Click here for May 2020 report.

After visiting and attending multiple churches on Sunday in Jamaica, there was one constant – few if any males between age 12 and 70. The churches are dominated by females.

How could we reach the men of Jamaica? Where could you find men? They are usually hanging around bars, playing cards, playing dominoes and smoking ganga (local term for marijuana).

Should we try to get them to church or bring church to them? We chose the latter. In 2008, we purchased a video projector, an outdoor portable movie screen and decide to take Christian movies to the streets – specifically targeting bars and gambling establishments. Did it work?

Well, we noticed that if the “Jesus Film” was showing, people watched, they stopped gambling and they get quiet. Sometimes, we would have over 150 people stand outside and watch a movie. Many if not most were men. Did it work? That was a question we would ask ourselves many times.

Move forward to the summer of 2015. Amy Luther and her family travel to Jamaica on one of our mission trips. Amy, two of her children and a couple of other missioners conduct Vacation Bible Schools in 5 locations – four of them in very remote rural locations – like Old Pera, Barking Lodge, Airy Castle, and Johnson Mountain. These were hugely successful!

Now to November 2015. Amy, her husband, Mark and her parents go to Fort Lauderdale Florida for a vacation at a resort. Her story:

“All of the staff at the resort had name tags with their first name and where they were originally from.  At check out, a young man had Jamaica on his name tag.  His name was Desmond.  I asked him where he was from.  He said “eastern, Jamaica”.  I said, “wow. I recently went there on a mission trip”.  He said “great, but you would never know this place.  It is in the middle of no-where”. He finally said the nearest community was called “Barking Lodge”.  I told him I actually conducted a vacation bible school at a church in Barking Lodge.  I then asked him how he got to the US?  He said about 6 years ago he was near Port Morant and there was a group playing Christian movies in the streets.  He got to talking to “an outspoken elderly white haired man” who told him he had options and choices he could make with his life.  His mother was a prostitute and he was dealing in some drugs at the time.  He said about a week later, he decided to travel to Kingston and stay with and uncle and get a job and try to go to school.  He did and went to a hospitality school and two years ago came to the US to take this job.  He is 20 years old.  At the end of our conversation, he said he forgot to ask me what group I had traveled with to Jamaica.  As I begin to say “Isaiah 6:8”, he says “that old man was with Isaiah 6:8”.  He came around the counter and hugged me and said “thank you for going and thank God for that old white-haired man for sending me to Kingston”.  He said that verse stuck in his head and is why he moved to Kingston.”

God demands that we sow the seed. He causes it to grow and the harvest is His, but it is nice to know that some seed bore fruit!

Update – last week, we spent two days while in Jamaica getting the street movies back into operation.

 For over 18 years, we have been providing Christmas for the poor and forgotten in Southeastern Jamaica. This year is no different. This year, we are targeting 3 major groups and one small group:

1st group - Again, the indigent nursing home, known as The Infirmary will be our largest and most expensive group. There are 77 residents. Cost $25 each. These people get gift bags. A typical bag for women includes: house dresses, regular dresses, slippers, lotion, Vaseline, combs, perfume, soap dishes, snack cookies, wash cloths, and adult diapers. For men, it is similar but they get shorts, shirts, and underwear as their clothing items.

2nd group - The elderly and home bound sick - – Usually about 25 of these people. Cost $30 each. In the past, they got a box of food that contained: 2lb. rice, 2lb. flour, 2lb. sugar, 2lb. cornmeal, sardines, canned mackerel, powdered milk, noodles, tea, saltfish, 2 bags of crackers, vegetable oil, roll of toilet paper, bath soap, laundry detergent, matches, and salt. For many, this food will last over a month.

3rd group - Special Needs School – 60 students to be served. Cost - $10 each. They would get a coloring book, crayons, a small toy and served ice cream and cake. Most of these children are not only somewhat neglected by the government, but are also neglected at home. The presents they receive as a result of this giving will probably be the only one they get.

Lastly - Stokes Hall children – Hortense, the children minister and preschool teacher hosts 40 children. For $10 each, she has a Christmas party serving sandwiches, drinks, and ice cream. Each child receives coloring books, crayons, and a small toy. Stokes Hall is a very poor community. For most, this will be their only gift.

Please consider helping us with this project. You may donate via PayPal or send us a check.

Thank you for your Consideration!

