"How was your trip?" Jamaica 2013

"How was your trip?" A question that is popular amongst those that return home from a trip...or anything really! We were told to think about that question our last night in Jamaica and think about how we would proceed to answer it. Now, if you know me, you know I can be very wordy on here but not so much in person because in person I start to feel guilty for taking up too much of your time but on here you choose to read it and I hope you will! So, I'll try my best to answer "How was your trip?"

Going into this past week I was expecting God to move because He always does when you ask! However, I had not prayed for anything too specific just that my eyes and heart be opened to Jamaica. I have been on numerous mission trips and been involved in many service opportunities as a student and young adult...and this past week tops the charts! When people that had been on the trip before kept telling me that it was going to rock my world I laughed and thought to myself "yeah, yeah, they "always do"...I've done missions before..." I've had to ask God to forgive me because they were right...it rocked my world, and more!

Jamaicans have very little yet exude such joy. I think that was the statement that all of us walked away with this week. We worked with them, hung out with them, ate a little bit like them, and lived a little bit like them. Cold two minute showers, wearing the same sweaty clothes over and over again, no AC, lots of sweating and lots of hard work. Yet, with our conditions, we still had it made and that alone blows my mind. The Jamaicans, having little, still take so much pride in their belongings and are joyful with what they have. A very different outlook than us Americans have...never have enough and never happy enough with what we do have. 

This week we were all challenged and accepted that challenge of denying ourselves and taking up our cross. The work was hard and tiring. Our jobs included sorting their thrift store, digging a 10ft pit of rock, working in their massive green houses where they grow produce, building two new foundations for houses to be built upon out of rock and concrete, built and finished two new houses upon existing foundations, hauling marl up hills, and trying to keep the kids at these serving opportunities entertained because they were out of school for the week! Needless to say, the work itself kicked my butt. We were physically exhausted.

 

    

We also had the chance to go to the Infirmary. Now, when they told us exactly what an Infirmary was, I was tempted to fake sick so I wouldn't have to go. This is waaayyyy out of my comfort zone and I was honestly pretty freaked out. The Infirmary is a place where people with special needs or physical needs go to live because their family members cannot care for them. There were individuals there who couldn't walk so they were confined to the ground and individuals who really couldn't even move and were confined to a bed. On the flip side there were people who were blind and people who just had an illness yet had all of their mental faculties. It was just devastating. No words can describe the pain we all felt for these people yet again we were blown away at the joy they had in Jesus. They just wanted us to play worship songs and read scripture to them (most of which could recite an entire Psalm back to you...we have no excuse when it comes to memorizing scripture, people!) So, just as we were physically exhausted, we became emotionally exhausted.

We also had the opportunity to dedicate the two houses that we built to these families!

Husband and I along with Peyton Hibbard were able to deliver the goats that our students had raised money for this past Christmas to a lady and our students were able to meet her! That was pretty cool finally being able to realize just the impact goats have on their community. They are a source of life!

The last night in Harmons we were able to present our new friends, Bigga's family, with some "basics" of life. They had saved for two years to add an addition onto their house and only a few short months following that, that addition burned to the ground! Our group rallied and rebuilt that addition and more!

Later on the last night we had a special service for our Team. We entered into a room with music and candlelight where stations were set up around the room and outside reminding us all that God had done that week. I sat down at a station that was specifically for the children of Harmons and that's where God spoke to me. Most of our family members know this about us, but I was able to share with our Team how God had laid it upon my heart about 5 years ago in a chapel service at AU to adopt children that were culturally different than me. Husband and I have been talking a lot about it lately but are so stressed out about the details. God was clear to me this week as he said, "Plan less...Pray more"! So whether it's in a year as our first child or in 10 years after we try to have children of our own, God confirmed to me that that's His will for our family. We followed that with a foot-washing service. I had never been a part of one, and as each individual had their feet washed and then washed another's feet, we became spiritually exhausted.

Our time in Jamaica was one that I will never forget. It was emotional to hear how God had spoken so differently to all 32 members of our team. Our God is real and our God is so good. He's a God of many cultures and many backgrounds. He is a God that still reigns sovereign and a God who gives JOY and peace through hurt and pain. He's unchanging and works for the good of ALL who love Him and call of Him no matter what part of the world you live in. His promises remain. Our God's arms spread across the whole world...and so should ours.

To end my mini novel on our week in Jamaica, the whole week this song played over and over in my head.
From babies hidden in the shadows To the cities shining bright There are captives weeping Far from sight For every doorway there's a story And some are holding back the cries But there is One who hears in the night. Great God Wrap Your arms around this world tonight Around the world tonight And when You hear our cries Sing through the night So we can join in Your song And sing along We'll sing along. For the farthest corners of the earth Still His mercy reaches Even to the pain we cannot see And even through the darkness There's a promise that will keep us There is One who came to set us free.

Thank you, Tony, for your "man behind the scenes" approach this week! You've blessed our hearts in ways that you will never know! Thank you for all of the wonderful pictures you took and all of your hard work! 

 'Till next year, Jamaica!