Just a few disclaimers here...
1.) There were 12 of us on this trip...these are simply my thoughts and best recollections. My brain was on overload for most of the week and it was nearly impossible to remember everything and even the things I think I remembered, I probably have some of the details out of order...
2.) For those of you on the Jamaica GO Team 2011, if you see any discrepancies in my thoughts, see number 1. :)
3.) I totally overuse the word 'amazing' here and I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it...
4.) My words here cannot begin to do justice to the things I saw and experienced and the incredible people I met and served with on this trip. It would be extremely difficult to explain just how unmistakably God's presence covers that mountain. Just don't know if it is possible. I'll spend quite a few words trying to describe the indescribable. I will, however, make an attempt.
This is my journal from our trip to the amazing City of Refuge Children's Home in Content Gap, Saint Andrew, Jamaica. I can say without a doubt, it was the most amazing week I've ever spent anywhere. If I have any regrets about this trip, it would probably be that my most amazing wife, Robin, did not have the opportunity to experience this with me. However, I did have an incredible week with my oldest son Christian. And I pray that Nick and Erin are someday able to see this place in all it's splendor and see the amazing work that God is clearly doing on a fairly remote mountaintop in Jamaica...
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July 16 – Kingston – Content Gap (City of Refuge)
We arrived In Kingston about an hour late from Miami in due to weight problems in the Miami airport. After arriving and getting through customs, we met Steve Puffpaff Jr. who was there with his wife Samantha to pick us up. We also met Paul, who was the other driver. Steve drove a vehicle that looked to be about a 10 passenger van. Paul, on the other hand, drove what appeared to be about a 20 passenger bus. We were sort of warned ahead of time about the ride up the mountain to the City of Refuge Children’s Home. I don’t think it was more than 15 or 20 miles from the Kingston airport to the children’s home, but it was supposed to take almost an hour and a half to get to the top of the mountain. It ended up taking about an hour due to Paul’s amazing mountain driving skills. It was quite the ride. Almost as impressive was the drive through Kingston at 11:00 on a Saturday night. To say the area we drove through was impoverished does an injustice to poverty. It was amazing how this island, this tourist destination was riddled with poverty. I asked Paul how bad it was. He mentioned that it wasn’t a place that we’d get out and walk around at that time of night.
The drive up the mountain was like an hour long amusement ride. The driver’s seat was on the wrong side of the bus. So right off the bat I knew it was going to be a wild ride. It did not disappoint. Nor did Paul. He was a Jamaican who’d spend some time in the states but his main job was driving church groups up this crazy mountain. And man did he ever drive us up that mountain! I took shotgun to experience the full effect. Throughout the drive, we saw lots of people just walking the streets. All through Kingston. People everywhere. And even as we began our ascent up the mountain. And cars parked at the strangest angles and in the strangest spots. You can just tell it’s not a country that is real organized. We did find out later that it’s more of an event driven society. Rather than a time driven people. They are more interested in the actual event than the time it starts. Back to Paul and the crazy drive up the mountain. I asked lots of questions as he was driving. I didn’t want to bug him, but I wanted to get a good understanding of where we were and what it was like in that brief window of time with Paul. I found out he was married and had a 20 year old son. After our trip up the mountain he was on his way to pick up some KFC wings for his wife. He made a joke that it wasn’t Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Kingston Fried Chicken.
As we traversed the hairpin turns going up that crazy mountain, a couple of times I swear I looked over and saw him texting. Now this was a pretty serious road. Pretty steep and severe drop-offs on the side of the road. No shoulder. Just crazy. And we were probably pretty fortunate that it was late and dark and we weren’t able to see the drops. It was crazy. At one point I saw a guy just standing on the side of the road at one of the wickedly sharp turns. I don't remember there being any buildings around or anything. No real reason that guy should be there. Just standing there at 11:30 at night! I asked Paul what he was doing there. Paul’s response, in his rapid, Jamaican accent? "He's just standin' there mon". So weird, yet it so summed up Jamaica.
