When people hear Montego Bay, they usually think of beautiful resorts and tourist destinations. This is a large part of the area & the surroundings are amazingly beautiful. But, the people of Jamaica live in very different circumstances than the luxury of the resorts.
The YWAM base there is concerned with meeting the needs of these people...both the physical and spiritual. One of the shocking facts is that 90% of the children born in Jamaica are born out of wedlock with no real father figure in their formative childhood years. The concept of family is missing. And, one goal of YWAM is to model whole families & active, involved fatherhood to the surrounding people.
While John was there, he helped with several different projects. Since he is mechanically minded he spent time helping to maintain/repair their machinery. One big project was getting a portable cement mixer back in working condition.
When he got there this machine was parked in the weeds & rusty. He asked how much time they'd like him to take on fixing this machine. About 4 hours was the answer. Looking at this machine John knew there was no human way it could be functional again in that time. But, one of the prayers of the work team while they were there was that God would multiply their work and that they would achieve more than is normally possible.
John got that machine working. In four hours. He's still amazed. He said God's hand was on this entire trip in ways like that.
John's cousin, Arlin, who is on staff at the YWAM base in Jamaica
The one picture I could find of my husband :) He's the guy with the graying hair.
Experiences like this one not only make you more grateful for what you have, they also make the world seem so much smaller. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing work! Thank you for sharing this with us. :)
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