1. They have the most churches per capita in the world. Jamaica is very over evangelized and if you ask everything there if they know Jesus, at least 90% will say yes and that they go to church every Sunday.
2. There is a lot of fear there
3. It is one of the most happiest countries in the world
4. Men like to talk to the girls a lot (this is their culture whether they are married or not, men in Jamaica will call out a girl from across the street and say "Hey beautiful, come over here!")
5. They are very very very flexible and open-ended
So when I hear about outreaches in YWAM, I hear about all about their evangelism and talking in a church and preaching to people. Our team only preached a couple of times in Jamaica. Our theme for our Outreach was "Discipleship through Relationship." Our goal was not to evangelize, but to make relationships with people and that is exactly what we did.
We arrived at a base called "Stone's Hope." This base is in Mandeville and it's also not on the YWAM website. So when people think YWAM Jamaica, they think of the Montego Bay campus. As we were doing intercession for the base we got the sense that it was the "forgotten" base, but God did not forget it. He sent us to that base to make relationships with the people. At Stone's Hope, there was a primary school (from preschool to fifth grade). There's also a Crossroads DTS going on (a Crossroads DTS is for people ages 25+) However there were very young people in that DTS and one older man.
Entrance to the base
When we arrived we did not want to be there. I tried convincing our Outreach leader, Brittney to go somewhere else but she said it probably won't happen. The third night we were there was when we had the intercession for the base. We felt a spirit of apathy and that the people here were tired and spiritually dry. We knew then that this was where we were supposed to be. God convicted our hearts that night making us realize how our attitudes were towards that place and he turned it around and we became excited to make relationships with the people there. The next weeks we helped out in work duties and the school. I helped out in the preschool one time and taught PE every other day for a couple of weeks. One of the staff there had contacts with the other schools in the area so for the next two weeks, we did devotionals in the schools.
Every morning when kids go to school they have a daily devotional. I'm not so sure how it goes when we are not running them but I know that they sing the National Anthem everyday. This is also where I believe fear comes from. As we interacted with the kids there, they were very afraid of the teachers. The students were disciplined often. There was one time, one of the teachers said "CLOSE YOUR EYES, YOU'RE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD!" The more we talked with people and played with kids, we knew that all they really want is to be loved.
Our devotionals included sometimes singing a song, always a funny skit, and then a small talk.
All in all, it takes about 20-30 minutes. Sometimes we had a skit and then related it somehow to Jesus. In our talks we wanted to tell the children how loved they are and how powerful they are.
Another ministry we did was running youth groups. Remember what I said about Jamaica being so flexible? So sometimes there were times our contacts would say, "Oh yea you don't have to run the program, you just have to participate." Brittney said to us, "Let's prepare anyway." That night we were driving to the youth group and we found out that we were actually preparing it. Thank Jesus we prepared. But there were other times that we were caught off guard and we had to speak or do a skit.
Kingston
For five days we stayed in the capital of Jamaica, Kingston. This was very different. At Stone's Hope there was so much space to have a quiet time. But this week we were staying a woman named Pam's house. She had a lovely home, I loved it! But I would wake up in the morning to do my Jesus time and there would be 6 people in the living room doing their quiet time. I would go throughout the house and couldn't find anywhere alone. In the girls' room, we were all squished together. it was very hard to be alone that week.
We were going to work with intercity kids who lived in poverty. We worked with two missionaries who every day did kind of like a Sunday school with kids in different areas. It was so awesome! The kids were so poor and you could tell by the clothes that they wore and how much they attached to us. So first we would act out a bible skit or a funny skit and then Mike, one of the missionaries would ask the kids questions about the skit and if they answered correctly they would get a prize. Two of the days their prize was getting their face painted.
Now there's a story here. In Belize, one time we were sitting in the library and talking about Outreach and I said, "I hope there's face paint! Face painting is my passion!" I don't know why I said that but I really do love face painting. The next couple weeks, my fellow DTS friends always made fun of me of when I said "Face painting is my passion!" When we had an intercession for our Outreach, I prayed that there would be face paint. So when we first met Mike he asked us, "Do we have any face painters here?" I shrieked. God knew I wanted this and he gave it to me. He blessed me and that's when I realized. God wanted to bless me. God isn't someone that's stingy with his blessings. God wants to spoil me. And he showed me that through face paint.
