Outreach

Local Outreach is finally over

This week our DTS split into two groups. The Antigua team and the Guadalupe team. We all spent the week serving in our teams and spending time together to get a small taste os what our 8 week outreach will be. I had a hard time. Most of my close friends are in the other group so I felt left out most of the time, but the ministry was challenging and pretty fun. We visited an orphanage two times; the kids were so adorable and playful. It breaks my heart that they don’t have the family structure so many of us were privileged to have. Some of them had special needs; some had learned to talk and then just stopped all speech, some cried the whole time we were there, we had kids that would not let us put them down. Overall it was a great experience we spent 4 hours playing and loving them. Leaving was awful. I almost felt bad for even going because the children had fun with us and then we just left and were never going back there. We made friends we’ll never see again. The kids must become so desensitized to people walking away from their lives. I know they enjoyed our time with them, but the they were so hurt when we said goodbye.
This trip made me think about my motives and why I even wanted to go there. Was it because I really wanted Christ to be displayed to these kids, or did I behave differently from someone who goes their just out of there own compassion. I realized I need to approach everyone with God’s Love, and with God because he is Love. I’m not saying that going to visit orphans out of compassion is wrong, but how much more affective is it to approach things while being in Gods will, while being ready to share and pray over the children, expressing love to them that the world can’t give?
We also did some “street evangelism” that’s when we walk up to people and share the word. I’m not really comfortable with this method, but I was more encouraged than discouraged at the end of the day. We walked around downtown Mandeville and made conversation. I don’t like really talking to people aggressively so we just asked them questions about what they believed and what they accepted when death arrives. Most people proclaimed the power in Jesus name, but some thought we just die. The people here are very interesting, we meat this one older woman who’s name was Mistress Gloria Plum. She had this awesome pink sequenced baseball cap on. It was really hard to understand the older folks because they’re “patwha” was really mumbled. At the end of every encounter we asked if individuals felt comfortable with us praying for them, most people said something along the lines of, “don’t pray for me or don’t bless me, pray for a blessing over everyone in the world” not many wanted their name to be spoken and lost of Jamaicans are humanitarian. We also met people that new the truth in Christ, but they just were not ready to live that way, they openly admitted they were okay with backsliding against the God they believed in. I think that might be harder to talk about than the gospel, because then it’s trying to explain how God wants to use them and that can be a hard truth to confront a stranger with. Overall, this was a good experience but I think City Reach is much more affective ministry because people come to us. It’s easier to resent the Love of God when someone engages you in a conversation. But, in the end it doesn’t matter how things play out because if the word of life is spoken or shown it’s a victory. I realized that I need to live out the Word. I need to be ready to share, do, or help people with the Lord’s intentions and compassion. Simple things like going o the grocery store, getting gas, everyday errands are a time to love people. I’ve always known that I just forget about it. I hope I become more aware and less afraid. I also wan to acknowledge that being sensitive to the holy spirits leading is the key to this. Sometimes you don’t need to share.
We also spent time in the Mandeville base helping with the Christian Elementary school that operates there. The kids were so crazy and funny. They were really excited we were there and they loved us. Every time we would walk to lunch or resses we were holding at least ten tiny hands, and when we sat in a circle to read everyone was trying to sit next to us. It was really fun to experience that kind of unconditional love. Even if we had to discipline the children, three seconds later they loved us just the same. The teachers really appreciated our help. It was nice to feel needed and used. That affirmation bonded our team; we always left school with a funny story. I’m so happy to be home and I’m o excited for the week ahead. I missed my friends and I have a ton of laundry to catch up on. I think we might go in town tonight for dinner and a reggae concert. I’m excited but nervous; you never know what’s going to happen in town.