Post-Jamaica Thoughts

I'm just now sort of getting used to being back in America.

This shouldn't be surprising to me. I've been on many mission trips, including 4 previous foreign mission trips. So I should be able to make a quick transition from foreign mission trip life back to good ole US of A life by now. But I guess each time I go serve for a week or so in a completely different culture, I come back thinking that I wish I could have stayed there. My guess is the rest of the Jamaica Team are thinking similar thoughts. Especially those for whom our trip to Jamaica was their first experience outside of the States.

So narrow, bumpy roads and wacky street signs = good.
Big, wide, newly paved roads and dull street signs = bad.
Lots of strange fruits that taste like non-fruity foods, jerked meat and rice and other foods covered with spice = good.
Burgers, fries, fast food, pizza = bad.
People who can't hear and talk only with their hands but who listen better than anyone you've ever met = good.
People who can hear but who would rather talk to you about themselves than listen = bad.
Building a hurricane-withstanding structure on a non OSHA-approved work site with little or no experience while following the orders of a Jamaican man who is half drill sergeant/half teddy bear and who sings old Jamaican hymns and songs while constructing frames for concrete = good.
Sitting around and playing video games or chatting it up on facebook = bad.
Being in a place where you have time to think, relax, pray, smile, laugh, stop and enjoy the scenery, build relationships and maybe even hear God speak to your heart = good.
Being in a place where we are so busy trying to fill our emptiness with stuff and activities that we can't see, hear, smell, taste or touch anything meaningful = bad.

And on and on and on I could go. You get the point I think. Our experience in Jamaica was for the most part incredible. Then we come back to the States and all we can see are the ways that the life we had for a week in Jamaica was better than what we have here. The question we are faced with now, and the question we tried to answer even while we were still in Jamaica, is "How do we keep Jamaica alive without living totally in the past?" Or better yet, "How do we move forward in our lives while still applying what we learned in Jamaica in our own culture?"

Here's a few suggestions:

1) Don't forget that there are problems in Jamaica too.
We glorify the Jamaican culture because our experience was so positive and we didn't actually see much of the negative side of things. This is a tendency we all have because we all have a deep hope that somewhere in THIS world there is a perfect place - a Utopia. Whether we'd admit it or not, we all secretly think that if we could just go back and live in Jamaica, life would be near perfect. But it wouldn't. Sin would still influence us. We would still create and experience conflict with others. Natural disasters would still happen. Etc. What we need to remember is that the only hope we have for perfection and for a life without problems is the future glorified Kingdom of God (Rev. 21:3-4), where we will live for eternity with the complete Body of Christ from all time and space (including our Jamaican friends, who though they are deaf now will hear perfectly on the Day of the Lord!)

2) Reflect. Apply. Reflect. Apply. Reflect. Apply.
Jamaica could be just a memory. But we learned things there. We learned that sometimes God calls us to do difficult things even if we're not already good at them, or even if we think we are in no way gifted at them (use sign language, build a wall, visit an Infirmary). We may not actually use sign language, build walls, or visit Infirmaries here in the States, but we are called to do difficult things for the Kingdom of God. So reflect on the times in Jamaica when you were called out of your comfort zone and stretched, and then apply the principle to a situation here where you feel that God is calling you out of your comfort zone! (Befriending someone you find to be annoying, helping your family out or hanging out with them even if you think they are lame, seeking the welfare of others when the easy thing to do is seek your own welfare, etc.) The same principles apply.

3) View Jamaica in its proper context
Jamaica was and is a part of the story God is writing for you. He has you in a certain place at a certain time with a certain group of people for a reason - it's all part of your story, your epic. If you are a believer in Christ, then you know your final destination - Eternity with Jesus. But the time until then is unknown - other than the fact that we know from the Scriptures that God wants you to use that time to grow closer to him, become more like his Son Jesus, and to point others to Jesus. So where does this Jamaica trip fit in your story? How has it helped and how will it help you grow closer to Jesus and become more like Jesus? How will it teach you how to better point others to Jesus?

4) Let it lead to Worship
Above all else, do not let your Jamaica experience be an end in and of itself. In other words, we might be tempted to think that Jamaica or our memories of Jamaica can fill the emptiness in our hearts, or that it will make us completely happy. It will not. In order for it to be maximized in our lives, our Jamaica experience must lead to worship! How will it lead to you developing a greater love for and greater worship of Jesus? What will you look back to about Jamaica and then say, "God is so good! What a great God we serve"? If it leads to worship of our God, then our Jamaica experience has done its job and it will always continue to do so for us.