Good Things: Update on February 22, 2010

Tourists are pretty stupid sometimes. Since leaving Montego Bay (and all the shifting) behind, we came to Kingston last Tuesday, and into a whole new world. The day we got in, we had to go to one berth and unload containers of books and food, and then had to shift to our actual berth at night. The berth we are in is a cement factory, but apparently they run on coal. Everywhere is filthy black. The moment you go outside you are basically dirty. The first opening day in port was on Ash Wednesday, which is a national holiday, so we had over 5000 visitors. I went around and sold popsicles to those who waited (sometimes 2-3 hours!) just to get on the ship. This will be a crazy port.
Back to the beginning, and why I claim that tourist don’t think sometimes. As a deck team we had a day to just enjoy our department and go to a waterfall about 2 hours from Kingston. This was a tourist place, though, as one could easily scale the waterfall. The place was beautiful, as a fresh water river flowed coldly into a warm sea. You could tell they had modified the original fall as it was ascended, but it was still a blast. Us deckies (not having money) refused to buy a tour guide and the special shoes they sell you. That was one of the smartest things we’ve ever done! The tour guides would take the simplest way, making everyone file into a line, holding hands, and holler a lot. They were really annoying and a complete rip off. The rock was also very smooth, and those shoes were not needed as well. We probably saved $40 each by being cheap.
One of the coolest things I have done in my time here was this weekend. I was sent on a team that went to a village about 2 hours away by car, and in the middle of nowhere, Jamaica. We were to stay overnight in the local “gun club” (which was just a place for rich foreigners to come and shoot stuff 6 weekends a year). We were greeted with a dinner of shrimp backed in a seriously spicy fashion. It beat all of us down, but was so good! The woman responsible to look after us was named Cherry, and was an absolute delight. We spent our fist hours there playing with a few of the kids from the village, then planning for the next day.
The next day, we were charged with helping the church. We really had no idea of what was expected of us, but we prepared plenty of things to do. After a breakfast of freshly caught fish, we headed to church, and it was far from what we expected. There was a congregation of about 15 people, mostly old ladies and their grandchildren. Everyone in the church held a position of leadership, and the “president” was a 14 year old kid. The worship team consisted of 2 girls, and one guy on an old keyboard. The sound system was archaic, stone age even. I think I saw one like it in the movie “The Pirates of the Silicon Valley”. The band was pretty terrible, mainly because the female pastor would take over, and it seemed like she thought loud was better than good, or even decent. I think the whole village was awoken by her singing. The service was all strictly ordered, and they announced the order as they went along the whole time. From the outside, it must have looked very legalistic and shallow.
It’s a good thing God searches the heart, and can see past all these. It is a good thing that these people were more genuine than anyone I have met in the Caribbean. It’s a good thing that God came for the poor and broken as well as us who live in luxury. It’s a good thing that love and money are very often inversely proportional. It’s a good thing God sent me to this traditional, strange church, to show me more faults within me.
I can say that we were loved. After the service we hung out with Cherry and her family for about 6 more hours, playing cricket, eating lunch, and playing with a bunch of the kids. I can only hope that we blessed them as much as they blessed us, even though they did things very strange.