As we got off at the airport, I immediately felt the carefree Caribbean atmosphere and it felt like holiday. As part of the yellow team I went to St Ann's Bay, a bay near many tourist attractions on the north coast of Jamaica.
In St Ann's Bay our team experienced real Jamaican vibes.
In the words of Bob Marley "Don't worry about a thing. Every little thing is gonna be alright."
(And yes Bob Marley is an idol among most people. Most consider him as a "national hero")
The church we stayed in is about 500m from the beach. White shores met by turquoise water. The reef almost close enough to swim to.
We had an amazing time. The locals accepted us as one of them and we felt like "undercover" Christians. One day a local fisherman named Donovan prepared us fish after a successful morning catch. We had it with head and all while sitting on the beach, complemented with coconut fried rice. He picked the coconut from a tree in his front yard two hours before lunch. Island bliss!
We went out with his canoe to the reef and he offered his goggles and flippers so we could snorkel and see some tropical fish. From eating it to seeing it!
Our evenings started with basketball and ended with good conversation on the street corner.
God orchestrated five divine appointments:
Pastor Jerry, our host and power woman. Single mom with four different jobs, a heart for the lost and the hungry, prayer warrior and even a nurse. She took us out to minister at three schools and we presented a youth service.
(She is the first person I have ever met who ends a youth service with the sinners prayer. That is how on fire she is for the lost!)
This woman puts the amen in charity. Instead of having a church service, every three months they pick up about five homeless persons, bath them, cut their hair, brush their teeth, dress them in new clothes and bless them with a proper Sunday lunch.
It reminds me of Ephesians 1:23: "The church is Christ's body through which he speaks and acts, by which He fills everything with his presence." (The Message)
Our second person of peace was Ryan. He owns the local supermarket. He blessed us abundantly with good conversation and many amazing meals. Multiple times we drove on the back of his bakkie to see interesting places or sometimes even for a late night coffee in the next town.
Thirdly Donovan whom I mentioned above. He lives in a fishermen community. We are still praying that he will become a fisherman of men.
Fourthly John who volunteers at the local youth centre. He strives to lift up sports like soccer and basketball in the community to keep young children from marijuana. Yes, it is as common as one would think it is. Children as young as ten years smoke ganja. This leads to many delusional young people. (As explained to us by locals, not based on any statistical information.)
And lastly Marlene, an elderly woman, who opens up her home to any person or pet. Kids pitch up at her place and sometimes live there for a lifetime.
We met these persons as well as many others:
A Rastafarian about 70 years of age, but a gym junkie whom only eats fish and vegetables.
A British family who is on holiday in St Ann's Bay, they consider real holiday living in the community and acting (smoking weed and cursing) like the locals as the real Jamaican experience.
We met a Cuban who lives in Jamaica, he wanted to send a letter with us when he heard our next stop is Cuba. In some way he assumed we might run into his daughter...
Also a man named Chris who owns a tow away truck with his name, "Chris", printed in huge red letters on the back. We met him one night while hanging out with Marlene on the street corner. He came from a pub just up the road and tried some Jamaica charm on us, much to our amusement. We heard lines like "you look like angels without wings". The good news is, we got to share the Good News with him. Who knows? Maybe it changed his life... It is not every day that angels tell you about Jesus...
Needless to say the yellow team had a blessed time on the island. Yo mahn! I can sense God started something new in my heart: a burning desire to share the Good News with a world in need.