Old Town Craft Market, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Prudence (clothing); Stephanie and Charlanne (dolls).

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; 
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God IS love."
(1John 4:7-8)


Weeeelllll... I know some of you think we've dropped off the face of the earth. (How many e-mails have I started like that?!) Never fear: as usual we've just been going in many directions. To some of you I've promised a fuller explanation of our most recent trip to Jamaica. To do that, I must take you back, way back. 

I've lost count of the number of my trips to Jamaica, most on my own as a journalist. The first was probably some 18-19 years ago, and my heart was lost almost from the moment the plane touched down. Needless to say, I was thrilled when Bill at least liked my favorite island on his first trip there nearly five years ago. Liked it enough to go back again, and again, and has eventually fallen as deeply in love with the island and her people as I did long ago. We have found a quiet little condo in Ocho Rios that we keep going back to, and it's just about a mile from the center of town, so once we're situated we just walk to town to shop and dine. 

This past June (2002), for my 55th birthday (I never thought I'd get this old!), Bill took me to our little island hideaway. In all our trips together, we had never been into the Craft Market, so I suggested to Bill it was time for an adventure! He was as taken as I had been, maybe more so, by the charming people and their beautiful handicrafts. We were saddened to see few other tourists there, though, and learned from Jamaican friends that since 9/11 tourism has dropped by more than half, leaving these people with little hope. Needless to say, we came away with more baskets, dolls, trinkets and batik clothing than we needed! And soon Bill's gift for marketing kicked into high gear! He came home talking of websites and shipping. 

After lots of prayers for direction and lots of brainstorming, we decided to keep our efforts to help on a small scale. The town of Badin, about 15 minutes from our home, has a Fall Festival each year, so we reserved space for a "booth" to sell Jamaican handicrafts. Well, we were committed now, so the next thing was to acquire the goods. We finally decided the easiest way to do so was to go back with empty suitcases and fill them up!

Bill and Derrick; Chris (wood carvings)

The festival was September 20-21, so we quickly planned a trip a couple of weeks before that (Sept. 4-12). First stop was Ocho Rios Methodist Church, where we spoke with the pastor about our desire to help needy and worthy craftspeople. Pastor Gay promised to introduce us to just such a person at services on Sunday, but this was only Wednesday! We decided we couldn't leave all the shopping 'til after Sunday, so we struck out on our own. Each day we prayed for God's guidance to worthy folks that we could bless in some small way. Well, any of you who have had experience with this Jabez-type prayer already know the outcome! It was WE who received the greater blessing, we are sure. I wish with all my heart that I could transport each of you for one hour to that place, just to see the beautiful smiles, hear the melodic voices, feel the love and gratitude that came back to us after our small effort to help these folks, who often don't have the money to buy soap or toothpaste for the basic hygiene we all take for granted. The heartbreaking part was that our resources were so minuscule compared to the need. We just had to keep telling ourselves that we were shedding a tiny bit of light that otherwise would not have come their way each day. 

Well, you'd all be surprised how much work it is to fill three empty suitcases with handicrafts, especially when you have little idea what someone in Stanly County would be willing to buy and at what price! We did manage to take an hour or so each day for snorkeling, which we both love so much and which was so refreshing after a hot day in the market. Since this was a "mission" trip rather than a vacation, we prepared most of our meals in our little apartment, as simply as we could, which forced another delight: shopping in the local produce market! Here, among the bananas, pineapples, tomatoes and cabbage, we stumbled onto something I had looked for on many previous trips-- Jamaican vanilla! (And would you believe this was one of the best sellers at the festival?!)

Welcome to Jamaica! (...in Stanly County)

I could go on and on, as you can see, but by the end of the week we had spent just what we had budgeted and filled our three empty suitcases to the brim. We came home just in time to organize and plan our booth. (Bill kept telling me this was my project, but I could NOT have done it without his help in SO many ways.) My dear friend Polly, who at one time had a gift shop, spent an entire day with me pricing and creating beautiful displays of the dolls, jewelry, baskets and clothing. And wouldn't you know, on Wednesday night before the festival opened on Friday, Bill's mother fell and broke her hip! She had to have surgery on Friday, so poor Bill was running in three directions that weekend-- helping me set up and take down, staying with his mother at the hospital, and in between running home to take care of Cassie (our dog)! 

Needless to say, we're still surrounded by Jamaican handicrafts! The response was good to my beautiful booth, but these are tough times, especially in this little textile and aluminum town. I had an ENORMOUS amount of fun playing reggae music all day for two days, meeting people and sharing my love of Jamaica and Jamaicans. The highlight had to be the schoolchildren, who loved all the bright colors and unusual objects. On Friday two groups of children from Badin School came by with their teachers, and I went promptly into teacher mode, showing them objects made of bamboo and coffee beans, photos of the schoolchildren and handicrafters. On Saturday I was momentarily perplexed when a little boy came running up, threw his arms around me, saying, "I knew I'd find you!" and proceed to introduce me to his big sister! (See what I mean about Jabez blessings!) 

Well, who knows where this will go next, but we're open to ideas from any direction! We truly appreciate all the prayers for our little project, and please keep them going for the Jamaican people. Finally, please take the time to read the following, which someone sent me a while back. It seems pertinent, and you should see yourself in there, because you are ALL there.

                                                                                    One Love,
                                                                                    Charlanne

Bob and Charlanne with wood carvings, Nicole with her batik wraps.

THE ROAD OF LIFE

At first, I saw God as my observer,
my judge, keeping track of the things
I did wrong, so as to know whether I
merited heaven or hell when I die.

He was out there sort of like a president.
I recognized His picture when I saw it,
but I really didn't know Him.

But later on, when I met Jesus,
it seemed as though life were rather
like a bike ride, but it was a tandem
bike, and I noticed that Jesus
was in the back helping me pedal.

I don't know just when it was that He
suggested we change places, but life
has not been the same since.

When I had control, I knew the way.
It was rather boring, but predictable...
It was the shortest distance between 
two points. But when He took the lead,
He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains,
and through rocky places at breakneck speeds;
it was all I could do to hang on!

Even though it looked like madness,
He said, "Pedal!"

I worried and was anxious and asked,
"Where are you taking me?"
He laughed and didn't answer,
and I started to trust. I forgot 
my boring life and entered into the adventure.
And when I'd say, "I'm scared,"
He'd lean back and touch my hand,

He took me to people with gifts
that I needed, gifts of healing,
acceptance and joy.

They gave me gifts to take on our journey,
my Lord's and mine. And we were off again.
He said, "Give the gifts away;
they're extra baggage, too much weight."

So I did, to the people we met,
and I found that in giving I received,
and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first,
in control of my life. I thought He'd
wreck it; but He knows bike secrets,
knows how to make it bend to take
sharp corners, knows how to jump
to clear high rocks, knows how to fly
to shorten scary passages.

And I am learning to shut up and pedal
in the strangest places, and I'm beginning
to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face
with my delightful constant companion, Jesus.

And when I'm sure that I just can't
do any more, He just smiles and says
...................."Pedal!"