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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: TOURIST TRAP (08/20/15)
Holy Shenanigans


On a "hot" sandy beach near Montego Bay Jamaica, under beaming rays of brilliant sunlight a gentle breeze blew, causing the waves of the ocean to lap gently on the shoreline at the Grand Palladium Resort as our daughter Angela exchanged her wedding vows.


The Pastor of a local church presided over the ceremony, and with a thick Jamaican accent indigenous to the locals, he proceeded to proclaim Christ, the church, and the sanctity of marriage with such conviction, beauty, and passion that I gleaned a greater appreciation for my own marriage as one that represents Christ’s relationship with the church.


When we thanked him for such a heartfelt ceremony, the Pastor invited us to his church off the resort and offered to send his church van to pick us up the next morning.


Several of us left the air conditioned comfort of the resort to go to his church the next morning. The very elegant modernized resort proved to be in vast contrast to the poverty stricken neighboring communities; including the church. There was no air conditioning; just fans, no windows; just holes in the wall covered by rickety shutters, no padded pews; just wooden benches, no closed doors; just open spaces to walk in and out of.


It was harvest Sunday, and it was the church’s tradition for all the members who were farmers to bring in fruits and vegetables to give to the poorer members of the congregation. The produce covered the floor at the front of the church; some laying directly on the floor and some in baskets. We were given fruit and veggies that we’d never seen or heard of to taste for free and then to purchase to take some back to the resort if we liked them.


We arrived in the middle of the Sunday school lesson, and we sat near the back of the church. After Sunday school, we were invited to sit up front on two rows that were reserved for us. Feeling special and loved, we gladly moved to the front.


Soon the choir began to march in singing as they held large notebooks with silver ring binders, with song lyrics inside. The congregation’s thick Jamaican dialect made understanding the song lyrics hard to at times, but there were a couple of songs by American artists that were recognizable by the music and we were able to sing along. It was a beautiful thing to witness and be a part of another race of people praising the same God thousands of miles away.


The text was given, and the Word of God was proclaimed in truth! Soon no thought was given to the sweat trickling down the middle of my back or the numbness of my butt on the hard wooden benches as I became absorbed in the sermonic message.


The only distraction from the service was a cameraman who kept getting in the way as he walked back and forth the entire length of the service taking pictures.


As the service drew to an end, the closing prayer was rendered, and we began to file out. Our exit was interrupted as the cameraman stopped us to show us photos of ourselves that were taken throughout the entire service. There were pics of us individually and collectively lifting our hands in praise and with our mouths gaped open as we sang songs of Zion. He had already captioned the pictures with the name of the church and its locale in Jamaica; a tourist’s dream souvenir.


The pics were beautiful with crisp clear images and a glossed finish. The quality of the photos and the expensive equipment used to produce them on site were a stark contrast to the impoverished rundown church.


I felt scammed and appreciative at the same time: appreciative for the opportunity to have an unexpected souvenir from my first time visit to a Jamaican church, and scammed because what we thought was only a genuine invitation to visit a church and be blessed by the Gospel message, turned out to be a money making scheme. Although there was no set charge, a monetary “donation” was required of us before we could get pics.


In foreign currency exchange, one American dollar was worth $112 Jamaican dollars and with three different offerings during the service, plus the picture and produce sales from unsuspecting tourists, this was quite a lucrative holy shenanigan.


Nevertheless, it was a beautiful experience and I still look at the pic and smile.





True story
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This article has been read 625 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
08/27/15
I wasn't sure how you were going to make it on topic. When I found out, I kind of wished it had been off topic. My husband will gladly point out the religion is a business, but I just didn't expect this. I'm impressed that you could still see the good in it and didn't let that experience jade your memories. Remember to use hyphens when combining words to make an adjective like poverty-stricken neighborhood and air-conditioned room. I'll admit the quotation marks around the word hot interrupted the flow for me. I didn't know if you meant it as a play on words like the beach was really warm and sexy. I'd encourage you to not use quotation marks as a device like that except in rare circumstances. Likewise, let your words do your exclaiming and cut out the exclamation points except in rare spots. Overall, I think you did a great job. It's not easy for me to feel disappointed at the end of a story, yet still recognize the disappointment didn't come from the author but real life. That takes talent to pull off, and you accomplished it like an expert.
Pat Small
08/28/15
Disturbing, but nicely done.
Jennifer Woodley 
08/29/15
Like Shannon, I was wondering for a while there how the story matched the title, but was left with no doubt by the end. Good use of commas and semi colons in some of the longer sentences. Thanks for sharing your story.
C D Swanson 
08/29/15
Not surprised, this happens in quite a bit of places. Well done, and excellent job with the topic, you nailed it completely in an authentic tale that was well written.

God bless~
C D Swanson 
09/03/15
Congratulations Terrie!
God bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
09/03/15
Congratulations on your EC! I'm so happy for you. As I reread your story and my comments, I hope my comments didn't seem too harsh. Your writing was brilliant. I just struggled with a church "scamming" people. I've been talking to my son who is in Seminary about this very topic. The conference my church is a part of is trying to close down the camps. It's so sad because camping is a huge part of the ministry, pulling in kids who might never get to know Jesus except through camp. When I grumbled and said it didn't make sense, my son explained camping didn't make money. I don't understand that line of thinking at all. I wasn't disappointed in your writing, just what some churches are doing to survive. It makes me sad, but you did an outstanding job of bringing this problem to light. We have to be aware of it in order to do something. The coolest thing is even though you felt like you fell into a tourist trap, the Holy Spirit was definitely at work. Not only did the church sermon touch your heart, but it inspired you to write about it. I can see Jesus'fingerprints all over this situation from making sure you had that experience to encouraging you to write it. I'm so happy to see the well-deserved EC. When the books are released, no matter how long it might take, it'll be in God's timetable, and countless more people will be blessed by your words. I also loved your fresh take on the topic. This is so different from other stories, yet you nailed the topic. Congratulations and Happy Dance!
Bonnie Bowden 
09/03/15
Congratulations on your 1st place in the Intermediate division.

Unfortunately, the church is not as honored as it once was. My sister, who works in a church, got her purse stolen from her office.
Noel Mitaxa 
09/03/15
Congrats on your EC and your Intermediate placing. You've lit something of a fuse with some reviewers - which is a good indicator of how you've communicated. My only tip would be to use more active voice to introduce the setting, as passive voice adds a more reflective tone that's more suitable to a conclusion or a summary. But hey - you did a great job.