February 13-20, 2016 Mission to Jamaica

The plans - to be an organizational, planning, and development trip. We plan to visit all our ministry areas - to include Basic Schools (preschools), Churches, Special Needs School, the indigent nursing home, and a few families and special children we help.

Specific goals:

• Further evaluate hunger problems in the Basic Schools, consider if a feeding program or something similar is feasible.
• Assuming we want to proceed with feeding programs - organize a child sponsorship program to fund the feeding program
• If we recruit preschool teachers, evaluate the Basic Schools for other ways we can help
• Consider a child sponsorship program to help fund the feeding program at Lyssons Special Needs School.
  

Team members needed:

• Ideally, we would like a team of about 10 people.
• We specifically are praying that preschool and early childhood education teachers would choose to go
• People who are good organizers to help us obtain the data and information to create the Child Sponsorship program.

Other goals:

• Make plans for the next few trips - such as where and how to do a VBS in the Summer
• Look at and possibly make plans for a construction project on one of the other trips

Please email us if you have specific questions!

July 2015 Trip Highlights

The Isaiahsixeight team which traveled to southeastern Jamaica in July returned with many new friends and too many stories to recount.  The group tackled various projects to include renovations to the basic school, bathrooms, and bus stop in Johnson Mountain to Vacation Bible Schools in Old Pera, Port Morant, and Barking Lodge.  A total of five VBS sessions were conducted over the course of four days for over 200 Jamaican adults and children!  The group was also able to visit the Infirmary in Port Morant and spend time with the residents there as well as attending the local church service for Pastor Courtney Spence in Rowlandsfield.  We've included just a few photos to highlight what God accomplished through the team in 2015.  You can view more photos on the new IS68 Facebook group page: www.facebook.com/IsaiahsixeightJamaica. Also see the new IS68 webpage: http://www.is68jamaica.org/

Vacation Bible School at Port Morant Methodist.  With one of the biggest crowds, there were well over 50 children and adults in attendance.  Many of them remembered one or more of the songs from last year!  Hannah Luther is pictured with several children.

Just a couple of the unforgettable kids we met during VBS.  They loved to color and participate during arts and crafts time!  This photo was taken at Old Pera.

The work crew helped renovate the basic school in Johnson Mountain.  With the help of several IS68 Jamaica friends, the project was completed ahead of schedule.  Mark Luther and Alan Christian are pictured along with Jamaican friends, Keith Rhoden and Michael Brown.

This is the bus stop at Johnson Mountain during the reconstruction process.  Alan Christian, Ewuan Brown, and Keith Rhoden are in the photo.

The team visited the community of Seaside one afternoon.  These are a few of the children which attended the VBS in Port Morant along with Amy Luther, the VBS leader for the week.

I have been praying a long time that God would send more and younger laborers to help us with this mission. This summer, Pastor Wes Savage, led a team down with us. Even before Wes got back home from the trip, he had already created us a FaceBook page. Soon thereafter, he created us a Twitter presence as well.

That motivated me to revamp our web page. God had revamped our mission over the years and I think it is much more meaningful and relational; however, with that comes a continual drain of our resources unlike our prior pattern of periodic projects.

Amy Luther also went on that trip and was amazing in her organization and how she was not only prepared for the intense week she was there, but left the different communities with resources so they could do their on VBS's in the future. Also, Wes again came through in making a connection with Amy to help us with our Christmas giving campaign.

My prayers now are for child education leaders to travel with us to assess the needs in the Basic Schools, the churches, and the Special Needs School and help us address those needs.

Please pray that we follow God's path for this mission!

​Donnie

How Many People can Ruffy Get in his 11 passenger Van?

Devin Brown, known locally as Ruffy, has been our taxi driver for approximately 7 years. Before that, we rented a bus with driver or we rented a van or car and drove ourselves (never again!). Not only is renting a taxi driver and his vehicle for a day cheaper than a car rental, it is safer and you get his brother and helper as escorts. These guys are sad when we leave and can’t wait until we come back. They love to be with us.

Many times, they will say – “you guys are different from the other Christians here. You guys help people.” They get into the helping spirit as well – many times working alongside of us with no expectations of pay. Other times, we will hire them. Always, they get to hang out with us, eat some of the food we eat (they love my sandwiches and red-neck caviar). They go to church with us, go to show Christian movies with us, are frequently put “on the spot” at churches and asked to speak. Frequently, we tailor our devotions and church talks for their ears.

