by Greta Kohl, 6-month Caribbean IMMERSION team member
Our first week that we spent in our host homes in Catadupa, we took a lot of time to settle into Jamaican life, but we didn't get to do much for the community. So I was feeling a little useless and discouraged. One night, I really felt God calling me to prayer, so I prayed and prayed for God to provide me with an opportunity to serve Him and His people here. I asked Him to make the path very clear where He is calling me to go, and how He wants me to serve.
The next morning at breakfast, I asked Momma Debbie if there was anyone from the church or anybody she knew that was in need of any sort of assistance. She looked at me with the biggest, brightest eyes and said, "I know exactly what we're gonna do!" I found out she is also on the prayer team at the church with 3 or so other women. She told me that it had been a long time since they visited any members of the church, and that it was the first thing that came to her mind when I asked her. She was LITERALLY jumping up and down with excitement and saying, "Thank you, God! This is perfect!" She talked to Pastor, made some calls, and planned out the visits we were going to make. A visit could mean just going to their house and praying for them, or it could mean we clean their house, or bathe them if they are elderly, or cook, or deliver groceries. I felt so good about this because the entire focus of IMMERSION is to work ALONGSIDE the local ministries that God was already working through!
I had a huge epiphany while reading through the book of Isaiah that same day. Isaiah 30:20-21 reads, "Although the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers won't be hidden any more, but your eyes will see your teachers; and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way. Walk in it.'" As I was reading this verse, it suddenly rang so true for me and made me feel so certain that this was the path that God wants me to be walking on. He is leading me along, bringing me closer to my ultimate teacher, Jesus, by sending his people, like my host mom, to light the way. It was really assuring when she told me how much I encouraged her when I asked her her how we could help her, because she hadn't gone on any visits in so long.
Our first visit was to Debbie's cousin Dawn, who lives right around the corner from us. She was supposed to be a host mom for a few people on our team, but she had to have a emergency appendix surgery. We sat and talked with her, and prayed for her, and now every time we walk by her house we call, "Auntie Dawn!"
Our second visit was to a woman named Sister Willie and her husband, who live on top of a big hill in Catadupa. This woman is 91 years old and she is going deaf. Her husband is blind. Debbie said that up until a little while ago, she would walk down the hill to church every Sunday and always stand and sing during the songs, but recently she has been too sick and frail to make it. We took the entire team to visit their house, and when she saw all of us, she burst into tears. She put her skin up to ours and said "Look—our skin is different colors but we all bleed the same red. We all share one spirit." We sang worship songs with them, read encouraging Bible verses, and prayed with her. We washed her dishes, made her tea, and made some food to eat. Listening to this woman talk revealed her intense, fiery passion for God. Her heart was just thriving with the Holy Spirit. Her ears may have been aging and becoming deaf, but she never stopped hearing the word of the Lord.
The next day, we travelled into Montego Bay to visit some people at the hospital and pray with them. One of the church sisters' sons, Kenny, was the victim of a robbery. He was tragically shot 5 times after he was robbed in his car after his shift at work. His shooter assumed he was dead because of the 3 bullets in his head. But in the morning when he was found, Kenny was still breathing. He was rushed to the hospital and immediately cared for. No one knows how it is possible that a man with 3 gunshots in his head survived a night, and is still alive today. We know one thing, though: God was holding onto Kenny as he was fighting for his life through the night. When we saw Kenny in the hospital, he was bandaged up, and he only had use of his right side. So he could see and hear us, and he could lift his right arm. When we would say something to him, he would hold up his hand for us to hold, because he couldn't speak. When we prayed, he squeezed our hands. The next week, we asked his mom how he is doing, and she told us he asked for a pen and paper to write. Incredible. God has a very special, specific reason for keeping Kenny fighting through the night. I feel extremely lucky to be a witness to another one of His many miracles.
Something Pastor John, my pastor at home in Massachusetts, told me the day before I left for this trip was, "You control your efforts; God controls the outcome." I think back to what he says from time to time, and it really reassures me of God's plan for me, and His reason for putting me exactly where He wants me right here, right now. I know that I am putting in the effort to truly BE all that He has called me to be.
We are hopefully going to make more visits soon! Sadly, in a few days I will have to leave my wonderful Momma Debbie to live with the rest of the team at the church for another week before we switch to brand new host homes. Ivy and I are bummed because we love her and she brightens our days, but I have no doubt that our next host home adventure will be nothing short of amazing as well!
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