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. Mushie 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. Mr. Lynch
Special Needs School 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. Vacation Bible School 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.”
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Happy To Be Heartbroken?
Yes, my heart is really aching! I just came back from Jamaica visiting the poor and making plans for future work there. What I saw was truly disturbing - profound poverty, despair, unemployment, hunger, homelessness, abandonment, etc. Yes, there was the sin, but there was also hope - not much in this world or this life, but in the one to come from the One to come. So, how can I be happy? Through years of work in Jamaica with these kinds of problems God has shown me how when we do unto the least of these, we are doing it unto Him (Matt 25:40). It brings me incredible joy and happiness to do things for Jesus, but neither the Isaiahsixeight mission nor I can do it alone and without support. The blessings are truly amazing! Wouldn't you also like to be a part of these blessings and to know more? Has Isaiahsixeight been on vacation? Well, it might appear that way, but very far from the truth. A little over a year ago, Alabama suffered devastating losses from tornadoes. God called some of the leadership of Isaiahsixeight into the rebuilding effort and we built 3 homes with the cooperation of many churches, mission teams and very dedicated Christians. In July of last year, we had one team member to go to Jamaica, then in November of 2011, we took a small team down, all of whom had been involved in tornado home rebuilding, and we built a church in the Wheelerfield community in Jamaica. The tornado destroyed homes we built were completed in January 2012 and in that same month, some of us returned to Jamaica. We knew that the focus of most of our churches and members was on the local devastation and for a short time, Jamaica would have to take a back seat. We learned a lot in building these houses, not the least of which is how God can make things happen if we are faithful. With renewed energy, renewed faith, and the knowledge that God is in control, we are taking some ambitious steps to enlarge His mission in Jamaica. What does Isaiahsixeight do? That is a question I am often asked. Then, I am confronted on how to best answer that question. Usually my response is whatever God shows us to do. In our society, we are known best by our occupation. I believe God knows us differently - by our faith in Jesus Christ and what that faith motivates us to do. And what did Jesus tell us to do? Spread the Gospel, love God, love one another, feed his sheep, minister to the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the prisoner, and the dying. I know that this is an obtuse answer, but let me tell you a (long) story about how so much of what we do is related: Our main Jamaican taxi driver for approximately 7 years has been on our heart a long time. We have shared the Gospel with him and he has witnessed our work first hand. We are closer to him than anyone in Jamaica. Even though, he supposedly accepted Christ about 4 years ago, we have seen only a little evidence that he is truly a Christian. Of course, that is probably true of many of us. We had also hoped he would take our movie system and move about the area showing Christian movies. We have pretty much concluded that our frequent visits will not change him. The only One who can change him is the Holy Spirit and a Jamaican that would be a role model would help. So, we just pray and wait on that. Then, about 5 years ago, we heard about a Basic School (similar to daycare/kindergarten) in the back of a church in Stokes Hall had been badly damaged by Hurricane Dean and was in terrible shape. We go visit it and agree. We pledge to come back to build a new one. We build it. Then a year or so later, we come back to do major structural repairs on the church including a roof. We become very close to that community. Then, I see a malnourished child who is in the Basic School. To combat the malnourishment, I start investigating the feeding programs of the basic schools and the government involvement. This leads me to visit several basic schools, then to contact the national governmental officials in charge of the feeding programs. There, I learn that the teacher was at fault as to why this basic school does not participate and will not in the foreseeable future. All of this lead me to talk to the board chairman of the basic school. At that point, she tells me she is pastoring a small church in Wheelerfield and they need a church building. We had already decided that building a church was not in our plans, but to be nice, I agreed to go visit the area and see what she wanted. We had a lady team member there and I asked her to go with me, even though, to this day I do not know why, but God told me I should take her. Well, who greeted us there, but 4 young children. While they did not say much to me, they approached the pastor and the lady team member for food because they were hungry. As we are walking across the field to look at a possible church site, I am telling myself that we are not going to build this church. Hunger is the main problem and not lack of a