They are a major part of our mission field. We have seen them change for the better over the years, but their “culture” and as Paul would say – their “world” or “flesh” is deeply embedded. Other than us, there are extremely few  examples of Christian men for them.

So, now that you know something of these guys, what about the capacity of their vans?

We are always amazed at how many students are crammed into the taxis, vans, cars, and buses going to and from school. Ruffy has told us before that he could get as many as 30 in his van, but the police were cracking down on that.

So, we decided to do a Vacation Bible School in a community called Wheelerfield – where we built a church about 3 years ago. The church is a church plant from another church we are associated with and has also spawned a preacher who is now leading yet another church (more about him later). Well,  Wheelerfield is a small rural village with few people, but it has a large field, two adjacent structures we can use and is central to 3 other communities where we work. So, we decided this was the place for a large Vacation Bible School and we would bus the children in from the other 3 communities.

So, we contracted with Ruffy, another van, and still a smaller 3rd van to go pick up teachers, adults, and children for the VBS. Well, it was very chaotic, but we had over 200 children in VBS, over 50 adults in an adult Bible study we had not planned, and about another 25 adults helping shepherd children as well as our team of 14.

Were we worried about the police? Well, I had hired the local police chief to provide security for us, because this was a nighttime VBS. So, no one was monitoring the capacity of the vans.

How many? Fifty (50) – in each of two eleven (11) passenger vans. The 7 passenger van could only manage 39 people. And they came back and they loved every minute of VBS.

Legacies

In 2014, we have lost two of our most dedicated pioneers in this mission to Jamaica - Jack Mullins and Tom Hunt. We humans tend to give ourselves more credit for our works and ideas than we should. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “… there is nothing new under the sun”. Our omniscient God not only knew the idea, He gave it us and probably had given it to others before us as well.  For this reason, only He should get the Glory.

However, we as humans, despite our failings, do have those in our lives who inspire, lead, and set great examples. Jack and Tom were two such men.

Jack led me on my first mission trip to Jamaica. Tom, while not a leader, was on that trip as well. That would be Jack's last trip (winter of 1996), but he constantly encouraged us who continued to travel there. Tom would lead another church group down, then accompany us on several other trips to Jamaica. Tom continued wanting to go beyond the time his health would permit.

What kind of legacies did these guys leave? Well, I don't think they were thinking in those terms, but their passing caused me to look back and see where that trip Jack led has taken this mission. I can only tell the story as I know it. I, Donnie Cantley, will recount what I remember:

