Colourful Jamaica mon!

Read this out loud: "Mi jus waan do God work"
Guess what, you just spoke patois! That's the language of the Jamaicans. They also say things like "wha guaan?" which means what's going on? I really love the language; in fact, I love almost everything Jamaican.

So, Jamaica reminds me so much of South Africa. (Except for the heat, oh the heat!) The social environments are much alike. Forget about the apartheids era for a while and think of the current social environment. Areas of poverty seem to be scattered all over and can be found around every corner. In Kingston for instance, you'll find a big rich family, next to a shack. Housing in Jamaica resembles that of South Africa a lot, informal housing and social housing is very common. As in South Africa, there will be more than one family in each informal house and the living conditions are sometimes very bad. After noticing that most buildings are half-built, it was interesting to learn that there is a reason for that. A building would have a finished ground floor, with a first storey still under construction, but with no work being done for the last few years. So the building is slowly decaying with rust stains ect. all over. Apparently, you only start paying tax on your building once it's finished. So people leave the buildings unfinished for a reason. How weird. But all in all, the built environment is multicoloured, playful and vibrant.

Jamaica is beautiful. There are such natural beauty to be seen especially in places like Ocho Rios and St Anns (away from Kingston). But the Blue Mountains can be seen even in Kingston, although it is sometomes unclear because of the pollution. Some parts reminded me of the Transkei as the goats walk freely over the streets and enter yards as they like.

We were in Kingston for the first week of our Jamaica stop, where we met Pastor Neville Wright. A wonderful man who tought me so much. He organised visits for us to the "Golden age home", the "Food for the Poor", and School devotions at different schools. He also gave us contacts of other pastors and churches in Jamaica where we could serve and learn more.

We went on a journey to St. Ann's Bay, where we met Miss Jerry and her family. What an inspiring example of a family. We stayed in their church and were taken to schools where we did dramas, songs and devotions with pre-primary and primary school kids. I enjoyed it so much. Children are so teachable and I just can't help smiling and laughing with them.They make me so happy, espacially if they shout out the answer, "Jesus!" To every question asked. :) They enjoy our dramas so much and it makes sense to me that Jesus said that we must believe as children do.
We experienced delicious food in st. Ann's Bay, were blessed with a day at Dunn's River Falls and even got our hair braided, thank you to the Louwe family for your love, hospitality and blessings.

We then went off to Falmouth. Pastor Rutty took us in and organised a place to sleep, he introduced us to pastor Lloyd who showed us around town and took us to a few schools, including high schools and we got to do a bit of interesting street evangelising. Falmouth is a very colourful place, wonderful for taking photos. :) We went with pastor Rutty to their fellowship evening, which was most interesting for me. They do this once a month, they meet up and go to a shopping centre in Montego Bay, where they all shop together and then eat KFC afterwards. I think we should do this at our fellowship events or house churches in South Africa. It is so much fun!

Our next city was Montego Bay. We stayed at the YWAM base and made wonderful friends there. The YWAM base is situated on a hill overlooking the entire Montego Bay. It is amazing to be there. The feeling of rest, peace and tranquility is overwhealming.

We camped in our tents for the first time this year which was great, even though it rained every day while we were there. We joined them in praise and worship, street feeding and delicious breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Thank you for the blessings Jan, Gabby, Arlene, Andrea, Marion and everyone that helped.

We spent our free time making a bobsled video for a Global Challenge Competition. You will be able to check it out in a little while. I will post the link on facebook as soon as it is up.

So this is Arthur and I trying to bobsled in a duffle bag, but as you can see by our expressions, it is not working. Fail.
Back in Kingston for the last week, we visited Trenchtown, which is where Bob Marley grew up. Pastor Neville took us to a few Heritage sites and cool tourist attractions. We had amazing ice cream at Devon House iScream which is apparently one of the best places to have icecream. We visited the Golden Age Home in Kingston again, this time we spent the whole day there. We divided in groups, going to different parts of the Home. I ended up visiting the physically and mentally disabled. This was really hard for me at first. I am not good at handling anything medically related and it’s really hard for me seeing people suffer from disabilities. Even though I did not feel comfortable, God helped me through and gave me the words to say and love to give. I spoke with a few ladies there, mainly telling them of south Africa and hoping they understand something as they sat there looking at me. I found it is easier to listen to them trying to speak to me. Most of them can’t really speak words and just make sounds, but they love it if you listen and try to understand. I had a chance to feed some of the people. The most wonderful thing to see was the hope that they still have. One of the new friends I made was only physically challenged, she could only use her one arm and hand, and she could speak with difficulty. But the amazing thing is, she is weaving mats and throws with this disability. It takes great skill to weave something like that and to do it with one arm and her mouth was just astonishing. She inspired me so much as she takes what she has and just does the best she can with it. It made me realise also that we complain so much in our daily lives, and we have so much to be thankful for.

Another lady I spent time with, was physically and mentally challenged. I spent almost an hour with her, just tickling her arm as she laid on the bed, she could only move her arm and her head and she couldn’t speak, but her eyes followed me the whole time. It was so rewarding to see her laugh every time I sang to her or every time I let her arm clap against mine. It is wonderful to know that God loves us all, and He sent His Son to die for everyone. Also that His grace is enough for even the ones that does not understand Him or the Gospel being told to them. God’s grace is enough for all of us. Wow.

Thank you for your support in prayer and financially. It is so much appreciated and I really see it as a blessing from God. Please reply with an email to keep me updated on things happening on the other side of the world. It is difficult to keep in touch other than by email. Also please send me prayer requests as I would love to know specifically what to pray for.

Love

Kim Geldenhuys