Update!

Hey everyone. I hope you are all doing well. Here’s an update of what I have been doing the past couple weeks and some of the exciting things to come!

This is my last week of class before outreach. It is crazy to think that I will be in The Gambia in less than 3 weeks!

This Friday, our base is having our annual Love Feast. We are inviting a bunch of people from the community, from our street feedings, and friends to come and enjoy a huge Christmas meal with us. You will definitely see a post about this soon.

Now… some stories :)

                                                                                                        

Blue Mountain

                                                                                                        

Hightest point in Jamaica. Nbd.
Blue Mountain Peak
(7402 ft)

When they suggested taking a trip to Blue Mountain, I was all over the opportunity. Blue Mountain is known here in Jamaica for its coffee. It is also the highest mountain range in Jamaica. What the plan entailed was hiking, camping in a high mountain cabin, and more hiking. This is the kind of stuff I live for, so I was very excited.

Overall, the whole experience was awesome - just way different than I thought it was going to be. We decided it would be best if we made the trip just for the men. 10 of us piled into the truck and made the 5 hour trip through Kingston to Blue Mountain. By the time we got to the trailhead, it was 10:00pm. But… I guess in Jamaica… this is the prime time to hike? So we hiked in the pitch dark, through thick rainforest, across rivers, with only what we could carry on our backs. After 9 miles of hiking, we finally reached the cabin at about 3:30am the next morning. Now… I had the mindset that there was no cold that I couldn’t handle… especially in Jamaica. All I will say is that for the next time we go… I am bringing a nice jacket. At about 2:00am it began to rain and it didn’t stop until about 5:00am the next morning. It was only about 45 degrees out, but the wetness made it feel much colder. We did, however, end up hiking the 3 extra miles to the peak the last day we were there. Though it was foggy and cloudy… we were able to get a glimpse of the ocean on our way down. The trip was definitely worth it. The best place I can find time to think is up in the mountains, so I will take any chance I get.

sketchy

our cabin straight out of A Beautiful Mind

fresh coffee beans!

the trail

our cabin was in that saddle

mmm chicken

some crazy guy we picked up on the way down :)

nice view on the way down

                                                                                                        

Stones Hope

                                                                                                        

For class last week we were not at our base in Montego Bay, but at the other YWAM base here in Jamaica. It is called Stones Hope and is located in Mandeville. Mandeville is considered “country”, and rightly so. There was so much space and it was a great break from the city. The internet was awful, but that was just one more distraction I didn’t really have to worry about. And the stars… the stars were amazing. We sat out almost every night just to watch for shooting stars.

While at Stones Hope, we went out one day to evangelize. I met a man named Answer outside of a rum bar (very common here) and I could tell he was already drunk. My Jamaican friend Jodie was with me and we just started to get to know the guy. After a few minutes of talking, we found out that this man lives with his brother and farms in the area. Every time he looked into my eyes, I saw something. I saw such an emptiness… such a loneliness. As we continued to talk, Answer told us that he and his wife used to own a huge house and that he used to go to church. The way he was talking about himself compared to the way he looked was very different. As the conversation got deeper, we found out that his wife left him, took his house, took his money, took the kids, and pretty much just kicked him out. Any time we tried to talk about her, Answer became very defensive. Apparently, this whole thing happened about 4 years ago and since then he has been on a downward slope. We talked for maybe an hour in all, but I know we changed this man’s life. I could tell that it had been so long since he had such a warm conversation. Jodie asked Answer if she could pray for him and give him a hug. I saw this rough, defensive man melt in her arms. By the time we were about to leave, Answer was completely sober and he threw out the rest of his rum. We connected him with one of the Stones Hope base leaders, and he is going to try to get his life back.

 I have been thinking about Answer a lot since then. I’ve realized that one of if not the biggest tools we have is love.
                          “Whoever does not love does not know God, 
                                      because God is love.” [1 John 4:8]
Why are so many people turned off by Christians? Simple. The focus a lot of time is too centered on preaching when really we should be loving. It would have been no use to preach to Answer. In fact, he probably knows more about the Bible than I do. We simply showed him love… gave him time… listened to him. And that emptiness I saw at first was shifted dramatically by the time we left.

                                                                                                        

Knife!

                                                                                                        

Here’s a pretty sweet testimony. As we were having church on the beach the other week, we came face to face with some intense spiritual warfare. As we were worshiping, we saw three men standing at the entrance of the beach. One of the men looked at us and walked up to Dane (standing up in the blue). He had in his hand a 14inch, freshly sharpened kitchen knife. He put the knife to Dane and told him to give him all of his valuables. The music stopped, and we all pretty much just sat there in shock. Was this man really going to rob all of us? I took this picture right before the man came over, so I couldn’t really hear what was being said from my position. As I began to put my camera in my backpack and stand up, I see Danya (one of our leaders) standing up right in front of this man. I started walking toward them, and the man raised the knife above his head like he was going to stab Danya. I couldn’t believe this was happening. We all started praying… but Danya didn’t even flinch. She looked him in the eyes, and pretty much said that he had no authority to do what he was doing. The man looked at Danya, looked at all of us, lowered the knife, and began to back away. A lot more goes into this story, but the lesson is clear. Danya recognized that this was something more than just a physical threat, but also a spiritual attack.
                  “The light shines in the darkness, 
                    and the darkness cannot overcome it.” [John 1:5]
All believers have the authority to deal aggressively with the enemy. And when we do, he has no other option but to leave. If you want to know more about all of this… feel free to ask me.

                                                                                                        


I think this is enough for tonight. Please stay in prayer that all of our Gambia stuff (visas & funds) comes in soon. Feel free to drop by and say hey!


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