JA update

For those of you who are wondering what in the world is going on in Jamaica:

We are fine. The island here is tense because the US pressured JA into signing extradition papers on one of the world's most powerful gun/coke traffickers, "Dudus", who resides in Kingston. But the story is complicated. Since the 70's both political parties have been accused of hiring professional gunmen to guarantee votes for their party. Over time these gunmen, through coke and gun sales, have made more money and gained more power than the very people who created them. Now, the man Dudus, who basically runs big areas of Kingston, has many big politicians in his back pocket including, they say, the Prime Minister. A further complication is that Dudas provides food, education, clothing, etc. to the poorest of the poor in Kingston. Modern day Robin Hood but way more evil. He provides with the left hand while undermining/oppressing his country with the other. Long story short the police are having a hard time retrieving Dudas because the very people he has provided for have bigger and better guns than the police. And unfortunately these guys are going on the offense. Needless to say Kingston, the capital, is in a "State of Emergency" and the whole island is a bit tense. Many feel the US is being a bully while many more are demanding reform. Civil unrest is often necessary for change, yes. And too many times violence is a nasty byproduct of this change. So that's where we are right now. The police are attempting to get the guy tonight. In the mean time we have to stay put in our community and wait and see what happens. We will keep you posted.

Rest assured we are safe. The Jamaican people who are overall peace loving, and more like me and you than this chaos is portraying, is in need of some prayers tonight.

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