Anyway, we got to the top of the mountain at about midnight and in one piece. I don’t know how. It was the wildest ride I’d been on in quite some time, but my man Paul got us there and it was a spectacular ride. Now this was just getting up to the Children’s home. We hadn’t even met any of the kids yet. We did get a quick tour of the main facility. It’s an old hotel that was renovated or is in the process of being renovated in some areas, but it is a pretty amazing place. Spectacular view of Kingston and the ocean from up here. Amazing and amazing that we made it up in one piece!
July 17 –Content Gap (City of Refuge)
This day started off pretty amazing. We had breakfast on the outdoor lanai in some pretty amazing scenery. After breakfast, we were to meet the kids for the first time for a Sunday worship service. I was able to meet several of the kids as they were coming up the stairs to the main facility. I should mention here that there are lots of steps here. This place is literally built on a mountaintop. Supporting buildings and facilities are built on the side of the mountain, so there are lots of steps to navigate. So as the kids were coming up for the morning service, we were able to introduce ourselves to several of them. I was part of the worship team also. Got to play a little acoustic guitar. It’d been a while, but it seems to come back rather quickly. So I was able to meet some of the kids, but the more impressive thing to me was to see them, hands held high in some cases, worshipping God. It was amazing! I was so impressed with them in so many ways. And there were some kids that were so doggone cute I could easily put a couple of them in my bag when we head back. For a country that is more event driven than time driven, some of these kids are just absolutely fascinated with watches. My watch was just a magnet for many of the young boys. I was really trying to be intentional about remembering names this morning but there were just too many of them. But the worship service was awesome and we were very blessed to be a part of it.
Our job after the main part of the service was to lead the little kids in a Bible story and a craft. We told them the story of David and Goliath. Yours truly was David, so I had the honor of acting out David’s parts. I had help from several different team members as Jennifer read the story to the kids. It was awesome. After the story, we helped them build a sort of treasure box. They were able to decorate it with their names, different stickers, and of course everybody’s favorite, glitter glue. One young fellow, Peter, was digging the glitter glue. I actually saw him later in the day and his face was covered with it. I always thought of glitter and glitter glue as tools of you know who. Anyway, it was just really cool to be able to hang out with these kids for a little while. After planning for 5 months and many meetings, it was nice to finally do what we came here to do - Love on some kids.
After the craft, the kids went back to their houses and we went back to the main facility to have an abbreviated adult service. It was a great time of worship and testimony. Heard many story’s of God’s perfect timing and sovereign love for us even when we may not be listening to the bricks being dropped on our heads at times. After that, we had an amazing lunch prepared by Miss Baugh. Amazing!! Starting to think this is not really a mission trip in the sense that we definitely aren’t roughing it so to speak…
After lunch, we had time to ourselves to just do whatever. I chose to catch up on my daily devotion. I usually read early morning, but that didn’t happen today. No worry, God was working. Then, it was down to the concrete pad known as the Barbeque Pit. It’s a 50 x 80 foot concrete pad where the kids do most of their extracurricular activities. Christian and I were the first ones down to the pad. After a bit, several kids began to wander down. We had about 2 hours of semi controlled chaos. A big game of soccer (futbol) and several other games all going on at the same time on that pad. One involved many of the older girls in a game of keep away. I think they actually called it surviving. 2 teams, each time trying to keep the ball away from the other team. Those girls were aggressive and very athletic. I found myself trying to play soccer, wanting to get into the keep away game, which I eventually did for a little bit and even tossing a football (American) with a young fellow named Ryan Davis. It was an amazing afternoon. And we were even able to get a real soccer match going after the younger kids had to leave. Some of the older boys are very talented and very athletic.
We were scheduled for an intercessory prayer service at 6:00 p.m., so there wasn’t a whole lot of time between the soccer match and the evening service. As Byron and I were walking back to our living areas, we passed the house where some of the older boys live. Not sure on the ages, but there were several boys in the 10 year old range that were kind of hanging out by the side of the house. Before you knew it, they had me doing timed approximate 40 or 50 yard dashes. Did I mention these kids were competitive? When one would clock a good time, the others had to beat it. Great time and yet another opportunity to hang out and just get to know some of these amazing kids.
