Hey everyone! It's Seth. We have returned from our staff retreat and I just wanted to share a little insight to something that happened yesterday.
Most weekends we travel to Ocho Rios on Sunday with the team that is here for the week and then on Monday we take them to the airport and pick up a new team for the week and it all starts over again. This Sunday was a little bit different. We had just returned on Saturday from our retreat in Negril, which was a very relaxing time to catch up on our sleep and catch our breath. Anyway, this morning we didn’t have the hustle and bustle of waking up a team and trying to make our way onto the bus to ship them off. No, today we had the opportunity to experience church in Jamaica. This was a real eye opener for me. You see, back in the states, if you don’t like a church because of its preaching techniques, worship style, age group, etc. you can just go somewhere else most times and feel comfortable in a church that you enjoy. But here in Harmons, Jamaica options of a “good” church are slim. So if you speak to a Jamaican about not going to that church down the road chances are that they aren’t going any where at all. On the island I have seen Seventh Day Advent churches and Baptist churches and a few others. This morning I went to church down the road called Open Bible Church in the community called Green Pond. I had no idea what to expect really.
One thing you have to realize about Jamaica is that being on time isn’t really an important thing. It is just part of the culture to be late for everything. So when we heard church started at ten we wanted to leave on time to be there right when it started. Well, it’s a good thing we got there a couple minutes early for church to start right at ten thirty. It was a good opportunity for us to meet every body that was attending church. We were the first ones there. Even before the pastor, who was an old woman named Pastor Wallace.
So we are sitting in our pew. Six white people in a small and very hot building worshiping side by side with the Jamaican people. The service started out with some music. This is how it went. It started with a woman who stood up in front of the congregation (at this point there were only about seven other people in the building) and she was singing very loudly into a microphone. I will admit that I cringed a little bit because she was so off-key with the keyboard player and it was pumping so loud out of the speakers right above our heads loud enough for the entire community to hear and know that it is time to throw on your suit and tie, or dress, and make your way to church. So the singing went on for a few hymns that I didn’t recognize but were easy to pick up so we sang along and clapped any way. Eventually the people started filling in and shouting “Hallelujah” and “Thank You Jesus” which created an atmosphere of spontaneous shouting praises to the Lord through out the rest of the service. After we sang the hymns a few times another woman stood up in the front of the congregation, about 40 people total or so, and began to announce what was going to happen in the service: “songs, introductions of special people in the church today, offering, the sermon, and one of the Americans can come up and speak.” As soon as she said this I had a feeling it was going to be me. Plus, when I looked to all the other staffers they were all staring at me so that was a pretty good indication of who was going to be standing in front of every one I don’t know and preaching some gospel. Wow.
So when it came to be my turn to go up they said will an American come and speak and the team looked to me, the congregation clapped, and there I went. I only knew about one or two Jamaican boys in this church and every one else lives on the other side of the community where I never really ventured before so this was a little intimidating. I was about to speak about God to people who rely on him daily to survive. I spoke in their native tongue to say hello and I got a chuckle back from the crowd which was nice and it calmed any nerves that I might have had. I opened up to the book of Colossians in chapter three and read that. I tried to relate it to them in plain life. I explained how the passage was for everyone all around the world. I expressed that lust, greed, sexual immorality, impurity, slander, etc. is not just a Jamaican sin but the whole world sins. And most importantly, that we are forgiven for these things and because of Gods compassion and forgiveness we are to put to death those things and clothe our selves with righteousness and compassion, kindness, humility and most importantly love. Then I prayed for the congregation and the community and the sermon and gave thanks for God’s Grace and Love and for his amazing gift of eternal life and for Jesus’ sacrifice.
I think it all went over pretty well. In the end I wasn’t really worried about how well it went over. I was just so excited to share gospel in a church full of Jamaicans. Straight up Gods word to a group of almost 50 people who had my undivided attention and I was just feeding them what they need and I know it wasn’t me, but God using me. That’s all I want. I just want to be used, a tool for God. And even though many times it’s not as obvious as this morning, I am so thankful that I can have the opportunity to do these things and trust that I am in Gods will. And that every thing I do I strive to do it for his glory and not my own.
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