In 2017, I spent my high school senior Spring Break in Jamaica.
I never touched the sand or waves of their beaches but trekked up the mountains in some sort of Toyota passenger van to a village in Mandeville known as Jamaica Deaf Village (JDV for short).
During our drive to JDV, we quickly became accustomed to the weather we would experience throughout the week. Overcast, rain, rain with the sun out, storm, RAINBOWS, sun, beautiful sunsets, and high humidity!!
While we were at JDV, my team and I got to play with the children, sign with the residents, help in construction and other developmental projects around the village, eat their yummy Caribbean foods (I can’t remember life before Guava Jelly and toast. The superior snack option), and embrace not only their Jamaican culture but their deaf culture.
Above all, our purpose for visiting was to share the Name of Jesus with these people. In both our partnering in their labor and in friendship. I think about this trip daily, it was one of the greatest adventures I ever took. It might seem cliché to sacrifice a week off to do a service project rather than a vacation but I truly left enriched. This trip had nothing to do with me. I simply got to take part in experiencing God at work outside the comfort of my North Carolina home. And that in itself is why this trip is worth sharing.