The highlight of the day by far though was the intercessory prayer service. By far. We split up into groups of 4. Two adult team members, two kids. And we prayed for each other’s needs. And these kids blew me away with their prayers. Absolutely floored me. I was in tears at times as I listened to child after child pray for me! Me! The guy that has a family, home in the suburbs, and all that goes with it. And these kids, most of whom have only the family that they know here at this home, were praying for me. Unbelievable. And doing it so eloquently. After we spent about 5 minutes praying for each other, we ‘d switch kids and a new set of kids would join our group. It was just one of those times that I’ll never forget. My man Rogelle praying for Dave(spoken in his cool little Jamaican accent). And James, his brother Peter and their brother Michael praying for peace for Christian! Amazing! I will never forget how I felt listening to these kids pray for me in this amazing place! Wow!!
Tomorrow is our first day of sports camp with the kids. Can’t wait to teach them a little American flag football. Afterwards, I get to lead a devotional about Samson, rules and boundaries. Can’t wait to have them teach me about life...
July 18 –Content Gap (City of Refuge)
These days seem like weeks…we do some much in a day that at the end of the day it’s really hard to believe that it’s only been a day. Today is actually Tuesday morning. We were up late last night and I let Christian use the netbook to get his journaling completed with the understanding that I’d get up early to do mine. I am usually fresher in the morning anyway, so this is probably a good thing.
Yesterday was nothing short of amazing. I’m not sure if I can use that word enough. What God is doing here on this mountaintop is absolutely nothing short of amazing. Through the Puffpaffs, the kids, and definitely through this team from Southridge.
We had our first day of American Flag Football Sports Camp with the older kids yesterday. I am one of the team leaders for the Blue team. We haven’t picked out a nickname yet, but we’ll come up with a good one. We chose teams yesterday and we ended up with the exact team God wanted us to have. The idea was to introduce the kids to American football and play a few games of flag tag to get them used to the flags. We have a great mix of younger and older (10-16ish) boys and girls. It will be interesting to see how this goes because these kids are pretty competitive and very athletic. After setting them up with the rules of the game, we played a game of flag tag. They loved it. We experienced much success on our first day. One of the coolest things for me was to see my little friend Akiem do so well. We actually played 3 games of flag tag between the Red and Blue teams. I’m not real sure right now, but it seems like we may be a bit overmatched on the Blue team. Whatever disadvantage we may have, we’ll overcome with heart. So they pretty much dominated us the first 2 games. However, we huddled up before the 3rd and I told them we were going to win. Not that it’s all about winning, but these kids want to win. And it was very competitive. I watched Akiem sneak around and take flags from other kids. And then I told him he had to get Kamar’s flag. Kamar is a 16 year old boy. He appears to be the oldest and the other boys appear to look up to him. He’s very, very athletic. When Akiem was able to get Kamar’s flag, you could see the amazement in his eyes. And in the end, when it was Akiem and one other Blue team boy against Fiona from the Red team and Akiem was able to get her flag to secure the win, it was very cool. I rushed in and hoisted him up as the champion! We later found out from Kim Pufffpaff that Akiem is one of the boys who is sometimes made fun of and ridiculed. She said it was great for us to be able to celebrate this victory with him because he is not one of the more athletic kids. That was a surprise to me!
After another wonderful lunch prepared by Miss Baugh and Slater, we hit the rockpile. It was about 2 loads of white stone that needed to be moved from the front of the in progress multi-purpose building to the back side for the construction of a new, and very tall retaining wall. We are on a mountaintop. Everything is tall and steep! We moved half that pile of rock by hand. And wheelbarrow. Lots of the kids helped. It was hard work, but very rewarding.
