What are the first things that comes to mind when you hear Jamaica? Rastas wearing the colours Red, Yellow, Green and Black? Bob Marley? Weed/Marijuana? Or that Walt Disney Movie "Cool Runnings" with the four Jamaicans who trained to enter the winter Olympics with bobsledding? Some people might think about the sprinters that broke some world records in the Olympics, Usain Bolt. These are some of the prejudices that have been set up in most people's minds about this Island. This is also the picture or idea that was stuck in some of our minds when we first came to Jamaica, but we were pleasantly surprised to see that there is so much more to this country and God's goodness and light is shining through the darkness. I can honestly say that our team's initial ideas about Jamaica was completely changed and we will definitely think differently about Jamaica from now on.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZVri2y4TNc&list=UU3A8KS5f6WFU3zG2OSxVV_A&index=3&feature=plcp 400x300]
Jamaica is just like South Africa, very well evangelised, but very poorly discipled. Christianity is one of the biggest religions in Jamaica and it is the country with the most churches per square mile according to the Guinness book of world records. The entire country is very open to Christianity and they teach the children about the Gospel in all the schools, but just like anywhere else in the world, that doesn’t mean that everyone knows the Lord and have a strong relationship with God. Many people still see Christianity as a religion and believe in law instead of grace. They don’t realise that Jesus came to earth for broken people, to save us and not to condemn us. Jesus is our saviour, not our religion! There are many Jamaicans who do know and understand this and who are taking up their cross and working to help others experience God and to get to know Him as the loving, gracious Father that He is.
For the first time on our journey this year, we didn't land in this country with no contact and no idea where we would go. While we were in Cuba, one of the translators in one of the churches was from Jamaica and he got us in contact with his father, who is a Pastor/Minister in Kingston, Jamaica. (It's cool how God plans ahead and sends the right people across our path to put us in contact with someone who we will meet in the future). So we contacted his father, Pastor Neville Wright and he came to pick us up at the airport. He blessed us by allowing us to stay in his church, so we didn’t have to pay for accommodation. Not only did he give us a place to sleep with a bathroom and kitchen that we could use, but he also organized so many ministry opportunities for us all over Jamaica. He blessed us so many times with food, drove us around and helped us to organize the cheapest and easiest transport to get from one place to the next. He also got us in contact with so many people, in different parts of Jamaica, who we later got the chance of meeting.
When we first arrived in Kingston it was quite a bit of a culture shock, coming from the Cayman Islands.
Kingston is very dirty and there is a lot of poverty. In many ways it reminded us of some rural parts/cities in South Africa. They even have taxi's (which they call busses) like we have and they also pack them full of people and drive quite fast and recklessly, just like in South Africa.
We were also told that Jamaica is very dangerous and that we couldn't go anywhere if Pastor Neville or some Jamaican wasn't with us. The church that we stayed in is in Trench Town, which is one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Kingston, because of gang activities in the area.
We never felt in danger during the time that we spent in Jamaica though. I think it is because we were quite careful, and we are used to South Africa, but most importantly because we knew that God was with us and if our God is for us, then who can be against us?
The people in Jamaica are very friendly and there are a lot of very devoted followers of Jesus, working to build up His Kingdom in this tropical Island. There are also a lot of "Rastas", but everyone in Jamaica is definitely not like that. The Jamaicans speak a language called Patois (pronounced Patwa) which sounds like very poor "slang" English. For example if someone greets you, they usually say: "Wha gwaan?" and that means "What's going on?" One of the Patois sayings or slogans that the church in St.Ann's Bay used was: "Mi jus waan do God Work.", which we thought was pretty cool. Oh and the Jamaicans really do say "Yah Mon!" and "No Problem Mon", all the time. Their accents sounds really cool!
What did we do the three weeks that we spent in Jamaica? Mostly children's ministry and a lot of it! This is quite profound, because while we were still in Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa, for training at the beginning of the year, we were praying about Jamaica and one of the prophecies that we got was that we would work with a lot of kids. And indeed, a lot of kids there were! Thank You Lord! We also did some street evangelism and street feeding/poor relief. And we visited a Golden age home where we spent some time with the old people and also with some of the physically and mentally challenged.
We were in 5 different parts of Jamaica. The first week we spent in Kingston, with Pastor Neville, where we:
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had devotions with the pre-primary school kids in the church every morning
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we visited the poor relief centre where they feed street people and give them a bed to sleep in
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we visited the Golden age home to meet some of the staff working there and to see what the institute is all about
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our leaders Gerrie and Linel each had the opportunity of leading a service and to preach in two different churches the first Sunday.
Then we drove through Ocho Rios to St. Ann's Bay where we spent the next four days. The trip to St. Ann's Bay is breathtakingly beautiful!
