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
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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:
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. The Least of These - by Mitchell Morris |
All Across the Western World sung by Caedmon’s Call All across the western world second hand, second skin the rain comes through where the roof is thin all across the western world All across the ocean wide with brothers, neighbors at our door our banks are full but our souls are poor all across the western world (chorus) So melt your wings like wax to fire let yourself fall out of time from ashes we rise The broken down are on the mend blessed are those who have no voice you’re only free when you have no choice all across the western world (chorus) All across the open sky in my career of broken wings redemptive ends from tragic means all across the western world (chorus) | Explanation: The song above is one of my favorites. I usually listen to it on the flights to and from Jamaica and have also used it in at least one of our Isaiahsixeight videos. Probably for most Caedmon’s Call fans, it is just another song telling the woes of the world’s poor – second hand stuff, second class skin, broken houses, and broken lives. For me, it is the song of Mr. Lynch. During many of our trips to Jamaica, we heard of Mr. Lynch. He was a frequent visitor to one of the soup kitchens we support, and people told of how hard working he was, how everyone loved him, and how he would donate charcoal to the soup kitchen. So we decided to pay him a visit. Words cannot adequately describe and pictures cannot fully capture what we found. Mr. Lynch had been employed by the Firestone Tire Factory until its closing in the early 90s, and was then hit by a car while on a motorcycle and left unable to work a regular job. Since that time, Mr. Lynch has scraped out a living by painting signs for businesses and “burning coal,” which is making charcoal to sell. You can see him displaying his sign work and bags of charcoal in the first photo above. You can also see that his house was beyond repair. His bed was a log (lower right photo above), the little gray pad his cushion, and the newspapers his covers. To make matters more urgent, he was squatting on the land and had been ordered off. It is rare that Isaiahsixeight will help a man with housing. Most of them are able to eke out a living and many have abandoned the women who bore their children. We try to focus our efforts on helping the helpless, so therefore end up offering most of our assistance to women with children. But Mr. Lynch was going to be an exception to our rule. We promised Mr. Lynch that we would help him build a little house during one of our future trips if he could find land. Then Hurricane Sandy hit, leaving his house falling and most of the roof gone. Having nowhere else to go, Mr. Lynch propped his house up with a stick, threw on a tarp, and continued living in his home (see photo above). Mr. Lynch was still holding out hope that a parcel of land would come available when we returned to Jamaica in January of this year to build a home for Michelle and Mushie. Mr. Lynch joined us in our labor, and in June, God decided it was his turn. He obtained permission to build on some land of his relatives, we set some poles in the ground, and the following month a youth group from Riverchase United Methodist came and built him a house. In addition to his new home, he got a bed frame, a full-size mattress, and family member neighbors who now help feed him. Still, Mr. Lynch wants to work. His friends and his charcoal business are about 6 miles away near his old home. He has a bad knee and no transportation, which means that he was forced to walk…at least until a few weeks ago. This October we were able to purchase a new 10 speed bicycle for Mr. Lynch. And he says that he has been reading the Bible that we gave him, because he can see how God has blessed his life! |
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.
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.”
It has been a while since we have written a newsletter. Not because we have had nothing to write, quite the contrary. We have been so busy in Jamaica that we have had little time to write. God has been showing us a lot of need, and we pray that you will help us meet those needs. We have spent little time on fundraising recently; however, we must change this because we are doing more, working in more areas, and making a larger impact. Please read below about what we are doing and if you cannot join one of our teams, please pray for us and consider helping us financially.We now have a Jamaican subsidiary corporation. IS68 Jamaica, Ltd. is incorporated as a nonprofit charitable corporation in Jamaica. This will allow us to act as a business in Jamaica - to enter into contracts, leases, purchase agreements, etc. We have also filed for a tax-exempt status as well and that is pending. This would be a huge help since we pay 17.5% General Consumption Tax on things we purchase in Jamaica. Please pray for this status.
