May Update

May Jamaica Update

Relationships are critical. How is that for an understatement? In any context, but certainly across cultures, relationships are vital and sometimes difficult. It seems weird to say it, but we have been in Jamaica for two and a half years. As I process that amount of time, I realize that it has taken the entire time to cultivate some of our cross-cultural relationships, and we certainly have a lot more growing ahead of us. But, it is in these relationships that we find our greatest joys and our greatest struggles as we consider our time in Jamaica. All the ideas behind relationships are magnified exponentially across cultures. For example, as just mentioned, relationships take time and when that principle is applied cross culturally we find that relationships take lots and lots and lots of time. Or, we all know that growth in relationships is often catalyzed by conflict that has been properly resolved. What is that supposed to look like cross culturally. Conflict seems impossible enough with people whom we are speaking the “same language,” the challenge across cultures seems like a mountain too high to climb. This means that a positive breakthrough in any relationship across cultures feels like a giant leap forward, while any bump in relationship, feels like the mountain. It is shocking how such a small part of communication is done through our words. If it was only words, I think we would be climbing the mountain at record speed. But, it is not just words because words are just words and mean different things different places. Facial expressions mean different things different places. Everything is interpreted differently. So, this is our struggle. We know that this is all a part of the process, but there are times when the bumps feel more pronounced than the leaps. We really believe that this is the heart of our ministry, relationships. We are praying for wisdom and grace that we may walk in and through these relationships in a God glorifying way.

The month of May has represented a lot of these dichotomies of questions for our family. While our family continues to experience unbelievable blessings, we also have been working through some inner battles. Questions about the future abound; relationships, effectiveness, our calling, tough love, helping without hurting, etc. Again, they are all questions that do not allow for “broad brush” answers. Similar to previous experiences, we hope and pray that this is a part of a bigger picture, a bigger plan. Also, we continue to be bystanders to people walking through extremely deep valleys, and we in no way want to even try to bring comparisons to our struggles. We pray for God to be glorified through each of our adversities large and small.

In regards to activities for the month, May was an average month. We had a couple of work teams, we were responsible for chapel at school for a week, and we had some visitors. Our involvement with the work teams continues and is consistently highlighted by the broad range of personalities we get to meet. Our Chapel duties involve teaching responsibilities for Wednesday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. This is always a great challenge for us as we have the opportunity to teach and try to do it in a way that is understood through our limited signing abilities. We also had the pleasure of hosting a couple of brothers from our church. Our team had the opportunity to travel around to visit some of the sites that our church supports. We always enjoy hosting people traveling through Jamaica. We are thankful for an average month.

What was not average about May is the recent troubles in Kingston. Kingston is probably about 60 miles from where we live. A “war” broke out in that area for several days. This unrest captivated the nation and brought things to a standstill. Kingston is the capital and the center for all business. So, when Kingston stops, Jamaica stops. The military has gained control of the situation. While we have been watching it closely, we have not felt any direct effects or seen any of the violence. We are thankful that the trouble stayed isolated to a small area, but the devastation was awful. We keep the situation in prayer.

It is shocking how time flies. As June knocks on the door, I feel like January hasn’t even left. We feel some of the same tension with the passage of time. There are times that we are anxious for our next return to the states and we find ourselves wishing time along. Most of the time, we are deathly afraid of lost time. Afraid of forgetting how cute it is to see Daisha so active and digging into everything. Afraid that one day we will find ourselves wishing we could spell every word for Drew again as he cant get enough of the alphabet. And, wishing we could take Truitt back to the innocence that allows him to sport the best looking flipflops and undies combination. So, we try to live in the moment, experiencing the joy in the journey, and trying to work out our faith in daily life.

Thanks so much for your love and support. Thanks for the prayers, the little emails, and the blessing of your friendship.