• My first trip with you was in February 1996. I believe Terry Fry went a few years on a preceding trip. I have been approximately 36 times and Terry’s trip number is in the high 20’s.
• We have repaired/improved 5-6 churches - from major structural changes with new roofs  to adding large fellowship halls. In the Wheelerfield community, we built the church building for a plant church.
• We have built 4 Basic Schools (like kindergartens/preschools). 3 of the 4 are church related and even the other one is led by a Christian lady.
• We have built have built at least 9 houses. Recipients have included a blind man, a woman dying of cancer with 3 children, a special needs child, an old man whose home was in shambles, a family with 3 children whose home that had collapsed, and one where a collapsing masonry structure endangered the family.
• We have built church pews for 3 congregations, an alter rail for one.
• We have helped thousands with home repairs, food, school supplies, clothing, and/or shoes.
• We have had Christian concerts, Christian videos, and street preaching  at street corners, at community centers, and at bars and gambling places at 9 locations.
• We frequently are asked to speak at churches and even occasionally asked to deliver the sermon at a church.
• We worked with an orphanage to do major floor joist replacement and flooring, built lockers, did electrical and plumbing work and replaced a pump to get water to the orphanage. We also renovated a chicken coop and supplied the chicks and feed.
• We have done the equivalent of over $40,000 of major repairs on a Special Needs School.
• We have furnished educational electronics and school supplies/teacher’s aid to the special needs school as well as to over 15 basic schools.
• We have helped support children in preschool and now we are helping some of the same children pay their college tuition, fees, and transportation costs
• We fund a Christmas program annually that feeds close to 200 people a hot lunch at Christmas, provides gifts to close to 100 children, provides gifts to close to 100 patients in an indigent nursing home, and provide boxes of food to approximately 50 poor, sick, and elderly.
• We have purchased pillows for the residents at the indigent nursing home as well as purchasing them a commercial washing machine and we  visit regularly.
• We have supported two special needs babies in the communities with baby beds, mobiles, toys, protein powder, vitamins, blenders, and bought one mother a refrigerator to help the child.
• We take a lot of peanut butter and vitamins to Jamaica for feeding programs not mentioned elsewhere and for the basic school children.
• We do some to help support a church soup kitchen.
• We built a 7 station community computer lab for the community at a local church.
• We provide printers, computers, and memory sticks to our associates there for use by poor children and the basic schools. Much of the material we take is copied and distributed to other basic schools.
• We take Sunday School materials, craft supplies and teacher aides to teachers.
• We have had approximately 300 short term missionaries from the US join us. Some of these people have been profoundly impacted and seek to go again and again.
• We have made a lot of relationships with the Jamaicans. Isaiahsixeight has a great reputation there.
• The last 5 years, we have rented a mission house there. It have been used by mission teams from 2-3 different states other than Alabama.
• The missionaries who lived there in the community for about 12 years and moved back to Missouri come to Jamaica with their own teams occasionally and stay at our house. When they appear at local churches, the people assume they are a part of Isaiahsixeight and introduce them as such. Because of our good name in the region, the missionaries are proud to be known that way.
• Last year, after the Special Needs School had some disappointing test scores and some inquiry as to why, we were told that it was most likely due to hunger and absenteeism. In October, we began a feeding program at that school feeding over 75 children breakfast on Mondays and Fridays. The teacher reports much better results and a great decrease in absenteeism.
• In June 2014, a team from Pelham did a VBS at a church we built as a plant church from another church. We used taxis to pick up children and adults in 3 neighboring communities where we have relationships. We had over 200 children in the VBS, fed them snacks, had approximately 30 Jamaican adult onlookers, and had at least 50 Jamaican adults in an adult Bible study. All of this was done in the early evening because school was still in session. (Imagine if school had not been in session).
• In July, we had a team from Fayette conduct a VBS in Port Morant. They were also asked to go to another community and share the experience there as well.
• We are currently having discussions with a young Jamaican man filled with the Holy Spirit about helping him get some seminary training. We are coordinating some religious activities with him already.

Jack and Tom will be missed, but their legacy is passed on to us. Read the 3rd verse of the hymn "Faith of Our Fathers" by Frederick William Faber written in 1849. Its message still rings true for us!

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God
Mankind shall then indeed be free.
Faith of our fathers! holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!

Amen!

No Child Left Behind

Approximately 18 months ago, I was contacted by Ms. Nunes, the Head Teacher at the Special Needs School. After asking about her students, she told me how poorly they had performed on their year-end testing compared to previous year. Then I asked if she had an explanation – the answer – “you can’t learn on an empty stomach”. Many of the children were coming to school hungry or not coming at all since they had no money for lunch or transportation. Also, many Jamaicans do not go to school on Friday. If you have insufficient money for the week, who wouldn’t pick Friday to be the day to stay away?

So, this is how and why we started a feeding program at the Special Needs School. We purchased a gas stove, some pots, pans, bowls, table wear, utensils, food, and helped hire a cook. So, on two mornings a week, 75 students get a Hot, very nourishing breakfast.

At first, we started the breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursday, but Ms. Nunes made a wise decision to move it to Monday and Friday. Monday to get the kids there on the first day of the week and Friday to make sure they come to school on Friday.

Results – much better attendance, teaching was easier and they did much better on their testing. The feeding program continues. Maybe
this is why Jesus fed the multitudes.

Special Child, Special Blessings

I have written much about Mushie and her mom, Michelle. I also try to take every mission team to meet them and hear their story. Usually, there are tears shed – by Michelle, by team members, and by me. Michelle, because she knows how God loves her and how blessed she is as well and how God has used us to bless her. We feel blessed just by hearing her express her love for Mushie, seeing how thankful and full of hope she is living in what to many of us is an impossible situation.

You see, Mushie was born with hydrocephalus (“water on the brain”) and as a result, has severe cerebral palsy. The diagnosis was made before she was born. The father insisted on an abortion, but Michelle refused. The father abandoned them. Then Michelle’s parents disowned her because she would not put Mushie in a facility for the severely handicapped.