Isaiahsixeight is becoming better known in the area. In February, a mission team from Missouri led by Bobbie and Hank Langer, former long-term missionaries to Jamaica, used our rented house there in Jamaica. Technically they are not a part of Isaiahsixeight. However, as they traveled around to many communities, people introduced them as Isaiahsixeight. They were so pleased to find that Isaiahsixeight had such a good name in the area, so they did not correct the Jamaicans. We now welcome the Missouri team as the Missouri branch of Isaiahsixeight.
Since our last newsletter, we have made 4 trips to Jamaica. Rather than talk about the trips, we will highlight the ministries we are conducting:
Christmas programs
This was our largest and best Christmas program ever. We want to thank everyone for such generous support. 254 people were served as follows:
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Schools
Buildings:
Since our last newsletter, we can report that we have two new basic school buildings in operation. The first was in Spring Bank. This project was difficult because we could not count on community support.
Then there is Johnson Mountain, another mountain community.We had planned to build a basic school there last summer, but because of the social unrest in Jamaica, we had to cancel that trip. It was, however, the main target of our mission team in January of this year. This was a wonderful project in almost every respect. It was greatly needed, it was in a poor rural area, the teacher had been praying and asking for help for years, the community came out to support us and the we were much appreciated.
A look at the photos of the school can give you some appreciation of the situation. While the condition of the old school was not the worst we have encountered, it was quite bad. It was built with scrap wood and tin. It was dark inside; and the desks were probably over 50 years old. Many were rotten. The chairs were broken. The adjacent toilet building was built with sticks instead of cut lumber. The hinges on the doors were pieces of old car tires.
Our team poured concrete footings for an extension of the school, demolished the old school, added a small porch, steps and rails, built a new toilet building, and built a new bus stop for children waiting for buses and taxis. In addition, through an arrangement with another mission organization operating in Jamaica, we were able to buy children's chairs and get some legs for tables. The Missouri team provided labor to build new tables for the classroom. We also donated them some educational electronic games, books, balls, chalk, etc.
One of our mission leaders who was not there for the building project, but who had visited both Spring Bank and Johnson Mountain on previous trips and was amazed at the change in the teachers. When we had met them on previous occasions, they seemed depressed and without much joy. After moving into their new schools, they were radiant, joyful and smiling all the time. The Johnson Mountain School only had 22 students in January, but had grown to 29 by March.
In March, we visited Market Road Basic School - probably the closest one to our rented house. We had heard many years ago that they were having difficulty due to a church - school dispute as well as some politics associated with the school. We were advised to steer clear of it until things had sorted out. Well, that time finally came. We were asked to visit because they needed as piece of plywood and could not afford to buy one. On our visit, we found a very depressing place. They had occupied a non-completed addition on the back of a church. Some materials had been donated and a few of the parents had done some work there. They needed a door to separate their bathrooms from their classroom. Also, they had pieces of tin over the window openings and had flexed the tin up to allow for ventilation. However, one opening was larger than a piece of tin, so they had rain coming in. In March, we went there and built a partition and door to separate the bathroom from the classroom and solved the rain problem as well. As depressing as that may seem, it gets worse. The school's lease on this space ran out in August 2010. They have no place to go, no property, and certainly no money. We are praying that God will show us a solution for these 32 children.School support:
We continue to take educational materials to the area. Audrey, our Jamaican liaison, works in a basic school and is part of a cluster of at least 8 other basic schools. She also has a relationship with the teacher at the Special Needs School. Every time we take supplies there, she distributes them among these schools. For years, we have seen great needs in these schools - financial, building, resources, materials, teacher training, etc. In the past our mission teams have been mostly composed of men - none of whom are trained in education of children. We knew how to build schools, but other than bringing them a few supplies, we did little to help with the education of these children. We have been praying for and trying to recruit people who have teaching skills, a heart for children, and the ability to help in these areas. We think someone who traveled with us in January can help supply these needs and is eager to get very involved. Please be in prayer that this person will continue to be used by God for these children in Jamaica.
