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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Strange day

Hey all, this is Mark. We had a great day yesterday by having some very good friends come to visit. Our good friend Ron, the gentlemen who has sponsored Sabrina for years, came to see us with a couple of business partners of his. Lizzy also came up to see us, and Ron, and see the kids for the day. We visited for a time and then Ron and his friends, Seth and Jared, invited me to come along with them to lunch at the Pelican Bar in Black River. I've heard about this place and accepted immediately. This little shack of a place sits about a half mile off shore, on a shallow reef. You get there by boat and it's all cobbed together out of mahogany planks and old trees and a thatched roof. Totally cool! you can have a beer, or rum, or you can have a great meal of grilled fish and rice(like i did),or lobster and rice( like the other guys did).
But this is the strange part, as the title eludes to. When we got there we were the only "whiteys" in the place. BTW, that's what Jamaicans call us. It's not an insult, just a recognition. About forty five minutes later , around 16 or 18 tourists show up and start piling into the place. I said hello to most of them and then went outside on the deck part to visit with Seth and Jared, and this guy comes up named Marty. I introduce myself and he proceeds to tell me he is an Atheist and how misguided Christians are. So, I listen intently for quite some time and he has some very interesting things to say. Then he finally asks what I'm doing in Jamaica. I tell him I'm a Christian missionary and I've been involved with helping Jamaican children. I'm starting to tell my story, when a friend of his comes up and announces that, he too, is an Atheist. Well, before too long I'm surrounded by self professed Atheists! There had to be 8 or so of them , all asking me questions and telling me what good things I'm doing here and how unusual it is for them to actually see a Christian doing what Christians say they're supposed to be doing. I tell them that this is not unusual, just not talked about. We are to be humble about our service and loving to everyone we encounter. That's how Christ teaches us to be. When they all left, we were hugging and wishing each other well. I hope I was able to show them that we Christians aren't nearly as bad as Atheists think we are.
Hopefully, Jared will forward some pictures to me. He was the only one with a camera.
Then, I came home to the most magnificent meal of pork roast and potatoes and carrots that Kim had made! Wow! I hope we can find more of that pork!
I love God, don't you!!??

1 comments:

Jenny Lee said...

That's so great! I'm glad you were able to listen to those men, I'm sure God is showing them some amazing things and you were a huge helpful part of it. Way to be a witness!