I am headed towards my third week here in Jamaica! It is unbelievable to me because it feels as if I've been here forever...In a good way. The base already feels like home, the people all ready feel like long-time friends and yet there is so much more to know about each other.
Recap of the past 2 weeks(as best as possible;)
I guess I'll start with the first actual weekend I spent here because that was my first real exposure to Jamaica. On Friday night after our DTS welcome party (dancing and good food), we all hopped on the bus and headed into Mobay for a Christian reggae concert with local artists. While there a man with the darkest eyes I've ever seen touched my arm and then proceeded to fall at my feet and start smoking a joint. From his appearance and smell, he was clearly homeless and obviously his mind had been corrupted from many years of drug use. He continued to lay at my feet while the others danced and carried on with the concert but I couldn't take my eyes away. My heart was breaking because I wanted to help him but didn't know how. A little girl that I had previously been dancing with turned to me and said "Don't worry,he's just a mad man." Just a mad man? Just a mad man that God cares about and loves. Just a mad man that God desperately wants to free from addiction. Nobody is "just" anything.
Eventually the man got up and moseyed on, only to be pushed out off the gated concert area by security. For some reason I thought of the story of the woman that had been bleeding for 12 years and who touched Jesus's cloak to receive healing. Only this time, in my mind I saw the woman being pushed away from Jesus by the crowds of people. Can you imagine what that story would have looked like if the woman was never able to reach Jesus? There is something wrong when at a Christian concert people are only accepted if they look a certain way, or are "normal".There is a problem when people only go to a concert to sing about being world changers and about Christ love and not be able to really experience it! A wave of conviction hit me. By me choosing not to do pray for this poor man who desperately needs Jesus(whether he knew it or not-I'd like to believe he did) I was doing the same thing as everyone else. All I could do is pray that God would lead the man back.And he did! A group of us prayed for him and I could tell he was so thankful. He gave one of the guys a big hug and wouldn't let go. Nothing big or miraculous happened but I left feeling like I had been obedient to they way God calls us to live and that was all I could do.
We spent the rest of the weekend at the beach(which was incredible) and promoting a torch prayer run for Jamaica to some of the churches around the island. The group I was in was in went to Kingston for church on Sunday which is about four hours from Montego Bay. The first church we went to was outside of Kingston and it seriously felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. It was a tiny country church with little goats running around outside and no a/c (of course). We got there just in time for the end of the service(because we had other churches to stop at) so it was hard to get an accurate picture of what the service was like. The people were warm and friendly and the children interacted with us after the service. The second church we went to was inside Kingston in the downtown area. Definitely an eye-opening experience. You always hear that Kingston is rough and it really looks the part. It was good to see and experience for myself though. After church there was a huge prayer vigil in the city square and a bunch of local ministers,politicians and singers came out. It was amazing to see Jamaicans praying and repenting on their country's behalf in the heart its darkest city.
Yikes this is long already...are you still with me?
Last week was our first official week of classes which were on God's Nature and Character. It was taught by YWAM's Regional Director of the Caribbean who is a guy named Bill Landis. I enjoyed the classes although it was tough to concentrate with the weather that we had going on.It is hurricane season here after all! I experienced what is called a tropical depression which is basically tons and tons and tons of rain and wind. We went through all types of things-roads completely washed out, power outages, no running water, flooded classrooms, the list goes on. Some parts of Jamaica had tornadoes and the homes of the poor were devastated. By the end of the week the weather seemed to have passed us and by Sunday it was hot and sunny once again.
Sunday was my first official Jamaican church service. We went to a church called the meeting place which is actually run by a jamaican born white woman which I found interesting.(http://www.trumpetcallministries.org/meeting_place.php) The service was really good...different, but good(and it had a/c!Hallelujah!!) The music felt like one big celebration. We had probably a good hour of music. The Jamaicans are a very musical people-it almost seems it is part of them.
Monday we started a new week of classes on Truth and the Bible. I feel like I am learning so much it is almost hard to process in a such a short time frame. The classes don't really feel like classes though because the lecturer(Mike Huckins) has a way of presenting the info in a way that is so practical and applicable. Feels like he is just having a heartfelt conversation with us and we are eating it up!
Tuesday was the Kingdom Torch Run I mentioned before. Basically the idea of it is that Jamaica needs to be reclaimed for God's Kingdom so as we ran and prayed through every parish in the country, we were taking it back for God. It was an incredible time. My team went to Morant Bay(236 km from Mobay) which is basically out in the boonies. Rural to the full essence of the word. It was also one of the areas that experienced a lot of the flooding so the place we stayed Monday night had no running water still. We ventured out at about 5:30 am and alternated between driving and running(we saved the running for key areas). We each took turns running with the torch and praying for Jamaica. It was fun watching peoples reactions to us-some heckled us, some just stared and pointed, others asked what we were doing ("Whagwan?") We ran all the way through Kingston and ended up in Mandeville at about 7 pm. 12 hours on the road in the hot sun made for a long day. The tiredness we felt though was a feeling of accomplishment. That day will never be forgotten for many reasons!
Anyways, I hope this gives those of you who were wondering a good picture of what I've been up to and how I'm doing. If you made it to this part, I'm amazed you had the perseverance to read through all my ramblings! Feel free to email if you want to hear more- amhildebrand@hotmail.com. Blessings!
