Last Sunday we packed into a bus and bounced on the road for around three hours to get from YWAM Montego Bay to YWAM Stone's Hope. Stone's Hope is in the Jamaican countryside in the parish Mandeville. The weather was much cooler there and I actually had to wear my hoodie at nights. It actually got that cold. It was the first time in Jamaica that I have been cold. (disregarding every shower I have taken. They only have cold water here. No hot showers for you my friend.) I was very pleased for a cooler take on Jamaican weather. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it looked like.
This pic (bellow) is of the school that they have at the base. It's an elementary school.
But what made this last week so amazing, was the fact that there were two other DTSes there as well. There was a Crossroads DTS doing their lecture phase there, and a Leadership DTS from Belize who is in Jamaica to do their outreach. The Crossroads DTS has six students and the Belize DTS has ten students and their two leaders as well. My DTS got along really well with the Belize DTS. I really connected with two of them specifically. There was a girl named Rachel, and once we realized that we were both homeschoolers we talked for a few hours. About theater, dance, and books... just the usual homeschooler stuff. I got to teach Rachel some swing dance and she enjoyed it. Also, there was a guy named Alex and we have the EXACT same birthday (same year, day, and we were born about two hours apart). Alex and I have very similar taste in music and we got to talk about some deep theology and suchness. It was really cool to get to know Rachel and Alex. The other people in the other DTSes were really cool, but I connected the most to Rachel and Alex.
The week's lectures were focused on the Holy Spirit. Honestly, these weeks of lectures have been feeling more and more like review. But I was talking to Sheldon and he reminded me that the lectures aren't all that DTS offers. So I'm deciding to learn humility and that, even though I feel like I know everything, to listen and see what I learn anyway. And that even if I don't get anything from the lectures, that I will still grow, learn, and to keep asking God why He brought me here.
A moment worth remembering from this last week: I was sitting on the wall playing my harmonica and some of the kids from the school came over to me. They acted like they had never seen a harmonica before. One of the kids asked if he could see it. I held it it out to him so he could see it, but he wanted to hold it and I knew that if I gave it to him that he would play it. I decided to give it to him. Then a bunch of other little Jamaicans came over and wanted to play my harmonica. I actually had my backpack with my other harmonicas. So I pulled out my other harmonicas and there were like four Jamaican kids playing harmonicas around me for like five minutes. I gave them a little lesson and they had a lot of fun.
Also, I believe that I mentioned in my last blog post about the fact that my fellow Jamaican students still needed funds for the lecture phase of the DTS. Amazingly, Friday, it was announced that all of the debt that the Jamaican students owed was completely paid for. Someone anonymously covered all of the debt of all of the Jamaican students. Now all that we need is to cover our outreach fees and we will be ready to go. God is so good.
Thursday (our fasting day), I was asked to speak by Sara and Sheldon about why we fast and my experience with fasting. I shared the scriptures Luke 5:33-35 and Matthew 6:16-18. Then I talked about last Saturday and how God showed up when I fasted sleep. Also I reminded everyone that times of fasting can be wasted. We need to use the times of fasting to focus on pursuing God--even in the face of little energy or hunger. God gave me grace and it was actually easy to speak in front of everyone. Generally, I have a fear of public speaking. Whenever I get up to talk in front of a group of people, I have a fear and it is usually a challenge. However, this time God gave me grace and I was able to overcome that fear and just be myself and share what God had done in my life.
I must admit, after our amazing week in Stone's Hope, it is nice to be back home (Montego Bay). It truly feels like home here. I swear, when I do finally come back to the states I'm going to be homesick for my home back in Mobay, Jamaica. The amazing thing about God calling you out to the unknown is that when you get there, He is waiting for you. Honestly, I'm starting to realize that I can belong anywhere. Because wherever I go God is there, and where God is, that is where I belong.
Also, glorious news:
I am Fully Funded for outreach!!!
Praise God!
Thank you again for all your prayers. It is getting easier for me to focus and I know that your prayers and helping me to be using this time as God wants me to use it. I would like to ask that you pray that my DTS just gains a complete unity. We still have times where we are ununified and that needs to change.
Thank you!
In Christ,
Timothy David
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