building. But, then I am told that this was a church plant from the Stokes Hall church and they started it for the children of the area. So, this was a mission church to help the hungry children. God knew that would break my cold heart. So, with the consent of our leadership, we built the church in November of 2011. This building project was probably our largest ever and we had a small team of 5-6 Americans and we actually helped another team on another project for the first 2 days of that week. So, we needed a lot of Jamaican help and we got some of the best help we have had and the most community support. One Jamaican man, Courtney, in his early thirties was most impressive. He was a hard worker, ingenious, poor, had 4 children, a wife, and was an active member of the church. Just last week, we went to the church and they have done a lot of work there since we left. We saw Courtney again. On Saturday night, we went up into the mountains past Courtney's home to play bingo and show a Christian movie in the community of Johnson Mountain where we have built a basic school which is the center of a renewed spirit in the community. The bingo was a fundraiser for a community farming project to provide jobs for 17-27 year olds. This was lead by a very nice Rastafarian. We picked Courtney up on our way up the mountain. He was amazed at the movie and is now on fire to show it to his congregation and others. We also gave him Bible study materials and he wants to get our taxi driver to go with him as a team to share the Gospel message via a movie ministry. So, God had it all figured out, we were just a little slow. So, building a school which lead to a church restoration which lead to a relationship to a community which led us to see malnutrition in that community which lead us to talk to the school board chairman who happened to be the pastor of the mission church. Traveling with the mission pastor, we again saw hungry children which caused us to build the church where we met Courtney. We go to Johnson Mountain at the request of the leading citizen - a Rastafarian who wants us to help with their farming project as well as show a Christian movie. We take Courtney with us. Courtney is amazed at the movie and now wants to team up with our taxi driver (remember this started with him). Also, the taxi driver really admires Courtney and I pray this will ignite him. So, what do we do in Jamaica? Pretty much anything that God shows us. As with the stories of Jesus, you cannot separate the faith stories, the Gospel, or the mercy ministries. It is all a part of building the Kingdom. Incidentally, the church I did not want us to build has about doubled since November, has had four Baptisms, has two more scheduled and Chef, a good friend of Courtney's who has 8 children, was baptized and will soon marry the mother of his children. As you can see, this all was the work of God and is to His Glory and is an example of what we do in Jamaica. I'm a Thief for Christ! For years, we have been visiting an elderly stroke victim named Ms. Rita. She is a delightful person. Our helper there in the community, Audrey Lindsey, has been delivering soup to Ms. Rita monthly for many years as well. We almost did major repairs on Ms. Rita's home, when much to our surprise, a son did the work. He, however, did not paint the house. So, Bradley, a 21 year old college student with a heart for Jamaica and I, started looking around the house. I was photographing it for documentation for the amount of paint and work. Bradley disappeared around back. There, I found him in deep conversation with a Jamaica woman. Bradley told me that the woman had a special needs child with hydrocephalus (water in the brain). I peer around the door and met the mother, Michelle and her 3 year old girl, Sosheba. Michelle is renting a room from Ms. Rita, for $12 per month. This room is about 8 feet square, contains a full size bed and little else. There is less than 2 feet of space at the end and one side of the bed. Sosheba is lying on the bed, in a Pampers, thrashing about. Occasionally, she will giggle and smile. She is obviously malnourished, her head too big for her body, and her limbs too frail to support her. Michelle, tells for her love of the child, that she could never put her in a home for the handicap, that no one will babysit for her, and that she cannot leave her alone. Someone has given her a stroller and a medical mission team had left some children's books, but nothing else. The child sleeps in the bed with the mom, there is nothing to keep her from falling out of the bed, there are no toys, and the child stares at a dark tin roof and old dark unpainted walls. The is one light bulb in the corner attached to a small extension cord. To make it worse, Michelle tells of her need for Pampers, her need for food for the child, and the fact that the child cannot chew and must have all her food mashed up and how difficult that can be. Of course, we see all this on late Saturday afternoon and we are leaving the island the next morning, so what to do. Audrey was also devastated that she had been to that house so many times and did not know the child was there. I immediately asked her to buy a playpen for the child (which will have to be used outdoors because of lack of space), buy eggs, meat, nuts, cheese, and beans to help