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As we wound along the mountainous roads, I heard a fellow passenger say, "It looks like we're running a little hot!" No sooner did the words leave his mouth than we were stopped. It was a two lane road, and we were backing up traffic. I found myself in a broken down van full of missionaries driving out of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Jamaicans are not afraid to use their horns. Our driver used his cell phone to alert the rest of our group that our white, toaster-shaped van had over-heated. Before he completed his conversation, two cars full of locals emerged from their vehicles and approached. Tennessean newspaper headlines flashed before my eyes, "Missionaries Didn't Have A Prayer!" What had I agreed to by embarking on my first missionary trip?
Travel abroad never goes quite the way you expect it. Daily adjustments to changing conditions are commonplace. You learn to make do. Breaking down in the middle of the highway – TWICE - was not on the agenda. However, each local citizen that stopped did their best to resuscitate our vehicle. Each got us back on the road with a cheerful, "No problem, mon." This epitomized much of my experience on my first missionary trip to Jamaica. Whether it is clean water, material goods, education, or employment, every Jamaican could use a little bit more. However, each one has adapted and utilized everything available to them. The members of the Battersea New Testament Church of God have done so cheerfully and have made do with what God has provided.
Many in our party had been to Jamaica previously which turned any inconvenience we encountered into the prelude to a good story about a previous year's experience. The experienced missionaries picked up right where they left off. There were many hugs all around upon our arrival. The other "rookies" and I started from scratch. I came on this trip anticipating a lot of strenuous work, and I was not disappointed. We spent the week patching roofs, laying concrete, and building a new house from the ground up. What I did not anticipate were the relationships we were building as well.
Here are a few things that stood out about the trip:
Be thankful that water comes out of the faucets anytime you desire. Be thankful that our water is clear and drinkable. Hoofing it up a hill with two 5-gallon jugs is a tough way to start the day.
Be thankful that you go to a grocery store to buy chicken as opposed to seeing it walking around in the yard before dinner.
If you are offered curried goat as an expression of gratitude, eat it. No questions asked. There are lots of little bones to get past in a new appreciation of curried goat.
Unless you are in the top 3% of your class, Jamaican education ends at age 15. At that point, it is up to you. As you have heard, "an idle mind is the devil's workshop." This saying may be a root of the many unwed pregnancies that are the norm in Jamaica.
There were multitudes of people simply standing around day after day waiting for opportunity to tap them on the shoulder. They say unemployment is 20% in Jamaica. However, the government counts people with gardens as "farmers" and people with fruit stands as "self-employed". An accurate number far exceeds 20% unemployed. Be thankful that if you want a job in the U.S., 95% of people can find one. The Jamaican workers that we employed were so thankful for 4 days of continuous work.
Jamaica has a 93% illegitimacy rate. Be thankful for all of those life lessons that you learned from your Dad. In Jamaica, there is typically not a traditional family unit. Most men do not know who their children are and few take responsibility for them. There is little nurturing from a family standpoint. What a blessing it was to have Val Kikkert, Candice Clippard, and Kerry Dietz on our trip. Each returned to Jamaica this year with their fathers. Their experience together served as a great example to our hosts of the kind of relationship that is possible between fathers and daughters.
I do believe every person in our group was deeply touched by Jamaican life. We were affected by their music and style of worship while being surrounded by multitudes of well intended teenagers and children the entire week. Others were able to share God's love with very few words at all. No matter what God-given gifts were available to the Battersea New Testament Church of God Congregation, they freely gave them to us. They certainly will receive the blessings of the Spirit in return.
Many of our church members have been to Jamaica 3, 5 and more than 10 times. There is something about this community that keeps people coming back year after year. It is the relationships not the concrete that cause people to return. In the same way, the Lord desires a relationship with each and every one of us. He also wants us to fellowship with and affirm the brotherhood of believers. We are certainly doing this each year the first full week in January.
Would I go to Jamaica again? "No problem, mon."
~ Darryl Thompson ~
Other 2008 Jamaica Trip Particpants: Nathan Brandon, Craig Buffkin, Jessica Campbell, Candace Clippard, Scooter Clippard, Nelson Crowe, Kerry Dietz, Wally Dietz, Steve Dresch, Patricia Heim, Michael Hindman, Scott Kendrick, Larry Kikkert, Val Kikkert, J.T. Martin,
Amber McAdams, Mike McGuffin, Sandra Randleman, and Jim Wall Click here for more pictures from the 2008 mission trip. |
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