My First Day in Jamaica

My first day here (yesterday) will be one that I will certainly never forget. Our team (half of the actual McBic team) went to inner city Kingston into a few communities that were described as the places that most Jamaicans never see or want to see because it is considered to be one of the most dangerous, unsanitary, and saddest areas in the country. We went with a missionary named Pastor Travis who has been working in Kingston for the past 6 years with his wife and 3 kids. He is in the process of converting a theater into a "Dream Center". Once we got to the center, he explained that his center is in the middle of two of the most dangerous and poor communities that have been enemies for years. He hopes that the center can be a place where people (children and youth in particular) from both sides can come together and hopefully create peace later down the road. 

We split up our group into two (7-8 people a team) and went into each community to pray for people and invite kids to vbs. As we walked through the streets, it almost felt unreal. I felt as if I had googled "poverty across the world". It took me until the end of the walk to fully  process the entire community. However, our team got to talk and pray with so many people! The people were honestly some of the most open people I have ever talked to. Although the kids all see us as white aliens, the adults truly know that we are here to help. We got the opportunity to pray for people's health, job searches, families, finances, etc. I was so happy that our team was able to get past our culture shock and sympathy because I really feel like we provided hope and comfort to so many people just by praying for them. We invited every kid we saw to vbs and they certainly did not disappoint.

There were 80 kids at a vbs that we started advertising for (just through word of mouth) that afternoon. As we hung out with them and took them to song, story, and game stations, we realized they really were not like most American children. First of all, these kids were obviously seeking attention and love. Pastor Travis mentioned the fact that they don't get enough love at home so they may be searching for it from random white people, but we didn't actually understand it until it happened. I personally never walked anywhere without 2-3 holding onto me (which I did not mind at all). Second of all, most of them have never or rarely seen white people so they were totally fascinated. They asked questions like "Is the white real?", "How did you get white?", and "Is your favorite color white?". Jamie actually got told that he "smelled white". For a solid 45 minutes several little girls just played with some of our hair because they were so fascinated. All of us came back with huge knots, but it was worth it(: However, the main thing I learned from being with not only just these children, but also just the Jamaican people altogether is that God provides joy in all situations. Sometimes we don't recieve His pure and perfect joy, but it is always there. As these people walk through their lives with smiles, love, hope and community, it amazes all of us because of the poverty they live in. They truly live out Romans 15:13: "The God of hope fills you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." We all have so much to learn from these kids and I am overwhelmed with the feeling of thankfulness as we continue on with this trip. 

Mitch Martin says hello.

Maggie Anthonyrintg