Nutritional support:
Several years ago we had a photo of a little boy who appeared to have protein malnutrition. We started to investigate further and found that many children go to school hungry and may only have water or a Kool-Aid like drink with a very small bag of cheese curls for lunch. As we began to investigate this, we learned of a government program back by USAID and the World Food Bank that for a very small amount of money has provided some nutritious foods to the children in schools. After research, we contacted those government agencies in Jamaica. On a recent trip, we met with several of the sponsoring boards of these basic schools. Then we went back to the government only to find that because of funding problems in Jamaica, that they would not allow these basic schools to rejoin the program. So, we do not have an answer for this problem. Please be in prayer that God will show us a way.
Future school projects:
We have recently visited the Winchester community. It has a primary school (grades 1-6) in what is essentially a large one room school building. The school is very old and has some structural problems, but we were very impressed with the staff and the discipline we saw at the school. They asked us to consider helping them build a basic school since there is no basic school in the area. This means that many of the children do not have a preschool option prior to 1st grade.
Adjacent to the primary school is an old abandoned house that once was the principal's house. The roof is rotten, caving in, and is not the home of bats (the flying kind) and old desks. We are contemplating replacing the roof and making minor repairs to make it function as a basic school and a computer lab for the primary school.
As usual, we see one problem and there is another disturbing one as well. The toilets for the primary school are on a hill side and are just large outhouses. The pits beneath them are deep and dark. The seats are made out of plywood and have very large openings. As one could imagine, the very small children are afraid to use them. So, frequently they do not. They will go to the backroom in a corner of the school or in the floor of the outhouse to avoid these deep scary toilets. So, as we renovate the house, we will also try to install modern flush toilets and make it a more modern and less frightening place for the young children.
Visits:
Our last several mission teams have visited the following basic schools: Johnson Mountain, Spring Bank, Stokes Hall, Chapel Hill, and Market Road. We also visited Winchester Primary School and the Lysson's Special Needs School. In some, we had a music team perform and sing with the children. In others we played with the children, helped them with their work, and delivered vitamins, educational electronic games/toy computers, a laptop computer, balls, school supplies, books, etc.
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Churches and Bible Schools
In March, we had a youth team with musicians and a children's pastor. So, we conducted Bible schools for children. This was a little difficult because while it was Spring Break here at home, it was not in Jamaica. So, the children where in schools. So, we conducted them as late afternoon/evening programs. On Monday and Tuesday, we had Bible school from 4 PM until 7 PM in Stokes Hall at the Jamaica Evangelistic Association Church. We had over 100 people there both nights. We had singing, skits, crafts, play time, and a small sandwich and drink for all participants. We repeated this on Thursday and Friday nights at the Port Morant Methodist Church. Also, on Saturday afternoon, we had a version of Bible school with a movie at the Port Morant Methodist Church as well. We had more than 100 children at the Port Morant functions.
Prior to the Bible school on Saturday, the team participated with the Port Morant Methodist soup kitchen to prepare and deliver lunch to some of the sick and the elderly in the area.
While the team was showing the movie on Saturday, a two of us went to visit a church in the Wheelerfield community. Wheelerfield is a very poor area where the predominate employment is manual cutting of sugar cane. A cane cutter usually works in a team of two with one cutting sugar cane and the other stacking it. Because the cane is burned prior to harvesting, it is covered with ashes and soot. They begin cutting about 5 AM in the morning and finish about 4 PM working in full sun with temperatures into the mid 90's. A good pair can cut and stack 10 tons per day, with each one making only $16.35 USD per day. If they are lucky, they may work 3 days per week. Also, gasoline, building materials and most food items are more expensive there than here.
We went to this community because in one of the meetings with a school board member, I was asked by a chairman of the board to visit her church as see if we could help them with a building. It is a long story, but to make it short, we went just to be nice and expecting to politely say we would not build the church. As we talked with the pastor, we learned that she was a nurse at the sugar factory (almost all pastors earn their living doing something other than being a pastor) and was a member of the Stokes Hall branch of the Jamaica Evangelistic Association Church. We have a long track record with that church. This lady started a mission to the children in the Wheelerfield area many years ago, which eventually grew into the largest church in the area, but they have no building and are meeting in a multiuse community center. Well, while we are there, some children came to the pastor and asked if she had brought any food. Then they were walking with our children's minister (from Alabama) and one of the little girls asked her: "Miss, do you have any F. O. O. D. (spelling it out)?"
