Team blog: Jamaica, land we love
Just for interest sake, the island of Jamaica is about 10 000km^2 (which is roughly half of the size of Gauteng alone). There is more than 400 different denominations of churches and it's therefore no surprise that it's known in the Guinness Book of World Records as the country with the most church buildings per square kilometer. Jamaica is described by its people as a "melting pot" of different cultures and people groups that came together on this small island to become one. All of these facts had a definite impact on our ministry and time here.
Thanks to the amazing opportunities that Pastor Neville Wright and other contacts offered us, our ministry can also be described as a big melting pot. The pot was filled with building relationships and dishing food at a homeless shelter, caring for the elderly at an old-age home, teaching children and teens with devotional mornings, sharing messages at a college institution and in the church, and just sharing our life and faith with all the many different people we encountered in the three weeks here. With hundreds of underserved blessings (physical as well as spiritual) God taught us as a team to appreciate and celebrate a life with Him. We also had an extremely blessed Easter, being able to think back about what happened on the cross and what the resurrection means to us in our lives today. We also learned to step out in boldness and confidence to share a message in front of a group of people.
We went on many outings and great adventures on the back of Pastor Wright's blue Hilux bakkie, which includes seeing the countryside, the mountains, visiting many different pastors with encouraging wisdom to share, sharing meals with amazing people, going to different meetings, meeting extremely influential people (including the Mayor of Kingston) and going to a gospel concert at the Waterfront. The last day a very special lady that we met the previous night blessed us with a trip up the Blue Mountains, some Blue Mountain coffee and cheesecake and loads of knowledge and wisdom within every conversation we had through the day!
Our time in Jamaica went by so quickly that we didn't realize we were actually on our way out until we ate our last piece of easter bun just before we boarded, and we couldn't help but leave this country with heavy hearts and many life changing memories. Luckily we have lots to look forward to in Guyana where we find ourselves now. We were received extremely well and feel very welcome and ready for the adventures that God has planned for our team over the next three weeks.