For those of you that did not get a chance to read my summary letter to those who supported my trip, this is a very large excerpt from that, explaining all that my team and I really experienced while serving God in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Thank you so much for supporting my mission trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica this summer! Thanks to you, I was able to have the opportunity to build a house for a family of six and minister to the people of Jamaica. It truly was an absolutely amazing experience and I cannot thank you enough. While I was in Jamaica, God really made me work outside of my comfort zone. My team was in a different county, a different culture, eating different food, and doing many things we were not used to. Despite all the these obstacles, God used our team, as well as myself, to really affect the family we built the house for and the people we ministered to all throughout Jamaica. While I was in Jamaica, so much happened. I worked with Homes of Hope, I lived at the YWAM base as well as got to know all the staff and people living there, and I was taken all throughout Jamaica, doing various ministerial duties.
Working with Homes of Hope was such a great experience! This was actually the second time I had worked with this specific organization, but it was a completely different experience. It was a new location, new builders, and a new family. The family we were building for consisted of a single mother, named Sheriffa McLaughlin, raising five children. Sheriffa and her children were so sweet and so kind. Her children were even able to help us build the house, which was a cool experience in and of itself. We were told that we were only going to need three days to build this house, which seemed impossible. However, God worked through us and proved the impossible to be possible, and we did finish in three days. On the first day, the heat was unbearable, and the work was extremely hard, but for the most part we were on schedule. Day two was a little different. The prep team who had prepared the sight for us to build, had made some architectural flaws, and the house was not centered on the foundation. So we spent an hour or so actually moving the house over a few inches (definitely not an easy task). However, we were still able to "roll with it" and actually finish day two on schedule. By the end of day two, all that was left was finishing the roof and painting the inside of the house. As day three came around, the team was exhausted but absolutely motivated, and we spent almost the whole day on the roof putting the shingles on. Several of us actually pushed lunch back about an hour and a half in order to finish the roof. It was a lot of work, but it was done. Once we finished building, we ate lunch in the house we had just built and then handed the house over to Sheriffa and her family. We all gathered in front of the house and passed the key around, praying for a blessing on the house, Sheriffa, and her children. It was very emotional, many of us were in tears during the whole thing. After we were finished dedicating the house, we all hugged Sheriffa and left her to move into her new house. Words cannot describe the experience of watching this woman go from having little to nothing to having her own house to safely raise her children in. God heard Sheriffa's prayers and sent His people to be His hands and feet. Getting to be a part of that was so incredible. Even more, EVERYTHING we did for Sheriffa, we did in the glorious name of Jesus Christ.
Living at the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base, and getting to know the staff there was such an awesome experience! The base was located on a mountain in St. James, just outside of Montego Bay. Which meant, we had the most beautiful view of the entire city from where we were staying. The base actually used to be a plantation, and then several owners later, was donated to YWAM. Everything about it was awesome, except for one thing... There was no Air Conditioning! It was SO hot the entire time we were there, and we had nowhere to escape the heat! Luckily, the base had a pool, which made all of us very happy. In fact, we swam in the pool just about every single day after we were done with our duties for the day. Basically, we would go somewhere and pray with people or feed them, then we would come back and swim, then we would have group devotions (we worked through the prayer life of Jesus throughout all four gospels), and then we would play MAFIA! Mafia was almost a must after devos and after we had bought some snacks from the store at the base. One night, a couple of us decided we would try a famous Jamaican drink called Malta. I went in with an open mind, but it did not matter. Malta was arguably the worst thing I have ever tasted. It was so awful! Nobody on our team actually liked it. One thing that made this trip so awesome was how much we bonded as a group and with the people that lived on the base. Our guide, Shashana, was so cool. She was with us just about the whole time. God bless her soul for handling so many Americans for so long! Another person we met was Junior. Junior worked with Homes of Hope, and was hilarious! Our entire team came to love Junior. In fact, we all made fun of our leader, Matthew McNutt and even got Junior and several other staff members in on the fun. We called McNutt "BIG Bird" because the second day on the build site, he wore a yellow shirt and very closely resembled Big Bird from Sesame Street. Junior and a guy named Mr. Grey would only refer to him as Big Bird or just Bird. McNutt was bitter towards the name at first, but definitely came to find the humor in it as well as love it. Another person we came to love, was a man named Arlin. He was actually from Pennsylvania and was a huge Philly sports fan! He worked with Homes of Hope, and we got very close to him during the trip. Another thing that was cool was while we were there, there was a group of almost 50 Canadians there building three houses. Getting to interact with them on the base was so much fun! What still stands out to me when I think of what life was like on the base, is how much personal interaction we had all day and every night. Since there weren't a whole lot of extras to do there except swim, our group spent so much time together enjoying each other's company. We really did bond so much on this trip. Also, when we weren't spending time with each other, we were spending time with God, whether it was in prayer or reading His Word. This trip definitely brought out great group interaction and great personal devotions. Living on the base and interacting with the missionaries was a truly fantastic experience.
The various ministries we were able to help with while in Jamaica, were some of the hardest but best parts of the trip. We went to a place called Hope Hospice, where we met two very interesting people; Mr. White and a woman named Cynthia. Mr. White was the kind of guy that none of us expected. We all went into his room expecting to preach to him and to minister to him, but instead he preached and ministered to us. He was such a loving and godly man, and a truly exceptional Christian role model. He prayed for so many of us individually, he definitely touched the hearts of our group. Cynthia, was also a real gem. She was one of the sweetest old ladies I've ever met. About ten years ago or so, she came to the hospice and had both legs amputated due to diabetes. She had literally been in a bed for the past ten years, and she was without a doubt in my mind, one of the happiest people I've ever met. The way she talked about Jesus melted my heart. She truly loved her Savior and trusted in Him in every aspect of her life. We also went to so many other hospitals, soup kitchens, homes for the poor, etc... But the one that still sticks out in my mind was this house for orphaned children. This place housed almost a hundred kids ranging from all types of ages, but no one over say the age of 12. I met and interacted with some of the cutest and coolest kids! While we were there, we put on a VBS (Vacation Bible School) for the kids. It was so much fun getting to play with the kids and entertain them as well as share Jesus' love with them. It was such an amazing experience, and I will always remember it. To top the whole trip off, everywhere we went, we had our own driver, who we all got very close to. His name was Mr. Chambers, and he was such a cool guy. By the end of the trip, he really was part of our team and it was very hard to say goodbye. Overall, the ministry we did in the various parts of Jamaica was truly an amazing experience.
So, in the twelve days that we were there, we built a house with Homes of Hope, lived with some amazing people and got to know them on a personal level, and shared Christ Jesus' love and compassion with all of Jamaica. What an incredible trip! I truly came back with such an incredible perspective on just how blessed we as Americans are, and just how much we take for granted.
IMPORTANT: Although we made it home safe, there are still hundreds, if not thousands who are living in extreme poverty in Jamaica, and all parts of the world, who don’t have the luxury of coming to the United States and living in safe towns and safe homes with a bed to sleep in every night. I ask that you please keep these people and these ministries in your prayers. We really saw the immense power of prayer while we were there, and we got home safely because of it, but they still need to remain in our prayers. Thank you so much for your support! God bless!