We had another amazing dinner, this time fried fish and fried chicken. Afterwards, we were able to have a devotional in the older boy’s house, led by Christian. He told the story of Elisha and the floating axe head. It was an awesome time to just hang out with the boys and see where they actually lived. And it was very cool to spend time in this setting with my oldest son leading a devotional with boys not much younger than he. Of course I’m biased but I think he did a great job and it is pretty incredible to see the hand of God working in my man.
July 19 –Content Gap (City of Refuge)
Yet another amazing day. This place is so unbelievably amazing. The work they’ve done with these kids is nothing short of tremendous. We are literally on a mountaintop and I’m telling you it’s a holy hill. Amazing things happen on this hill. We came here expecting to share with these kids and I think we've done that to a large extent. But the blessings that are coming back to us are immeasurable. I’ve seen vulnerability from team members that is so real and so right now that it’s hard to put into words.
This morning we had day 2 of our flag football camp. The idea was to teach the kids about offense. We’ve split our teams into 2 individual teams. The A team is made up of the younger kids on the Blue team and the B team is the older team. I’ve been working with the A team and it’s been a real challenge to get the kids to listen, focus and do the things necessary to have a little success. By the end of our practice however, they were starting to get it. Early on, it was somewhat akin to herding cats. But as the morning wore on, they became more and more focused and really did a good job of applying the teaching to actually carrying out the skills. Nothing real eventful happened today in that regard. Tomorrow we’ll discuss the fundamentals of defense, bring it all together and then Thursday we kick off the inaugural Blue Mountain Bowl!
Today we also moved more rocks in the afternoon. Yesterday, we moved about 10 tons of rock, by hand and wheelbarrow to the back of the multipurpose building. Today we continued the work of building a pretty massive retaining wall behind the building. Rock by Rock. They have these large, chicken-wire looking baskets that they fill with rock, and then cover with a layer of mortar. They are pretty strong walls, but they are very labor intensive. And here in Jamaica, the labor force doesn’t seem to have a real sense of urgency. Our team really kicked in and worked hard. We were able to fill several of the big baskets with the rock needed to continue the process of building the all important retaining wall.
We were scheduled to meet with the older boys again this evening for devotionals, but because of a last minute request from the other team that is here with us, they asked us to lead the little boys in a devotional. It was interesting to say the least. Most of these boys ranged anywhere from 2 – 5 years old and they were absolutely full of energy. Miss Ramsey, the house mother must indeed be a saint in disguise. She somehow manages to care for about 10 – 12 boys in this particular house. Just unbelievable amounts of patience would be required. We ended up being human jungle gyms for most of the boys, but it was a pretty cool time. We had a pretty cool moment at the end when we had all the boys sit down (which was a feat in itself) and we had them do a whisper prayer. It was a very cool moment. After the devotional with the younger boys, I went down to the older boy’s house. You see, on several different occasions today, I had boys ask me if we were coming to their house tonight for devotional. I told them of course we’d be there. Only to have this last minute change put that statement in doubt. So we thought it was important to let them know that the reason we weren’t there was just because of the schedule change. I was able to speak with the oldest boy, Kamar, and convey to him that the other team had requested the change and we were definitely going to be there on Thursday. We have a larger group service on Wednesday and they’ll join us for that, but Thursday we’d definitely be there. I love those fellas. I do not want to let them down for one minute. Just thought it was important to let them know that...
It was another great evening on the stairs overlooking Kingston as we met for a team recap and devotional. Unbelievable honesty and vulnerability on display there nightly. God’s presence is so intense at times. Praying for his guidance and direction on a daily basis. I know he has something in store for me and us as a family and I pray that I’m able to listen and discern…more later.
July 20 –Content Gap (City of Refuge…the most amazing place I’ve ever been or seen…)
All my fountains…
I’ve generally slept pretty darn good on this trip, all things considered. It’s Thursday morning and for the last 2 nights, I’ve been awake with a Chris Tomlin song in my head. It’s a song off the Passion 2011 cd called All My Fountains. I have no idea why I’d wake up 2 nights in a row with that particular song in my head unless God was trying to tell my something…duh. It’s really just a great worship song…I need to listen to it multiple times to see what God is trying to tell me.
