So I just got home from an amazing 9 days of ministry in Maldon, Jamaica. I am in LOVE with this country and community. I miss it so much already! This mission trip was not part of the World Race, this is a partnership my home church is part of, along with Maldon Baptist Church in Jamaica. It was SUCH a sweet taste of what is to come—the transformations, movement of the Holy Spirit, love, fellowship, challenges, and being totally wrecked on the inside by our Heavenly Father.
I love seeing how much all the kids in the community have grown over the past seven years; meeting their families, praying over them, seeing their businesses, sharing meals with them, playing soccer with them, and hugging and kisses their sweet cheeks. Our group has encountered so many amazing people in this community; living and breathing disciples’ of Christ. These people really don’t have much, but many of them have the one thing they know can sustain them eternally—the Truth of Jesus. They know food, riches, health, etc. are all temporary, and their hope lies in what is to come hereafter. It’s beautiful, genuine, and truly inspiring! It’s like a brief glimpse of Heaven on Earth.
One morning I was praying over an old, crippled lady on a home visit—she’s super fragile and unable to make the rocky, steep walk to the church. Her soft hands clung to my hand so tight and she kept holding my hand up to her cheek and praying aloud and thanking Jesus for life and another day and for us coming to pray over her. I realized this is what it feels like to love someone, deeply, that you’ve never even met before. I couldn’t hold back tears as we sang amazing grace—I didn’t want to leave this woman’s house, I just wanted to keep singing to her and watch her big huge infectious smile grow bigger and bigger. Moments like this remind me that Jesus’s love is so unbelievable and powerful that we can’t run from it. It’s pure, redeeming, incredible, everlasting, and freely given to everyone. It overcomes language barriers, cultures, and borders. It unites us and sets us free from the bonds of this world.
While I could go on and on about how amazing this past week was, one person kept coming to mind all week, a story of redemption and a testament to the power of God’s love and reckless pursuit of us. His name is Clifton. He’s 27, almost 28 now. He’s very funny, a great listener, sarcastic, super smart, and always around to help us! He’s also jobless and in a gang. He’s been stabbed, shot at, and locked up for various crimes. He’s had a very rough upbringing; his mom died when he was very young and his dad was abusive and he’s no longer around. He really has no one in Jamaica that really cares about him. He has some family in Kingston and Montego Bay, but no one in close proximity there to tell them they love him, hug him, spend time with him, etc. His sister lives in Ohio and occasionally sends him packages, money, and food. My heart breaks so much for him. I just wanted to bring him home with me and tell him how awesome and wonderful he is. His situation seems hopeless; he wants to come to the U.S. and live with his sister but it’s really tough to get a VISA to enter the U.S. from Jamaica and it’s also really expensive, and he obviously can’t afford it.
I’ve seen God working so much in Clifton’s heart since the first time we met him 7 years ago walking the streets of Maldon, shirtless, smoking a joint. He was curious about us and followed us to home visits and ever since then, he’s become a part of our family really. The first couple years, he would come to church super stoned and one night broke down about how much he misses his mom. He’s opened up to several of us about the crimes he committed when he was a teenager and about his family life. I sat down with him this year and had an awesome talk. He told me his is in a gang with several of his friends and that he thinks he is a very bad person because of things he has done. He said he is “very bad” and people in the church don’t even really want him around, but he still comes because he loves us. I told him that we all make mistakes; in the Book of Romans it says we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. None of us are good according to God’s standard, but he still sees us as beautiful and worthy and we know that the Apostle Paul also tells in Romans that “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Romans 8:38-39]. He still sees ALL of us as worthy, no matter where we’ve come from, what we’ve done, or what we will do in the future. His sins are no worse than mine, just as my good deeds will not win me any merit with God. It’s only my heart God is after, and grace is ours for the taking, freely given—nothing we can do can ever earn us God’s grace, and we don’t have to either! That’s what’s awesome.
I see God continually using our ministry to pursue Clifton, to show him unconditional love and give him hope. I saw Clifton with more joy this week than ever before. He was with us non-stop, escorting us on our walks, sitting with us at meals, hanging with us during VBS with the kids, and helping us on our construction projects. He told us that if it were not for his “gang”, people from other communities would probably try to rob us, but they protect us. If Clifton and his gang members wanted to, they could have easily probably robbed us, we’d have no way to defend ourselves, but instead they protect us and hangout with us all week. He said he even stopped smoking so much ganja (weed) so that he could try and get his VISA someday and prayed with us and for us by the end of the week and sang worship songs with us—he was with us literally till we stepped on the bus to leave our ministry site. God is AMAZING. Sometimes I doubt whether he can really reach any and every heart. But our God is huge and powerful and he can redeem anyone, literally anyone. It’s a constant reminder for me that the church is not a house for Saints, but a hospital for the sinner. The church is a place for the outcasts, murders, thieves, the broken, the lost, the heartbroken, and everything in between. My prayer for Clifton is that he would continue to allow Christ to move in his heart and soul and rely on him for guidance and love.
Though we had an incredibly amazing and humbling week in Jamaica, please keep this community in your prayers. The morale of the community is very low right now—church attendance is down ever since PC (Pastor Conrad) had to leave last year and move to another city. There is a lack of leadership in the church body and the weight is falling on a few members, a huge burden to carry. Many members stopped going and there is division in the community. The economy is not doing so well and yesterday a young 9th grade boy named Romaro was stabbed to death after school by two classmates and today many kids cannot go to school because riots are breaking out over the death of Romaro. This community needs to be uplifted in prayer and unity with Christ. I know God is working and present even in the midst of it all.
Finally, I want to say a HUGE thank you to all my supporters!! I am blown away by the prayers and support and I am so far on track with fundraising! Praise God! I will be having another garage sale in August and an event at Pizza Gallery and Grill on July 28th!! If you would like to get rid of anything lying around the house or garage I will gladly pick it up to sell at my garage sale! My next financial deadline to August 21st and I have to have raised 10,000$. If you feel led to support me you can click on the “Support Me” tab and you will be prompted how to donate. 
These are my boys Clifton and Tyrese!!!