I guess I'll start with the first actual weekend I spent here because that was my first real exposure to Jamaica. On Friday night after our DTS welcome party (dancing and good food), we all hopped on the bus and headed into Mobay for a Christian reggae concert with local artists. While there a man with the darkest eyes I've ever seen touched my arm and then proceeded to fall at my feet and start smoking a joint. From his appearance and smell, he was clearly homeless and obviously his mind had been corrupted from many years of drug use. He continued to lay at my feet while the others danced and carried on with the concert but I couldn't take my eyes away. My heart was breaking because I wanted to help him but didn't know how. A little girl that I had previously been dancing with turned to me and said "Don't worry,he's just a mad man." Just a mad man? Just a mad man that God cares about and loves. Just a mad man that God desperately wants to free from addiction. Nobody is "just" anything.
Eventually the man got up and moseyed on, only to be pushed out off the gated concert area by security. For some reason I thought of the story of the woman that had been bleeding for 12 years and who touched Jesus's cloak to receive healing. Only this time, in my mind I saw the woman being pushed away from Jesus by the crowds of people. Can you imagine what that story would have looked like if the woman was never able to reach Jesus? There is something wrong when at a Christian concert people are only accepted if they look a certain way, or are "normal".There is a problem when people only go to a concert to sing about being world changers and about Christ love and not be able to really experience it! A wave of conviction hit me. By me choosing not to do pray for this poor man who desperately needs Jesus(whether he knew it or not-I'd like to believe he did) I was doing the same thing as everyone else. All I could do is pray that God would lead the man back.And he did! A group of us prayed for him and I could tell he was so thankful. He gave one of the guys a big hug and wouldn't let go. Nothing big or miraculous happened but I left feeling like I had been obedient to they way God calls us to live and that was all I could do.
We spent the rest of the weekend at the beach(which was incredible) and promoting a torch prayer run for Jamaica to some of the churches around the island. The group I was in was in went to Kingston for church on Sunday which is about four hours from Montego Bay. The first church we went to was outside of Kingston and it seriously felt as if we were in the middle of nowhere. It was a tiny country church with little goats running around outside and no a/c (of course). We got there just in time for the end of the service(because we had other churches to stop at) so it was hard to get an accurate picture of what the service was like. The people were warm and friendly and the children interacted with us after the service. The second church we went to was inside Kingston in the downtown area. Definitely an eye-opening experience. You always hear that Kingston is rough and it really looks the part. It was good to see and experience for myself though. After church there was a huge prayer vigil in the city square and a bunch of local ministers,politicians and singers came out. It was amazing to see Jamaicans praying and repenting on their country's behalf in the heart its darkest city.
Yikes this is long already...are you still with me?
Last week was our first official week of classes which were on God's Nature and Character. It was taught by YWAM's Regional Director of the Caribbean who is a guy named Bill Landis. I enjoyed the classes although it was tough to concentrate with the weather that we had going on.It is hurricane season here after all! I experienced what is called a tropical depression which is basically tons and tons and tons of rain and wind. We went through all types of things-roads completely washed out, power outages, no running water, flooded classrooms, the list goes on. Some parts of Jamaica had tornadoes and the homes of the poor were devastated. By the end of the week the weather seemed to have passed us and by Sunday it was hot and sunny once again.
Sunday was my first official Jamaican church service. We went to a church called the meeting place which is actually run by a jamaican born white woman which I found interesting.(http://www.trumpetcallministries.org/meeting_place.php) The service was really good...different, but good(and it had a/c!Hallelujah!!) The music felt like one big celebration. We had probably a good hour of music. The Jamaicans are a very musical people-it almost seems it is part of them.
Monday we started a new week of classes on Truth and the Bible. I feel like I am learning so much it is almost hard to process in a such a short time frame. The classes don't really feel like classes though because the lecturer(Mike Huckins) has a way of presenting the info in a way that is so practical and applicable. Feels like he is just having a heartfelt conversation with us and we are eating it up!
Tuesday was the Kingdom Torch Run I mentioned before. Basically the idea of it is that Jamaica needs to be reclaimed for God's Kingdom so as we ran and prayed through every parish in the country, we were taking it back for God. It was an incredible time. My team went to Morant Bay(236 km from Mobay) which is basically out in the boonies. Rural to the full essence of the word. It was also one of the areas that experienced a lot of the flooding so the place we stayed Monday night had no running water still. We ventured out at about 5:30 am and alternated between driving and running(we saved the running for key areas). We each took turns running with the torch and praying for Jamaica. It was fun watching peoples reactions to us-some heckled us, some just stared and pointed, others asked what we were doing ("Whagwan?") We ran all the way through Kingston and ended up in Mandeville at about 7 pm. 12 hours on the road in the hot sun made for a long day. The tiredness we felt though was a feeling of accomplishment. That day will never be forgotten for many reasons!
Anyways, I hope this gives those of you who were wondering a good picture of what I've been up to and how I'm doing. If you made it to this part, I'm amazed you had the perseverance to read through all my ramblings! Feel free to email if you want to hear more- amhildebrand@hotmail.com. Blessings!
Love the story at the reggae concert. Good on you for going after the dude...God was definitely speaking to you (and the guy)!!
ReplyDeleteBill Landis...no relation, if you were wondering :)
Haha i was actually wondering because he is from Pennsylvania but he said the last name Landis was pretty common there.
ReplyDelete