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