who took it out of their own home and out of the goodness of thier heart, wanted to send it to strangers in a foreign country. It seriously blows my mind. It's so beautiful. We spent most of the day yesterday taking inventory and more importantly MOVING 1591kg of rice, 375 kg of sugar, 1200 kg of flour, milk and much much more. The entire rest of the building is still filled with boxes of clothes, and toiletries that we will EVENTUALLY (being the key word) sort and ship to the families that need them. We are working with 3 AMAZING Sri Lankan women who are keeping us laughing all day long. I couldn't imagine doing it without them.

We are learning so much about the culture here and about how obviously different it is from America. It's good for all of you know how important it is that you NEVER associate us with a Christian organization here in Sri Lanka. We have come together as Christians but our hopes are to help anyone and everyone that needs it. The government here is very serious about it's Buddhist religion and culture and Christian evangelists are the opposite of what they want here. Our goal is not and has never been to convert Sri Lankans but to show all the LOVE and compassion we have to give to these people who have lost so much. Please, make sure everyone knows that without a doubt and is passing on the information with great pride. We don't want anyone here or in the states to get the wrong impression of our long or short term goals here in this coutntry. We are so proud to be here and be a part of helping these people rebuild thier lives but if there is another agenda portraited I'm sure we won't be here much longer.

We have some amazing ideas for the future and just hope that this week they get put on paper and vocalized to the people that can get it off the ground. I have huge hope for the future and what God has called 3 girls from America to be a part of.

Thank you so much to ALL of you who are supporting us financially and spiritually! It completely blows me away to hear about all the people across the country who are supporting us. Between all of us here - I think we know the whole country!

Until next time...

Love, Jasmine