When we first met them, they were living in a very small one room of a shack. No screens, no mosquito net, no fan, and only one light bulb. Mushie was malnourished, had floppy legs and arms, she could not chew (her mom chewed her food), and she cried when mosquitoes would bite her. To make things worse, they were about to be evicted and had no place to go. Immediately, we obtained mosquito nets, vitamins, a blender, eggs, and other items for them. Less than a week later, I returned with a fan, a better blender, more vitamins, and protein powder. We set up a system to also help get eggs and peanut butter to them. Lastly, we purchased a baby bed for Mushie so she would no longer roll out of bed.

By a miracle, God provided us with a ready-made foundation two lots down from where they lived and we built them a house (story told in last Newsletter).

In early 2014, Mushie had some severe seizures and was placed in the hospital for a few days. She could not leave until we sent money for medications. Then, we had a team there in June. Michelle had a garden, chickens, and eggs. She blended the fruits and vegetables to feed Mushie, but she could not preserve them. So, our team went to the local small town and purchased them a refrigerator. In July, another team was there visiting and in the interim, Mushie had been sick and was prescribe an antibiotic that had to be refrigerated. Now, they had a refrigerator! Michelle made everyone from the team come into her tiny house and see what was in the refrigerator. She had eggs, carrots, greens, juice, fruit, tomatoes, and onions – all the things that were spoiling on her before. She was so proud and grateful!

They have been doing well, until the Chikungunya virus struck (see separate article). Both of them got sick – high fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains, etc. Mushie had it very bad and would cry every time she moved her muscles or joints. I received a call, because she was getting dehydrated and her mom had no money to buy juice. Again, we sent a small amount of money to her. She bought juice and Pampers.

Speaking of money, they have very little. Because of Mushie’s condition, the government does give them some money. It works out to about $15 US every other month. So, they survive on less than $0.50 per day – yet, they feel blessed and inspire every one of our team members who meet them.

Please pray for Michelle and Mushie and pray that we too can be as thankful for our blessings.

Chikungunya

Chikungunya (Chik V.)is a mosquito borne viral disease. The word is a tribal African word that means "to bind up". That is probably due to the fact that some of the patients get muscle pain and arthritis. The Chikungunya virus has caused disease in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Africa, France, Italy, and the US. It made a big appearance in St. Martens, the Caribbean Island in November of 2013. I took notice of it then because there was evidence it would spread through the Caribbean.

When we went to Jamaica with a small team in March of this year, it was still in the southern Caribbean. In early June and then early July, I was watching it much more closely and it was infecting a lot of people in Puerto Rico and was starting to infect the population in the Dominican Republic. Reports are that approximately 500,000 people in the Dominican Republic were infected. Luckily for our teams, but unluckily for the Jamaicans, the virus did not start affecting Jamaica until August. That coincided with the rainy season, more mosquitoes, and the start of school. In September and October, it was ravaging Eastern Jamaica, where we do our work. Reports are that at least 50% of the people in that area got the virus and absenteeism in schools was greater than 50%.

As people recovered and developed immunity, there was less transmission of the disease in our area; however, the disease apparently has not peaked yet in other parts of Jamaica. This infection caused us to cancel a small trip in October this year.

Please pray for Pastor Campbell in Stokes Hall. His Chik V infection left him almost debilitated with arthritic pain. He is a very active farmer in his 80’s. As with most pastors in Jamaica, their pastoring duty will have its reward in the next life, but little in this one. Most get no income from their churches and must have another job to sustain their families.

Please note - we will closely track the disease on the island. Most of our mission teams travel in the dry season and there are fewer mosquitoes. So, acquiring mosquito borne viral illness would be less likely. Hopefully, by the time we approach Spring, the disease will have run its course on the island. For now, we are waiting and considering a trip with two of us soon. In the meantime, we will monitor the disease.

Seminary in a Cane Field

Courtney is a rarity in Jamaica. He is a really neat guy about 30 years old. He had little formal education, but is very intelligent and creative. He even built a motorbike from old parts, plastic bottles, a plastic chair, and even used Vise-Grips as a kick starter lever. The things unique about him? Well, he is married, he goes to church, and he is called to preach.

