Jamaica

It is shocking when you see the Jamaica most tourists are exposed to on the beaches and in resorts in contrast to the real Jamaica. Once you have seen the poverty in Jamaica, the living conditions of many of the Jamaican people and experienced the love of Jamaican children who have been abandoned you can never go back to being a blissfully unaware tourist again. It is as if in the shadow of the resorts there is a third world country that no one, or very few, who visit choose to see.

Mustard Seed Community, Jerusalem!, is in Spanish Town, in the outskirts of Kingston. At that facility there are 175 children who have AIDS, mental retardation, or physical disabilities. That day was the most difficult for me. There are some images that burn their way into your memory forever, the children I interacted with there will never be erased from mine. As I sit here now and think back to their reactions of such joy and love at merely being gently caressed and spoken to the tears I suppressed while there are running down my face. May my tears by turned into grace for them. It was so hard to see the conditions there knowing how differently thing could be if the country was not so broken and poor. The children at Mustard Seed spend time in Eucharistic Adoration which was beautiful to witness. The organization itself is Catholic and those that work there are required to take two hours of prayer time everyday. They are incredibly short staffed at Mustard Seed so please pray that more people will respond to the call to serve there.