meet the protein needs of the child, buy some rattles she can grasp, possibly a mobile and help in other ways as well. Then, without permission and without regret, I stole! I stole a blender belonging to the Langer's, missionaries to Jamaica, and asked Audrey to give it to Michelle. Getting protein to this child is a problem on many fronts - money, blending or mashing the food, and they have no refrigeration and even if we bought a refrigerator, they could not afford the power to run it. Michelle and Sosheba need more room as well. I think they just made it to the top of our list to for us to build them a home. Michelle is a Christian and a member of a Pentecostal Church. She reads her Bible regularly and reads it to a gentle Rastafarian man who helps her with the child. She certainly has faith and the hope that Christ gives us, but as Christians we need to help her and her child. I am contemplating returning to Jamaica soon - with toys, protein powder, and to help Michelle which would include trying to improve her housing situation. He was blind, lame, and lost, but now he is found! A few minutes after finding the lady with the special needs child, we met a great Christian man helping a elderly lady with amputated leg who we had already visited. He was telling about a man who had recently lost his leg to diabetes who formerly lived in the area. He had heard he had moved to the Seaside community and was in a terrible living situation. So, off we go to visit this man. We find him. He is elderly and living with his elderly sister in a two room house, where one of the rooms was uninhabitable. We entered. The room was dark with most of the light coming from the cracks and breaks in the floor. The source of the light was also the only source of ventilation. He was living in a house with a tin roof and plywood walls, but there was only a door - no windows whatsoever. There was also no electricity. My immediate concern was for light, but when I learned that not only did he have but one leg, but that he was blind, my concern about light was not an issue. We originally thought the main problem would be the stability of the floor, but we soon recognized that ventilation and nutrition where the main problems. We thought putting in windows would be a great project for a team from Birmingham-Southern College expected in January, because we were leaving the island the next day. Then we put ourselves in his shoes and realized this needed to be finished soon since it is summer. So, we have made arrangements to pay a Jamaican carpenter to take care of the windows. In talking to Audrey about this man, for years, he had been a recipient of the soup from their soup kitchen for shut-ins, but he moved and was lost to them. Now he is found and God can now bless him with windows and soup. Feeding 3 generations. Sometimes, God has to hit us over the head twice. Early in our recent trip, we were walking through the Seaside shanty community. My good friend and fellow Jamaican missionary Terry Fry told me as we passed this pink house that the woman there on the front porch just really seemed desperate. She frequently asks us for help, but I usually shun her because of the coarse almost demanding way she asks. The next week, we were again in the community, but Terry had left the island several days earlier. I recalled what Terry had said and as I walked by, she asked me for some money. We normally do not give money out (see comment below), but I went to talk to her. Her daughter and the daughter's two little boys (one still nursing) live with her. She was cutting cabbage for the evening meal and that is all she had. She wanted me to help them buy some rice and oil to add to the cabbage. I gave her the equivalent of about $2 US and she did indeed buy the rice and oil. Later, I wondered, how many other times had she asked and how hungry were they? God taught me, I need to look beyond the words and manner in which they are spoken and look at the need. Comment - While we almost never give out money, I saw so many desperate hungry people who I know, that I could not follow my own rule. One of the most honest hardworking Jamaicans I know, for the first time in the ten years I have known him asked for some money. Since he is a long time friend, I could not say "no". I also gave money to several elderly women and men. What does a Rastafarian, marijuana, and our mission have in common? God must have a sense of humor! Several years ago, we go to the community of Johnson Mountain. It is an agricultural community on the side of this large mountain. Before we go up there, we hear two things: first, they have a terrible basic school that needs to be replaced and secondly, the area is known as one of the major marijuana growing areas. We go, see the tremendous need and like the people we meet. One is the community leader, a very tall, kind, well spoken Rastafarian. We took a great team from Birmingham up there in January 2011 and built them a school. Approximately two months later, we visit them, find that the enrollment is up about 50% and everyone tells us the school is the new central point of pride in the community. On trip two weeks ago, we go up there to visit and check on them and we hear they are working with an agricultural development arm of the European Union and are planning to