We first met Courtney when we decided to build a church building for a new plant church in the middle of a cane field community called Wheelerfield. Courtney, his wife, and his two children came to help us with the construction. When we went back to visit the church, he would occasionally speak at the church. He wanted to be an evangelist. On several occasions, we would go out with him to show some Christian movies and then he would preach. Later, after the death of a minister at a church in a neighboring community, he was called to come preach at that church. Since then, that church denomination has ordained him.

Courtney told me that in 2007, he was in a serious accident. In the hospital, he was in a lot of pain and was about to lose the leg. He prayed to God and accepted Christ. He then taught himself to read by reading the Bible. He was so on fire for God, that he started evangelizing in the hospital. He is a great example of what God can do and an example to Jamaican men.

Immediately, the question came to us – how can we work with Courtney to help grow the Kingdom? Get him a better Bible, some study aids, help get our movie system into his hands, help him and his family financially so he can do more Kingdom work?

Well, I had heard of this program from Birmingham Theological Seminary (BTS) in conjunction with Third Millennium Ministries whereby one can gain a free Certificate in Christian Ministry online. All the video lectures and readings are all online and free. But, Courtney does not have Internet service. We took an iPhone 5 with data plan to his home – no signal. We took a cellular broadband modem that works great in Jamaica, but his remote area has no service. So, what to do?

After meeting with the President of BTS, he gave us the entire course of study on a USB thumb drive. Courtney has no computer or device to accept it. So, on our next trip, we are taking him a used iPad 3, a cordless WiFi router with USB port, and all the seminary data on the USB thumb drive.

So, Courtney will be able to undertake some seminary training in the cane field where he lives. Our main concerns are his ability to read (which is not great) and his time to study.

So, please be in prayer about Courtney, his spiritual growth, and how we can help him become even more effective spreading the Gospel.

Mystery Fruit
The tree is Myristica fragrans – better known as the nutmeg tree. From it, we get not only the spice known as nutmeg, but we also get the spice known as mace. Both come from the seed portion.

The red veins on the outer surface of the seed is the source of mace. As you dry the seed, the mace becomes more brown. If you shake the seed, you feel and hear something large inside. That is the main meat of the seed and is where you find the nutmeg spice.

Stories of Recent Projects

We’ve had some great stories over the last 18months. The story to the right about the feeding program is just a part of our 6-year involvement with the Special Needs Program at Lysson’s Primary School. What began as a simple project to purchase supplies and technology turned into a partnership involving much more. In 2010, we performed major repairs on the facility, and this year we were able to help start the soup kitchen and make a way for a young lady to begin studying at the school.

It seems that God has us seeing more and more of “the least of these.” In the summer of 2012, a college student working with us discovered a child with tremendous needs (see story to follow). We also met Mr. Lynch, a victim
of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction, whose story is also highlighted in this newsletter. In God’s wondrous ways, earlier this year these two individuals’ lives became entwined, and both received a blessing!

The Christmas meal and celebration we sponsor every year was a big success. Many poor children, elderly, and nursing home patients were blessed.

This summer, we funded a two week Vacation Bible School for up to 98 children and youth. Not only did they have crafts, songs, stories, and movies, but lunch was also provided for the kids all ten days of the program.

What does this year hold? God brought another special child into our path with great needs, and we are also seeing some serious problems in
community schools that need our attention. But we are always confident! Jehovah-Jireh (God will provide).

Feeding Program begins at Special Needs School

Choices – we have them every day, but ours are usually much simpler. Imagine that you have 4 children, one of which has special needs. And you are incredibly poor. You have only enough money to buy food for your family or to pay for the transportation, uniform, and supplies necessary for sending some, but not all, of your children to school. What do you do? Do you put what little you have toward filling their empty stomachs now or toward filling their minds so that they might have a chance of not knowing hunger in their future? And if you do decide to send some to school, whom do you choose? The special child will never excel, will never be productive, and will likely reach the end of her schooling by age 12. But is she any less important, of any less worth than your other three?

These are difficult choices, but some that must be made by many living in Jamaica. Economic times are very bad there. As a result, many parents are forced to decide between breakfast and lunch money for their children or transportation to and from school.

Ms. Pauline Nunes is the loving director of the 4 class, 60 student unit of the Special Education Program at Lysson’s Primary School. At the end of last school year, the standardized test results revealed the worst scores they have ever had. Believing that the children’s poor performance was most likely due to the fact that many of them were coming to school hungry, Ms. Nunes asked if Isaiahsixeight would help feed breakfast twice per week to the 60 students currently under her care and 15 others she felt were in need.