In St. Ann's Bay we met Pastor Jerry Lowe and her daughter, Monique (Nikki) and their beautiful family. Here we stayed in their church and we had a wonderful time of serving with and learning from them. They all have such a big passion for our Lord Jesus and they live with so much love for one other and other people. They also blessed us so much by just having the opportunity to meet them, have fellowship and spend time with them.
nThey even spoiled us the one day by taking us in Ocho Rios, to Dunn's River Falls where we could climb/walk up this beautiful waterfall that flows down into the sea. It was so much fun! We really enjoyed cooling off a bit in the hot Jamaican climate and just to play in the water with them.
During the four days in St. Ann's Bay we:
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went to two primary schools and two pre-primary schools, where we had devotions with them. It was great to be able to play and sing with the children, do dramas for them, share about Jesus and speak some Biblical truth into their lives and just to love on them.
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Fasted and prayed with the church one morning and then did a children's program with the youth of the church.
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Helped them to reach out to poor street people. Every fourth Sunday their church help people from the street by picking them up, taking them to a hospital where they bathe them, cut their hair and nails and give them clothes. Then they get a check-up at the clinic and receive whatever treatment they need. The church also cooks for them and blesses them with a good plate of food. We helped the church with whatever they needed us to do.
Then we left and went to Falmouth where we met Pastor Junior Rutty, a man who loves and serves the Lord with an urgent burning passion in his heart that can be seen and experienced through everything that he does, but especially when he uses his strong beautiful voice, that the Lord blessed him with, to praise our God.
He sings and writes country music. Our God really creates interesting and unique individuals! I never thought I would meet a country singing man in Jamaica. It was so much fun to listen to him singing and to spend time with this fascinating man. We also spent some time with Pastor Lloyd, who took us to different ministry points. We only spent two days in Falmouth, but we wish that we could have spent more time there. Pastor Rutty organized for us to stay in the Mayor's house without having to pay, which was a huge blessing! During our time in Falmouth we:
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Joined the church on Sunday night to go and visit one of the members in the hospital, then going to Mega Mart and KFC with them for some fellowship
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Did some street evangelism where we got the opportunity to speak to some Rastafarians ("Rastas"), who read the Bible but still don’t know the truth/Jesus, because they believe in "Haille Selassie". It is so evident that they just need the love of God to change their hearts and to awaken their souls by the Holy Spirit, so that they can see and hear the truth.
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Went to a pre-primary, primary and a high school where we did devotions by doing different dramas/games/dances/songs/ whatever we thought most appropriate for the different age groups.
After our two days in Falmouth, we continued on to Montego Bay where we went to stay with the YWAM- (Youth With A Mission) base.
There we got the chance to use our tents for the first time this year. We spent about five days at YWAM and had the most amazing, blessed time. The YWAM base in Montego Bay is unimaginably beautiful and peaceful. There is a tranquillity that is difficult to describe. We treasured every moment that we got to spend there so much, feeling like sponges trying to soak it all up. We could share our hearts, mission and stories with young people who also shared their hearts, mission and stories with us, and through that we found that we are so similar. We all have the same passion and vision, because it is not our own passion/vision, but God's. We all have the same Spirit within us and as long as we are obedient and faithful to that Spirit, we will always be one in Christ Jesus. We had some wonderful prayer and praise and worship times with them. We also enjoyed a lot of fellowship with them and spending time learning from each other and eating together.
We made great friends, especially with Gabrielle Wilds (Gabby), Jan and Marion (the director of YWAM Montego Bay), who spent the last night sleeping in our tents with us. They blessed us so much with the most amazing meals, conversations and good times. Some of the ministry opportunities that we could enjoy doing with them were:
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Again going to a Pre-primary-, Primary- and High School for devotions.
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Spending time with some people at a street feeding/poor relief outreach.
After we left Montego Bay we went back to Kingston and spend the last week there with Pastor Neville. In this time we got to:
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Do devotions at Trench Town High School
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Do devotions with the Pre-primary kids in the church
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Go to a youth meeting and share with them about what we are doing and what we think and have learned about missions, and then being blessed by having fellowship with them at Scotchies where they blessed us with good food and great conversation.
Thank You God for sending so much of your sweet blessings and favour across our path! Jamaica has been an incredible experience and we hope that God will one day give us the opportunity to return to this rich and gorgeous country! God bless Jamaica!
Support
We would really love to thank everyone who has been supporting us, whether through prayer or finances, we really appreciate it so much. Your support means more to us than you could ever know/understand and we wish we had better words than just "thank you" to show our gratitude. Please continue to pray for us. Pray for that we will fall even more in love with Jesus, so that His love can increase in us and that He may work and flow through us more and more. Also, please pray for our health and protection, our safety and finances and that God will prepare the way for us and set up divine appointments for us. Most importantly pray that we will walk in His will by knowing and following His voice and that all that we do may be pleasing to our Heavenly Father.
If you would like to contribute and help us by giving some financial support, we would really appreciate it. Here are the banking account details:
Account name: GCX-One Year 9206958383
ABSA
Branch: 31 Da Gamma road, Jeffreys Bay, 6330, South Africa
Branch code: 334515
Reference: DISTANT ISLANDS
Swift Code (for international payments): ABSAZAJJ
Thank you for reading!
"Holeap" of love!
Distant Islands team