do a cooperative farming project to raise and process ginger. However, they need some money to pay for a bulldozer to cut the road. The European Union is doing this project to try to make jobs for 17-27 year olds. We are all for jobs and opportunities, so we talk more about it. I asked the Rastafarian leader, with the red eyes of marijuana usage, if we could come up the next weekend and show a Christian movie to the community and we could also play bingo (I have an iPad app that automates and projects the bingo calling). He loved the idea and suggested we charge for the bingo and use the proceeds of the farming project. Well, on Saturday night, we go there. We show a Veggie Tales movie for the children and 4 Three Stooges shorts. Then when we have a crowd and ready to play bingo, the Rastafarian asks me to open the proceedings with prayer. Now, Rastafarians believe in a god and they think it is our God, but they have their own "messiah". So, I made sure my prayer invoked the name of Jesus Christ. We played 5 games of bingo and the Jamaicans really enjoyed it. Many then left, but quite a few stayed including the Rastafarian as we watch "The Hope" video, an outstanding presentation of the Gospel. Incidentally, I am participating in a study about how to start spiritual conversations naturally. Was this natural or supernatural? God certainly had me scratching my bald head! Isaiahsixeight hires its first employee! We have been working in Jamaica since the early 1990's, and Isaiahsixeight came into existence in 2007. Everything has been done by volunteers except for the occasional casual Jamaican laborer or a short contract job. Most of our work in Jamaica that is done when we have not been there has been done by Audrey Lindsay, but Audrey is a fulltime basic school teacher, a lay minister, steward of the church, runs a Seaside children's ministry and is busy in many other church and community causes. So, while she is very dedicated to our mission and our causes, she has no time for additional activities. We knew that starting a child sponsorship program would take a lot of work on the Jamaican end and someone to do it, so we went to Jamaica on this last trip with the main purpose of finding that person. We had some preconceived ideas about who that person might be, but almost immediately, God showed us that those people would not be our employee. I was sharing our plight with Mrs. Jacobs, the proprietor of the local hardware store when she told me about her daughter, Freddi. Later that week, Mrs. Jacobs met with Audrey and us. Then a few nights later, she brings her two delightful daughters - Freddi and Sandi. Freddi is an intelligent 26 y/o lady who graduated college studying pharmacology, then got something akin to a masters degree in epidemiology. She wants to enter medical school and become a pediatrician. She is a Christian, technologically savvy, is well spoken, energetic and self motivated. God sent us what we could not imagine; however, Freddi can only promise us 10 weeks of work until school starts. Freddi is already cataloging the children, meeting the teachers, chronicling the needs, preparing Bible studies and summer programs for the children in Seaside, working to help us find jobs for some of the brighter older children in Seaside, reading books I recommended, installing apps and learning software that we will need to communicate, track expenses, and track the children. All I can say is "Thank You God!" and "Welcome Aboard Freddi!" What can you do? I believe as you can see from these stories that God is moving in many areas of our mission. We have had no fundraisers in over a year. The tornadoes, the economy, and probably my failure to tell the story have all hurt our contributions. Also, we have taken fewer teams to Jamaica in part due to donor and volunteer fatigue (including my own) related to the tornadoes. So, what are our needs? ● A small construction team to build a home for the mother and her special needs child ● Money to help feed and support the special needs child ● Money and a small team to build a playground at Johnson Mountain ● A team of child educators to gather materials for schools, communicate to the schools, and to consider going there to help train the teachers ● Money to help pay for a bulldozer to cut a farm road in Johnson Mountain ● A team to build church pews for our new church in Wheelerfield ● Money and a team to replace plywood on homes in Seaside ● Money to pay for making the windows in the blind man's home ● Money to help us feed the poor ● Sponsors for the child sponsorship program to begin in a few months ● Creative writers to replace my feeble attempts to tell the story ● Creative people to redesign and update our web site ● Creative people to maintain a FaceBook presence. ● Prayers, prayers, and more prayers for guidance, wisdom, and appropriate responses to the needs before us. We pray that you are touched by these stories and will come alone side us to help this mission. To God be the Glory! Donnie Cantley Our plans for a mission team trip in the summer were canceled because of the travel concerns with the unrest in Kingston related to the drug gangster. On that trip, we had hoped to demolish and rebuild a larger basic school in Johnson Mountain, a remote community in the mountains of eastern Jamaica.