For us, this was not a difficult choice to make. Before buying the food, we had to purchase a new propane stove, dishes, spoons, storage containers, and cooking utensils. Ms. Claudette Fitzgerald, a good Christian friend of Ms. Nunes, was selected to be the cook. We worked with her to obtain the food, and the program was begun on October 14th! The menu for that day? Cornmeal porridge and cheese sandwiches. As you can tell from the photo, the children were delighted with their meal. Some who were obviously very hungry ate two huge bowls of porridge and two sandwiches!

But the blessing doesn’t stop with the food. Having the gas stove will also make it possible for the teachers to teach some life skills to many of the
children in the program.

Ms. Rita, an elderly victim of a severe stroke, was a lady I always tried to visit when I was in Jamaica. Ms. Rita would sit on her front porch in a rusted out metal chair with a couple of loose boards and foam pads providing little comfort. There she would read her worn Bible held together by tape, rubber bands, and a plastic bag. Occasionally, she would start reciting some of the multi-page Psalms and would then ask me to pray for her. Eventually, we gave her a new large print Bible (KJV, of course), and we had Audrey buy her a new chair.

During our trip of June 2012, I paid my usual visit to Ms. Rita. Only this time, a college student named Bradley Kidd with a heart burning for Jamaica was with me. It was the late afternoon of our last day on the trip. Nothing was unusual, but Bradley walked away from Ms. Rita and disappeared behind the house. Eventually, I went looking for him, and I heard him say, “Doc (my name in Jamaica), come here.” I found Bradley talking to Michelle (pictured to the left). How many times had I been to this house and not known that there was someone living in the back room? But that wasn’t all. We discovered that Michelle had a malnourished baby with hydrocephaly (excess fluid in the brain).Mother and child, Sosheba “Mushie”, lived in an 8’ x 10’ room with a bed, one light bulb, and an outdoor bamboo cooking hut.

To say that Michelle has had a tough time would be an understatement. When she was pregnant with Mushie, an ultrasound detected that Mushie had hydrocephaly and most likely would have brain damage. The baby’s father insisted that Michelle have an abortion and refused to have anything to do
with Michelle and the baby. To make matters worse, Michelle’s mom saw the child as evil and insisted that Michelle put her in a home for severely handicapped children. Michelle refused, and with that lost any support she might have received from her mother. It probably will not surprise you to learn that Michelle is a Christian and is an active member of a respected Pentecostal church in the area.

In their “house”, Mushie and Michelle slept in the same full-sized bed. There were no mosquito nets, no fans, and no rails on the bed. Mushie would cry when mosquitoes bit her. She thrashed about when she was hot. Michelle could not leave her alone, even for a minute, because she would fall off the bed. To make matters worse, Mushie was malnourished, could not chew, and had little muscle tone. If things could get any worse, they did. Ms. Rita’s son had plans to move her into his home and had told Michelle that she and the baby would have to find somewhere else to live. And we were hearing about this with only a few more hours on the island!

We immediately went to meet with Audrey and her daughter Tamaula (our hands and feet when we are not there). I rummaged through our house, got a mosquito net, a blender (Mushie could not chew), some peanut butter, milk, and other food for Audrey to take to Michelle the next morning. I also asked Audrey to buy eggs since Mushie needed protein and made arrangements for protein supplements and pediatric vitamins to be purchased – not expecting the former to be found. And then we left Jamaica.

Three days later, I boarded a plane and headed back down with two blenders, a lot of protein supplements, vitamins, peanut butter, and other foods to deliver to Michelle and her baby. I also took the first toys she’d ever had and a fan to keep her cool. That November, I was able to check on them again, right after Hurricane Sandy made a direct hit on that area.

We were trying to find a place to build a home for this special mother and daughter, but had no luck until January 2013, when we had a mission team from Birmingham-Southern College there. God made a way and not only provided us a location but also a new foundation already in place! In 3 days, we built a house for Michelle and Mushie.

On a visit in May, we learned that Michelle had not only painted the house but that she had also added on a kitchen, dug a toilet, poured a concrete slab over the toilet pit, and planted a garden of tomatoes, peppers, and squash.

We asked Audrey and Tamaula to purchase a baby bed so that the child would not fall out of bed. They were also able to buy a toy mobile for Mushie to have above her bed.

