The Little Green House on the Hillside

The last half of Jamaica has been very different than the first half.  After spending three weeks in our first round of host homes, when I stayed with Annette, we stayed as a team for a week at the church. It was a time to regroup, debrief, and learn from each other. 

When that week ended, we moved in with our new families. My roommate and I are staying with Miss James, a school teacher at the local basic school (for kids 6 and under). We live in a four-room home: three bedrooms and the dining room. Our kitchen is a separate structure right out back. The outhouse and shower house, two separate huts, are located at the side of the home. Miss James has two children that still live at home who are thirty and forty(ish). She also has a few grandkids, ages ranging from two to twenty-one, that sometimes live here. 

  Most weekdays, we've had the fun opportunity to help at the basic school. It has been so much fun to get to know the kids and help the teachers! The first week and a half we helped, everyone was getting ready for "sports day". So we often spent the day on the field watching four-year-olds try to hop in gunny sacks in a straight line or groups of kids practicing their team's cheer. During lesson time, I sit in with the youngest class (mostly three & four year olds) and dot letters out for them to trace. I enjoy spending time getting to know the kids and developing, day by day, a relationship with them. Marco, Ackeem, Sabreina, Tia-Shae, Lillian, Kanesha, Kassian, Dante. They all have my heart. Before we leave for home, we spend the last hour washing over one hundred dishes to help Miss Sharon, the school cook. The student body of about forty get fed both breakfast and lunch at school. I have learned to love washing dishes, and it's such a good way to serve the school staff. Last week was "sports day", Jamaica's version of a field day. They definitely go all day out for this event, renting tents and a DJ, dressing up in the house (team) colors, and parents dressing up with their kids. 

 Ackeem is our five year old neighbor who also goes to the basic school. He is one of the coolest kids ever. He likes asking questions, plays soccer with us on our porch, smells like men's cologne, has a sweet personality, is content just sitting and chilling with two, twenty-one year old girls, and has the most adorable dimples ever.

 One day, our team decided to go explore a river, intending to have a Bible study there. We came across a waterfall that went into a small swimming hole with a rope swing. Shortly after arriving there, we discovered a half-built dam. As our team started building it up a bit, a bunch of locals noticed and joined in. We spent the entire afternoon building up this dam with locals. It was such a fun afternoon!

 Jamaica is a beautiful place with amazing people and although all of these moments have been great, I will admit that I am looking forward the next stop in this adventure. 

  A week from Monday, my team will be making our way to Belize. We will have an overnight layover in Miami and then arrive in Belize on Tuesday afternoon. 

 Thank you all for your continued prayers!!

Updated prayer requests:

  >> that I will be intentional in my last week here in Jamaica. That I will be 100% present and make the most of it. 

  >> safety for my team as we travel to Belize

  >> that I will apply all I've learned from Haiti and Jamaica to my time in Belize from the beginning 

At the Bottom of Richmond Hill

I figured it was about time I posted an update from Jamaica. I've been here for more than three weeks now! This is a gorgeous country with the most friendly people, and I am thrilled to spend the next month here.

It was an adjustment coming here from Haiti, where we had rough living conditions and a difficult language barrier. Here in Jamaica, I have a bed to sleep in, and can converse with anyone I want. But it has also been difficult finding ways to serve in our host homes, the local church, or in the community of Catadupa.

Catadupa is a small, rural community in the mountains of Jamaica, about an hour from Montego Bay. Most of our team currently lives at the bottom of Richmond Hill, which is also home to Croydon in the Mountains - an old pineapple plantation. I have found that some of best moments here in Catadupa are small, but meaningful moments that have so far shaped my time here. I wanted to tell you about how I've spent the last few weeks.

I live in a four-bedroom home with my mom, Annette, dad, Manley, and brother, Jerome, who is in his thirties. Annette sells handmade clothing several times a week in Montego Bay at a resort. She's been doing this for more than thirty years now, and my roommate and I have gotten the amazing opportunity to go with her. The days we get to tag along are ones when we get to see how awesome Annette is, not just as our host mom, but as a person. She has a very generous spirit, and goes out of her way to provide for others.

Going to the resort with Annette also provided a unique experience as I got to see the resort from a local’s eyes. I really struggled at first with how I viewed the resort. It's a place where vacationers rent multimillion dollar homes for $20,000 per week. Coming straight from Haiti, I experienced strong reverse culture shock. Beyond that, though, it was interesting to see it all from Annette’s point of view.

The church we are partnered with here in Catadupa also hosts short-term mission teams throughout the year. As they work on building a cistern this spring, my team has gotten to help! I have loved this opportunity to do some physical labor, get to know more people, and work alongside the community in this way.

I mentioned earlier that we live close to Croydon, a pineapple plantation. One day, some teammates and I wandered in and happened upon some tours taking place. (A lot of tourists coming from cruise ships take a bus up here to take a tour of Croydon.) We decided to just kind of jump in and learn along with all the tourists. The tour guide, Alicia, asked the group at one point to guess a type of plant. She was surprised when we knew the correct answer, and we replied, “We live here!” It led to an awesome conversation, in which she told us a bit of her testimony. This day was one of my favorite days of the whole trip. It was unplanned, and circumstantial, but I could tell it was a day orchestrated by God.

One host mom in the neighborhood, Mama Debbie, is a very active member in the church and community. One Tuesday afternoon, she took our team to a hospital in MoBay to do a prayer visit. A church member’s son, a week prior, had been shot about seven times, three of which were to the head. Arriving at the hospital, doctors moved him aside saying he was basically dead. It wasn't until the next morning, when they found he was still alive, that they took him to surgery. We went to pray over him and any other patient we felt called to. It was an incredible time watching the Holy Spirit work through our team.

Easter last week was such a fun experience, too! We went to the church’s Good Friday service, which was more like an Easter service, celebrating Christ’s resurrection, not His death. But Sunday's service was still beautiful. While singing a song about redemption, the entire congregation stood up around the sanctuary, making a circle around the pews. It was such a beautiful memory as we worshiped together.

Easter night, my team got together to wash each other's feet. This was such a significant night for the team, as we had endured some struggles earlier that week. It was a wonderful, healing activity we did together.

These are just a few highlights of the past few weeks in Jamaica. Right now, I am sitting on a beach babysitting Annette’s 3-year-old granddaughter, Meliah with my roommate, Lindsey. Opportunities to serve don't seem as obvious as in Haiti, and I am continually challenged to be bold in seeking those opportunities out.

Updated Prayer Requests: ~ my health. The food here in Jamaica rarely sits well with me and I ended up sick last week. ~ in one week, we will switch host homes here in Jamaica. Please pray for quick bonding with these families and that we will have an amazing three weeks with them.

Sierra