In Jamaica I discovered why the word "challenge" is at the centre of ''Global Challenge Expeditions''. How ironic that the pastor's wife gave a sermon on the very first Sunday in which she repeated the phrase: ''Challenges, troubles, trials'' almost 50 times in a time frame of an hour.
On the day we arrived in Kingston, half of our team was sick. Most had Chick-V fever, which is caused by some musquito (not very hard to believe since we lived in a musquito nest in Guyana). I on the other hand, had a VERY random pins-and-needles irritation on my arms and legs which itched immensely. I was contemplating walking to the airport to catch the next flight to South Africa. I was also contemplating jumping out of a 2nd floor window of the church we stayed in.
I thought I was extremely hardcore, but being sick with something you do not have a diagnoses or a pill for and being in a foreign country where the average temperature is never below 35 degrees and the toilets can't flush without the use of a bucket, gives you new perspective on alot of things.
Apart from the physical challenges, Kingston brought some challenges of its own. We were stationed in the ghetto of Kingston. In Afrikaans we call it a ''plakkerskamp''. Weed is not legal, but ''almost'' legal and readily available to anyone. You smell it EVERYWHERE. You see the hopelessness in the people's eyes. The hopelessness of being stuck on an island. Physically and spiritually.
Ministry wise we served at a homeless shelter, an old age home, a children's home and a primary school. We also helped to tile a lady's one bedroom house and participated in a march against child abuse. On one of our off days we went to a real-deal carribean beach - turquoise waters, white sand and alot of palm trees (let me just say here that this is NOT how Jamaica looks everywhere...). The pastor also took us to a Jamaican farm - this scenery is hard to describe so I will just say: ''WOW, I want a farm like this!'' The highlight was definitely to drink a jug of ice cold fresh milk, since we have been living on milk powder for the past 3 months.
Amidst all the activities we were also confronted with challenges of living together as a team. A verse that became a whole new ball game for me was (or maybe still is) James 1:19 - "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry". If you read this verse in normal circumstances, you think: "Oh what a nice concept". When you read it while irritated you discover the real meaning.
When I look back on our time in Jamaica, I would not go back and change anything. Although I don't want to experience that time ever again I realised that God uses challenges to shape us for His house. His purpose is to make His house here on earth and to live among us. The city as described in Rev 21 is made out of gold, pearl and precious stone. Gold has to be purified and refined by fire. A pearl is formed by irritation, and precious stones are produced by a combination of indescribable heat and unimaginable pressure over a long period of time.
One of the methods that God uses to obtain gold, pearl and precious stones for His house is to throw a group of His own people together and summon them to live as a community. And this is Global Challenge Expeditions. Living and serving as a community.
Prov 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
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