When we were back in Jamaica only a few weeks ago, Mushie had gained a lot of strength and was trying to sit up by herself. She seemed to recognize me and was quick to laugh and smile as I tickled her and bounced her on the bed.

It is obvious that God brought us into the lives of Michelle and Mushie. It is truly a blessing to see how this mom has improved her life so much with just a little help from us. God, however, does not seem to be finished with this story. You see, a few weeks ago we were introduced to a mother and daughter living just a few blocks away from our mission house. Claudine is a 23 year old young lady with a 3 year old daughter named Keysha. Keysha had inadequate oxygen to her brain during birth. Despite medicine, she has several seizures every day and has severe mental retardation.

We had a counseling/encouragement session with Claudine, Keysha, and the baby’s father (pictured right). We gave her a blender, protein powder, peanut butter, and two mosquito nets. We asked Audrey to get a baby bed as well. Most importantly, the next day we took Claudine and Keysha down to meet Michelle and Mushie. Michelle is 15 years older, much more mature, and stronger in her faith. Our hope is that Michelle can be a friend, a mentor, and a counselor and help Claudine grow both in her faith and as a mother of special needs child. Please be in prayer for Claudine. She truly needs it.

School Supplies

I first saw him about 300 yards away. Then he saw us and began running. When Ricardo got close, he had a beaming wide smile and he came to hug me. He was dressed in a new clean well pressed khaki uniform, new black shoes, and he had a new navy backpack. Ricardo was on his way from primary school to his home. We have known Ricardo from birth, having helped him and many others in the shanty town known as Seaside. Ricardo just entered the first grade in September. He is one of the 25 children we helped clothe for school this year. In addition to providing money for the khakis, blouses, and girl’s dresses, we had carried in many suitcases of shoes and school supplies.

He did not need to thank us, the smile and the hug were enough.

A tapestry! That is what God seems to be making with this mission. A few months before Isaiahsixeight was formed, we met Ms. Nunes and her Special Education Unit.  At first, the partnership meant us simply donating teaching supplies, Barbie computers, and other technology, but we gradually got more involved and performed major repairs on the roof, ceiling, electrical wiring, plumbing, and painting inside the classrooms.

Sometime later, we got to see Tyeisha, a special needs child who lives near our mission house, get transferred into the unit. The last time we saw Tyeisha, she could not stop hugging us, and we are told that she still looks for us and asks for us almost daily.

The young girl in the lower right hand corner of the photo above is another thread in the tapestry. We do not know her, but God does. Her mother refused to send her to a Special Education School at first, but then she was expelled from her regular education primary school. Her mother went to the Special Education School to see if there was a possibility of her enrolling her daughter there, but the principal said that there was no room. Audrey, our Jamaican associate, called the principal, who then discussed it with another principal. They recalled that Audrey worked with Isaiahsixeight, and because of what we had done for the school, they decided to accept this child into the Special needs Unit. But for that, this child would not be in school!

Other threads? Well, there is Michelle’s daughter Sosheba “Mushie”, who was highlighted in another story. She has made great strides since God first put her in our path, but we can only hope that one day she will be capable of entering the Special Needs Unit. And most recently, there is little Keysha, the 3-year old with cerebral palsy. What could be more difficult than having a child with special needs? Having a child with special needs in a third world country. Truly these are the least of “the least of these.”  Please pray for them and for us as we try to minister to them.

Periodically, over the years, we have led Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) in several communities. A few years ago, when we had no teams coming during Jamaica’s summer school vacation (July and August), we gave our associate, Audrey, access to our store of crafts and VBS materials as well as our video and video systems. Then we were asked to also fund snacks and food. This year, our team there in June encouraged them to do it again and helped them develop a program. Then in July, Audrey and many young women in the area led a VBS. They had up to 98 children, many from the poor shanty village nearby. Someone previously had donated Scooby Doo t-shirts that we had taken down, so they did tie-dye, a craft taught by one of our previous teams. As usual, we were asked to fund the food. Much to our surprise, since many of these children are extremely poor, they decided to serve a hot lunch everyday. Also, the children were having such a great time, that they asked to continue it, so it went on for two weeks (10 days) with hot lunches and even ice cream cones one day. Total cost? Only $300 US. So, that is about $0.30 per child per day. As they say in Jamaica: “Not too bad.”