Last night was amazing. Yesterday was amazing. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen or been to a place quite like this. I want to somehow be sure it’s not some kind of euphoric high, and I think that might have something to do with it, but I’m pretty sure it is so amazing because God Himself spends time here. I often wonder if God were to decide to spend time here on earth, where would He spend that time. I think I found the place. Steve and Kim Puffpaff have been blessed tremendously here. There are several factors that are in play here in my small, feeble mind. First, we are on this wild mountaintop. The scenery here is flat out nasty. Just unbelievable. And the people here? Oh my. The staff is incredible, from the house moms (Miss Sharene, Miss Donna, Miss Ramsey…) to Everton, the house dad for the older boys (I’ll get back to him) to the construction staff (Mr. Baugh, Omar!!) to the kitchen people (Miss Baugh!!) and right down to the kids themselves. I’ve never seen someone maybe not realize that they don’t have much, at least by our standards. But they have more than I could ever hope to give my own children. You can fell the joy permeating from most of them. It is absolutely unreal. I’ve never seen such huge smiles. And on genuinely beautiful people.
After dinner, Dani D., Byron and I led the Wednesday worship and Byron spoke. There were a few testimonies before he spoke and they were pretty amazing. Our own Dani S. spoke of what God was doing in her life and it does seem like her world is being flipped upside down. And little Phillip spoke about his dreams with demons but JEEESUS came to save him! The way he said it was so funny. Byron gave a great message about David from 1st Samuel 26 about David, Ahimelech and Abishai. Need to go back and read that. It was very profound. And Everton led us all in a couple of great native songs, most notably “Dig a Hole and put the Devil In It”. Have to look that one up. We rocked that song.
It was another amazing day. Can’t wait to get to today’s game. It’s going to be so much fun! And this afternoon we get to take the little ones to the beach. Tomorrow, we have a fun day at a private island. We are a couple days away from leaving. I get emotional typing that. What an amazing place….
July 21 –Content Gap (City of Refuge)
Woke up at 3:27 a.m. this morning for the 3rd day in a row with the same song in my head:
All My Fountains - Chris Tomlin
This dry and desert land I tell myself, “Keep walking on”
Hear something up ahead Water falling like a song
An everlasting stream Your river carries me home
Let it flow, let if flow
A flood for my soul A well that never will run dry
I've rambled on my own Never believing I would find
An everlasting stream Your river carries me home
Let it flow, let it flow
Open the heavens
Come Living Water
All my fountains are in You
You're strong like a river
Your love is running through
All my fountains are in You
Come on, and rain down on us
Rain down on us, Lord
Must be some significance to this???
It’s Friday morning and we’re nearing the end of our trip. It has indeed been a trip. I’ve just never been to a place like this. Amazing...incredible...unreal...tremendous...none of those words do this place justice.
Yesterday was the big Blue Mountain Bowl 2011. We lined the field, made a real American football field and gave all the kids shirts to represent each team. They loved it! The game itself started off pretty slow. Not much offense at all. Several interceptions with neither team being able to capitalize on the other’s misfortunes. The first half ended with my man David intercepting a ball deep in our own end zone and nearly returning it for a touchdown. In the second half, I decided we needed to run the ball a little and my man Qyzjor (sounds like Quasar) slid it in just breaking the plane of the end zone. You’d think he’d seen that before but I know he hasn’t. The game went back and forth a little with both teams scoring. Truth be told, the Red Rebels should have scored at least a couple more touchdowns, but the Blue Diamonds made a game of it.
Final score – Blue Diamonds 14 Red Rebels 14. Tie ballgame. I’m not really sure we could have planned it better. And afterwards an impromptu water fight broke out. It was a pretty cool ending to a pretty good week of practice and teaching.
