Kingston

We did spend one day in inner city Kingston in an area called Trenchtown.  It's supposed to be the most dangerous area in Kingston, but they've had a time of peace these past few months.  We walked through the city with a young man who grew up in the area, was a part of a gang, was saved, and is now going to college and working with the church group in the area.  He told us a lot about the people and what sort of conditions they live in.  We walked from the church center towards an old theater that Chi Alpha has visited every year since Missi and Tom, the Chi Alpha directors, first went on this trip.  It was an abandoned building on their first trip, but their team prayed over the property and today it is a youth building where young men and women learn trade practices that can get them off the streets with a decent job.  We prayed for people as we walked, took a tour of the building, and walked back to the church center.  It really exposed us to the conditions of abject poverty, but it also gave us hope.  The youth building was amazing, and some of the people recognized Missi and some of our other team members.  It was probably the toughest part of the entire trip.  To see human beings living in those conditions breaks my heart.