Well folks, it's officially 1 week that I've been in Jamaica. The fact that I am even here right now still amazes me. Just 2 months ago the thought of coming here never crossed my mind. It never even seemed to be an option for me. God sure did blow me away in providing for me though and me being here is clearly orchestrated by Him.
Anyways, I'm here. So you're probably wondering what I've been doing. Well, for the first few days my group and I pretty much just hung out. There are 12 of us total and only 4 people that knew each other beforehand. This means that a lot of getting to know each other was in store (and still is of course). Along with much of that though, we also had evangelism training. With Cru, there are a lot of tools that we use to reach people with God's love and the Gospel of Christ. One of those being a 5 question survey that uses 50 picture options to help them answer the questions. Also within the first few days have been some deep dives into the Bible. Not only are we going through 1 Thessalonians for the month that we're here but we also each get an extended date night with Jesus once a week. I'm already learning what it looks like to spend long periods of time with Him. Whether it be listening to worship music, praying, journaling, bible reading, or all of the above, there are plenty of things to do for 2+ hours and getting creative makes it more fun and enjoyable. Although it can be rather difficult as well. In fact, writing this blog is the conclusion of my date night with Jesus for tonight.
So that leads me to our actual outreach time. Yesterday was our first day out on the campuses (There are 2 we will be working at). So even though today was only day 2, we already have a good grasp on what the typical Jamaican person is like. I feel that they are easier to talk to both in general and on a deeper level. I probably shouldn't feel that way. I need to be bold in America too! Jamaicans are very friendly. Very open. And very chill. Unlike us Americans who are strict to our schedules, they live by something my team has started calling "Jamaican time." They are just laid back and flexible. They are also a lot more of a Christian country than I thought. Or should I say, "Christian." I say this because so many people have the main and most important concept of Christianity wrong. God's grace and Jesus. They believe in God and Jesus but they also believe that you are not a true Christian until you are baptized. A lot of the people we've talked to believe in a work-based salvation. The better you do at following God's law, the more you read your bible, and the harder you try to be a good person/ like Jesus, the more God will bless you or love you or it is only until to reach that certain point that He will accept you. That is just not true. The truth is laid out in 4 points. 1. God loves you and created you and He has a wonderful plan for your life. 2.We are sinful and separated from God. Nothing we do on our own can ever get us to Him. 3. Jesus, however, died in our place bridging the gap that reaches to God and 4. We must believe this to be true and let Jesus take control of our lives and trust in His plan for us. It isn't Jesus plus something else. It's just Jesus. That's all it takes. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Of course there are those people that also want nothing to do with God, those who are still searching, and those who are walking right with God and have a good grasp on His grace just like I'm used to seeing in the states. People are on every area of the spectrum. If people come to put their trust in Jesus then that is so so awesome and ideal. But if we move them over just one point further right on the spectrum, that is great too! Successful evangelism is defined as taking the initiative to share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.
We have 16 more days left to share the gospel on these campuses. Pray for the hearts of the Jamaicans and for our boldness/trust. It's gonna be a long, stretching fews weeks but amazing ones nonetheless.
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