After lunch we took the littler kids to the beach. It was about a 2 hour bus ride and it was indeed a long ride! It was all worth it when we got there. I was paired up with Joshua and he never stopped for a minute. We only stayed at the beach for a little over an hour, but those kids got their hours worth. Joshua swam in his briefs and he kept running around trying to “get the sand out of my briefs”! It was hilarious!
Another great time of devotion in the older boy’s house followed dinner. It was all about honor and integrity and Tommy led. He did a good job. We started to tell the fellas goodbye but were cut short by Kim. I guess they have a pretty controlled goodbye session so the kids don’t have to deal with all the emotions of saying goodbye every week. It must be extremely difficult to deal with that on a weekly basis. One cool thing happened for me in this setting though. We had a fellow on our team by the name of Peter. I think he was about 13. A little smaller in stature than some of the other guys, but I could tell he had a bit of a competitive spirit within. He was quiet most of the week, but on gameday he was ready. I was really hoping he’d intercept a pass or catch a couple of balls, but it just wasn’t in the cards. That night during our devotion time in the older boy’s house, when we walked in the small living room of the house, Peter started talking to me. As we told the kids to grab a seat so we could get started, he pulled me down on the couch next to him. It was a small thing, but it was huge in my eyes. I’d been trying to make a connection with him most of the week without going overboard and he was just so quiet that it was tough to tell if I was making any headway. My confirmation came when he tugged my arm and asked me to sit on the small, crowded couch with him. It was very cool. And then when we were leaving, he made a point to come up the landing and give me a hug. It was so cool and so awesome to see God at work in so many of these relationships, potentially as short as they may be.
Today we go to Lime Cay on a private island. Fun day for both teams here. Truth be told, I’d just as soon stay here and hang out with the kids. Honestly. But this is part of the plan. A few hours on the island, a few hours of shopping in Kingston and dinner there also. It should be a good day. We have to leave around 3:30 in the morning to go to the airport. That will be a tough goodbye, however I do miss my ladies and Nick in the big O.
Lots to process. Mind is swimming. Going to be interesting to see where this all leads. It was really difficult to get a grasp on the joy that poured out of those kids. You'd think that these kids,who in most cases have no immediate family around, would be in all sorts of pain and it's quite possible they are. But it clearly doesn't show. And I believe it's because so many people have prayed over that mountain and all those on it that hope and joy are a part of the mountain's fabric. Woven in. Deeply. You can feel it in the morning breezes. You can feel it when you are greeted by one of the kids. I mean they are kids, so I'm sure they experience all the things that go with just being a kid. But the maturity level some of them exude is just unreal. And then there are the little ones. The ones that absolutely melt your heart. The little boys who immediately reach up for a hug. And reach up to be picked up. Much like we do to our Dad. The One responsible for it all. And the One Who is indeed wrapped around those kids like a giant blanket. The One Who directed Steve and Kim Puffpaff to this mountain those many years ago. The One Who brought them such an incredible staff to love for and care for these amazing kids. The One Who loves like we can only hope to love.
So the pictures below will be forever with me. Burned into my soul like I could never have imagined. I do imagine this trip will lead to life changing experiences for me and our family. I have ideas. They will stretch me beyond anything I've ever done before. It's scary and fascinating at the same time. I pray I can live ALL OUT, like my friends the Posts, and follow obediently wherever He takes us. It's somewhat frightening to think where it could lead. But I trust. And that's pretty much what I learned from these kids. Amazing trust...hope...and most of all - Love. Thanks to all at the City of Refuge and the Southridge Jamaica GO Team (Byron, Jennifer, Jerry, Peggy, Christina, Christian, Dani D., Christine, Dani S., Tommy and Jacqi). I learned some pretty cool things and will continue to draw on this experience for the rest of my life. And most importantly, thank you God for never giving up on me. For using me in this extremely cool way. For always being there and for loving me even when I don't deserve it. And for your amazing Grace.
Did I mention this trip was amazing? :)
Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans; be fair to the needy and the helpless. ~Psalm 82:3
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A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. ~Proverbs 11:25
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