In Kingston we went to places where taxi drivers don't even go because it is normal to hear gunshots every day. We had an awesome taxi driver. She showed us the town where Bob Marley grew up and then she took us to his statue. That was in the afternoons. In the mornings we partnered with Pam's church and we actually did evangelizing just walking through the streets talking to people. Some of the stuff that they wanted us to do we didn't exactly agree on. The tracks they wanted us to pass out said "Do you know what you miss out on when you know God?" Then you open them. "HELL." In big bold letters. When this is true, it was a very harsh way and again, using fear. Luckily when I was walking with Pam, we just talked with people and prayed with them. One woman I met was truly amazing. She was 82 years old and she had died the week before but God came to her and said that he wasn't done with her. So he brought her back to life. She wasn't very able, but if God wasn't done with her, I believe she can do a lot. She inspired me, so that's something.
The day we got back to Stone's Hope, we got a very warm welcome. Some of the DTS students greeted us, the staff greeted us, and one girl came to Stone's Hope because she knew we were coming back. One staff said that the place was very quiet the time we were gone. God was telling us: "See! You're needed here and I am working through you!" I couldn't believe it. We were having a conversation with a staff member and that same girl, Chantel, who came to Stone's Hope to see us and we made a funny joke and then Chantel says "See! Laughter. You don't hear that a lot around here." This brought me encouragement. We were making a difference.
We were entering our last two weeks and we wanted to give it our all. The week after Kingston, we were advertising a crusade going on in a village called Spice Grove. Also during this week we went to children's homes. This was also the week that I got chikun gunya. This is a virus where all your muscles and joints are so sore that you can't even walk. For two days I had a splitting headache and I couldn't walk. I had to go to the bathroom all the time and I didn't want to drink anything. I hope that you never get it. But because of this I couldn't go to the children's home and I was so sad. I was in bed all day and I couldn't do anything.
Anyways, Spice Grove. Spice Grove isn't a town that you pass through to get somewhere. If you are in Spice Grove, it's because you want to be there. We went on prayer walks, sat in the back of a van and spoke on a loudspeaker, handed out flyers. All of this was leading up to a 3-day crusade. The first day we played with kids all day. We had a bouncy house and stations that had a bunch of activities. We played field games, tag, relay races. And lastly, we had a message for the kids. The children were told of Jesus and there was an altar call. Most of them went up and accepted Jesus into their hearts. It was a beautiful sight. What was even more awesome was we handed out shoeboxes from the Samaritan's Purse, which is a Christian organization that gives gifts in shoeboxes to kids all around the world. To see the smiles on their faces was totally God.
This whole week we all were experiencing spiritual warfare. You may think that it's demons and stuff, but it's actually not. Most of it is lies that the enemy tells us. That week I had feelings of resentment, bitterness, and anger towards my whole team. All of us were getting on each other's nerves and starting to hate each other. We were complaining some. So the 2nd to last week we had, we had our weekly debrief where we talk about the past week and then move on to the next. I remember this moment so clearly. /We split into groups to debrief and I remember in my group, I went first to say how my week went. And I broke down in tears. It just happened. I didn't realize how much feelings I had bundled up. Then it turns out that everybody else felt the same way. Brittney ended our debrief by bringing pink nail polish and said, "I'm bringing us back to the start." We were reminded of Tiffany's week of God's PINKY promises (see previous blog). Then she played "God's Great Dance Floor" which had a very significant meaning to our team.
Remember that children's home that I missed? Well, we got to go again and this time I came.
This girl, Athalia, just wanted to be held. All the tie, which I was fine with. :)
Every Wednesday, Stone's Hope had a community meeting, like in Belize, their church meeting. It turned out to be an honor dinner for us. All the staff said something about us. I remember the base director saying: "You brought so much life and joy in this place. The week you were gone in Kingston, it was dead quiet. Never has this base felt more alive." I smiled knowing God did use us. Saying goodbye to that base was amazing. Everyone came to say goodbye and told us how much of a blessing we were to that base. And that concluded our time with Stone's Hope.
Our last week in Jamaica we stayed at the other YWAM base in Montego Bay, which is more of a touristy location in Jamaica. Our first day of ministry was our last devotional in a school. We had to climb up this huge hill to get there.
At the end of our climb
We gave it our all. We did Bus Stop, we sang a Jamaican song and a gospel song that was popular in Jamaica. One of the main messages that we gave to the children is how powerful they can be and that they don't need to be afraid of God.
A view of Montego Bay
And that my friends, concludes my Jamaican outreach. I know my blogs are long and sometimes probably don't make sense. But sometimes it helps me write it down to process the five months I went through. And there is SO MUCH MORE, but words cannot describe.
I am glad you and your team had open hearts and allowed God to use you to bless our Nation. It was truely a blessing having you here, you made a huge impact, and you are missed dearly!
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