Every morning we leave our home on the hilltop and go into town to talk to the community to hear their stories and about our sweet Jesus. On the way down, we pass a barber shop with a huge Rasta mural of all things Jamaica on the side with a crowd of twentysomething year old guys hanging around Each morning without fail, music blasts from speakers the size of suitcases, the smell of marijuana fills the air, and we are met with whistles and catcalls.
Our host, Pastor Raymond, has a huge heart for the community and bringing them into the Kingdom of God. Each day of ministry looks a little different, between walking in different communities, going to church, helping with construction at the church or painting a school in town, and we usually don’t find out what the day will be until we leave the house that morning.
On a morning this past week, all we know is that we are going into town for a Bible study before going on the streets to evangelize. On our way down the hill we come up to the barber shop just like we do every day. Once again met with catcalls and weed, I expected to say ‘good morning’ and walk right on past like usual, but Pastor Raymond led us right into the driveway.
All eleven of us World Racers, Pastor Raymond and three of the men met in a little room and talked about the Bible. As we stood and talked longer, more of the guys stood around the door outside and spilled out into the driveway. I looked at them through the window, leaning in and trying to catch the message of empowerment from Pastor Raymond. I realized in that moment that if I was walking the streets of Brownstown, Jamaica with Jesus, that was exactly where He would be. In a hazy, weed drenched room full of His children who are hungry for more than just survival.
My heart has been heavy for the young adults of Jamaica. I’m reminded of how I have searched for freedom in so many places other than in Christ, and they are too. From talking to people my age on the streets and speaking with Pastor Raymond, they are hungry for freedom. And the illusion of freedom that relationships and drugs give are not enough.
True freedom was freely given on the cross. True freedom is found in surrender.
Please keep me and all the Wildflowers in your prayers as we continue to walk the streets building relationships and inviting His children to walk in true, fulfilling, wonderful freedom. Pray for the young mommas and dads that are raising the next generation of Jamaicans, pray that they find their identity not in being a teen mom, but in being a child of the one true King. Pray that the Lord continues to break my heart for the young adults in this country, that they would be able to see Jesus through me, that they would want the freedom I walk in now, and that I might be able to play even a small part in bringing them into the Kingdom.
