This transition has proven to be the greatest culture shock I have ever lived through so far… Some may call it going from poverty back to luxury or from “savages” back to “gentle folk” some even talk about changing planets… Talking of things they know not, pleading with us to help this land that is so “miserable”.We’ve got it all wrong! Seeing this country should be a wake up call, catching just a glimpse of what to “struggle to live” means, I’ve realized that this continent has more hope than ours does. Please! Let’s not turn it into a mess with our materialistic approach! They didn’t need Televisions, they do not need internet, and they do not need our “solution to every problem” our “cool” technologies tend to lead people astray from God!
I’m not Amish…! Let’s help with transportation, basic necessities and yes communication, but let’s focus more on the “What” then the “How”! Let us help bring up men and women of God seeking to glorify Him in all that they do.
It stressed me out to see once again the superficial relationships (it felt like being at my high school) where guys play with girls bodies and girls play with guys feelings.
The make up, the gadgets, the money, the stores, the fast-foods all not making our world even a little better… Have they truly made a difference in peoples lives? Yes! B destroying us! Distracting us everyday from the truth that remains!
Listening to John Piper talk about not wasting our lives I finally understand the sad hopeless status of our falling world… Churches trying to attract young people through frivolous fun, people calling themselves followers of Christ whilst quenching the holy spirits’ rebuke of their sin, or just families lost in the maze of making their small world better before they die. There is such a BIGGER PICTURE, oh how my heart cries for our sight to be restored! Let us learn from the past so as to build something that will last: A life of integrity and love built in our Saviour God.
In St John's, Antigua I had the opportunity of playing soccer as the sun set (see above) enjoying the warm homie feeling of the Caribbean, for yes, I have gotten used to the "mindset" of the Caribbean. What mindset you ask? The one of "Yea Mon, it's gonna be alyrigh", a very laid back culture from the children whom always seem to be just "hangin" to the old men with their Bobcaps sitting on a wall. It will be very strange going from this very open culture to the more "restricted" countries in North Africa.
Prayer Points:
Ben (a fellow plumber) helped out the first week and I got to go the second week, in two weeks we cemented, wire brushed, painted, installed plumbing and got to know whom we worked with!
This is the Baths of Joy in its final stages, we stated that the water pressure was insuffisant for all this and are in the process of contacting the local water distributor to hook it up to the main line, which will solve this. If asked what I'll miss the most of this experience I'd say (jokingly) that I'll miss the smell of weed coming from the local workers whom we worked with...
At some point we ran out of food provisions and were obliged to eat the sourrounding Aloe Vera plants that grow in abundance here... =)
Yup! We've come to the end of our visit in Montego Bay, yet this doesn't mean we're leaving Jamaica altogether! We will be spending the next three weeks in Kingston, Jamaica! Rumors have it that Kingston has less tourists and we'll have less "opportunists" bothering us for money. But they also say that this town has quite a problem when it comes to crime. These are the rumors, we'll find out soon enough whether they're accurate or not!
Honestly, I'm not sad to have left Montego Bay, with all the (almost) daily berth shifting, and the moving of the sewage discharge lines that go alone with each shift, (See picture, dismanteling the lines with Olya, Russia), not to mention the opportunists. These people are taken in by the hunger for money, going as far as faking friendships to make a couple of dollars. It's hard to face this reality, but I think Montego Bay was even more materialistic minded than people in Europe.. We've served God in this port as we have in every other. All we can do for those who work among these people every day is: pray!
Otherwise work goes on! I'm almost done retracing the fresh water pipe plans in the engine room, but may have to wait until the Bahamas to get certain copper pieces that I need to assemble everything.
We were given the permission during our weekly lifeboat drills to lower them all the way down and manouver around the dock! I took great pleasure in sailing around like that, even if it wasn't for long. (See above the picture of my lifeboat number 6. No! Not the picture below... That's another story, I said ABOVE! =) )
This is just a reminder for those who think I am on a cruise... This photo is of a cruise ship, NOT a missionary ship (the difference in size is quite shocking!) Cruise ships were created to make money, NOT bring hope. (We get to see quite a few cruise ships... always very impressive.)
The following story is about our drama group, a common ministry onboard: The small group that was created in Guyana came together to do a last evening of drama together (some people are leaving the ship shortly) to perform in a public area for tourists onshore. Problem... the owners of the shops around had not appreciated the previous drama group that gave a clear explanation of the Gospel and so, they did not let us perform. A reminder that we are not always welcomed everywhere we go even though we come to help. We were still able to perform on deck four for the visitors coming onboard, which was kind of cool anyway!
We are now in Jamaica! Land of the "Cool Runnings" champs! New challenges have come up at work (like hooking up the sewage pipelines to the sewers outside the ship) and following these challenge-filled days of work, I was exhausted! Thank God, I was able to take an off day with my friends and went to a very nice local beach to relax, read, swim and just do nothing! I'm refreshed and ready for a whole new week!
It's been awhile since I've given you an update on what I have been doing and I am doing now! If I want to catch up on my lost time I need to go back to Curacao (or the Dutch Antilles), a small comfortable island of 250,000 people. I didn't like the idea of staying in such a country for a few weeks if it was just to entertain some of our donors living there.
The French and French speaking on board were able to have a "French day" on Deck 4 (the visitor's deck) and were able to interact with the visitors (no, that isn't wine or a wine bottle on the picture, it's all non-alcoholic..). I had a "divine appointment" that day meeting a French speaking woman from Quebec who was visiting her son for the week and we were able to have quite a good discussion.