The last week of July, after the unrest had subsided, three members of our leadership team traveled there to check on some of the missions we sponsor and to look for other places to serve. On this trip, we carried five suitcases filled mostly with children's shoes and a few clothes. There were in excess of 200 pairs of shoes. Some of this was made possible by a shoe drive conducted by a little boy in our church who asked for shoes for Jamaica in lieu of birthday presents. Another child did the same thing, but asked for donations instead of gifts. We took some of his money and purchased kites which we took to Seaside for the children there. We again traveled to Johnson Mountain to survey that project and to make more plans (details later). Also, we continued our work with the elderly who have recently become more of a concern for us. We have helped serve them for years through our Christmas giving. We have repaired homes for some, visited some, and fed them. A few years ago, with the help of another mission team, we helped a private nursing home in Port Morant. On a recent trip, we went to visit a blind lady we had helped previously who now resides in the Infirmary, an indigent nursing facility in Morant Bay. We were in for quite a shock at the Infirmary. It was extremely crowded, they had insufficient laundry equipment, the insect problem was severe, there were no operating fans, and less that one quarter of the residents even had a pillow on their bed. There was no privacy, not even curtains. The good news was that an organization that retains the profits from the Jamaican lottery had used some of its income to begin building a new building that should house about one third of the residents. With insufficient laundry equipment, there were piles of soiled laundry attracting many flies. Many residents were having to do their own laundry by hand in sinks. Seeing the conditions there, we knew we had to help even though we try to be cautious about getting involved with a government entity. However, we saw suffering and decided to get involved. While we were there, we purchased a commercial washing machine for the facility. We have also purchased 100 pillows for the residents. We are making plans to do more for the residents around the holidays, possibly make gift bags with soap, wash cloths, hygiene products, some snack food, etc. We are also trying to help a few of the elderly who are living independently, but in very bad situations. This is a little more difficult because in many cases, helping the people would require a move and many of these people would rather stay put even if moving would make their lives more comfortable. Also, their homes are in terrible shape, but we cannot improve the homes because they are rented properties. Upcoming Team Trips: January 15-22, 2011 We are planning a mission team trip for January 15-22, 2011. The main building project will be the demolition and construction of Johnson Mountain Basic School. We believe this will be a 3.5 day project. There is a chance that much of the team will stay in a very nice home in Johnson Mountain. This will save over an hour commute each way. This will also allow some bonding with that community. We may show movies at night there and try to do other ministry there as well. We expect there will be some of us at the mission house in Port Morant. We may have to organize the food, liquids, and materials for the work team. If we have enough people, we hope to have another team (not involved with the construction) that will be interacting more with the local community in Port Morant and surrounding area. We may put together gift bags and distribute those to the people in the nursing home as well as the poor, the sick and the elderly in the community. We may also be able to do some work in the Special Needs School and with the Basic Schools. Of course, we will also be working with the poor children in the Seaside area. Youth Mission Trip March 12-19, 2011 This is the time for Spring Break for many colleges and high schools in Alabama. We have some young college people (one who has been to Jamaica with us before) who would love to go and help lead a high school youth group. We are still working on the plans for this. Of course, the Jamaican youth will still be in school, so there will be no daily Vacation Bible School, but we could consider doing one in the afternoons and evenings or even work within the schools. The teachers in the Special Needs School would welcome any help. Also, we would probably be allowed to work in the public elementary schools and the basic schools. There is a lot of work that can be done with the elderly during the mornings as well. We can also have programs at night in the various communities. God is still showing us areas of service and need. We have recent knowledge of some areas where God is working there. We hope to join and help expand His work there. So, please be in prayer for Jamaica, its people, and that God will use us for His purposes there. If you are interested in one of our trips or supporting our missions in other ways, please contact me: Donnie Cantley |
AuthorDonnie Cantley. By the Grace of God, I have been allowed to lead this mission since 1996. Archives
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