This visit truly troubled us. Even Audrey, our Jamaican liaison, was concerned that there were some significant hunger issues there. She has pledged to research it further and visit again as well as take some food there. As an organization, we have been trying to get out of the church building business, but this one is serving a very needy community, started as a mission, and it would seem that the pastor has probably been involved in helping feed the children. Will we be building this church? Probably if God will provide the money. So, expect this as a future team building project.
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Nursing Homes
Approximately one year ago, we visited the Morant Bay Infirmary which is the indigent nursing home in the area. As you can imagine with the poverty in the area and a dysfunctional government, this place is really in need. When we first went there, their washing machine was out and they were having to so their laundry by hand in sinks. Even some of the residents were having to wash their own clothes by hand. Flies covered the soiled linen. We purchased a commercial washing machine for the facility. On subsequent trips, we noticed how crowded the facility was. Patients have no privacy and no place to store personal belonging. There only chairs for the residents are on the veranda; in the wards, they only have their beds. The residents have no tables for food and must eat on a plate sitting in their lap. The evening meals are very sparse as well. We were encourage to see that the Chase Foundation (Jamaica's foundation that distributes the income from their national lottery) had decided to build them a large new dormitory with smaller rooms and hopefully more privacy. It was completed last Fall. When examining our photos from a trip last summer, we noticed something missing - pillows. Only about 25% of residents had pillows. So, we had our agents there to purchase pillows, but they were not distributed because they wanted to save them for the new unit (not our plans). So, on our January trip, we had our work team distribute the pillows to the residents.
Of course, we expected to see the new dormitory operational. It was completed in the Fall, however, it was not being used. Even in March, it sat empty. After inquiring the reason, we learned they had no money to install a septic system for the unit. We have our agents there in Jamaica studying this to find out what it would cost to get a septic system installed. We may need to involve ourselves with this. This is typical in Jamaica. There is something also ironic. One day we may see this unit functioning with a large sign on it that states it was built by lottery money. Of course it might be made usable by God's money, but that plaque may be on a septic system and underground.
Our youth team in March visited the nursing home and played music with some of the residents joining us in singing. We had a treat when one blind lady started singing one of their spirituals we did not know. Three other women joined her. It was quite emotional. When we were singing, one of our team members took a necklace they had made in the Bible Schools and placed it around the neck of one of the lady residents. Our Jamaican taxi driver, Devin, got emotional and gave his necklace and another cross necklace to some of the residents. I asked him about where he got the cross necklace. He said, with a tear in his eye, that Brenda from the Missouri mission team had left him a whole box of them to give out when the time was right. He said: "I think the time is right." I told him to drive home and get them and come back. He did and a cross was placed around the neck of every resident at the home. It was truly a special God time!
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Seaside Community
Lastly, we will talk about the Seaside community. It is certainly not last in our hearts but rather an ongoing area of mission for us. For years, we have been building homes in the shanty town near the ocean and we have helped the children there with clothes, shoes, Christmas, and school supplies amongst other things. In the past, we have sent some young ladies from there to church camps in the summer. Some of these ladies have grown up and now are assisting with Bible schools, basic schools, and are working on advanced degrees. There are many children in this area. We have helped several mothers gain skills and materials to provide for their families as well. The children know immediately when we are on the island. Most of them walk past our house every morning on their way to the primary school. On our last trip, we were making lunch for approximately 20 of them each morning. They would start coming to our door at 7:30 AM. We also left a lot of peanut butter and other food so our landlord (Ms. Patsy) can continue to feed them. We also brought clothes and shoes again for them. Of course we always make several trips to Seaside to see the children and play with them. They also were many of the children who attend the Port Morant Methodist Bible school, so we see them a lot.
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Computer Lab in Port Morant
Because of the poverty of the area, computers and the Internet are not readily available. Probably less than 5% of the homes have computers. The high school has a computer lab, but it is about 12 miles away. The only business in the area with a computer is the hardware store. None of the churches have computers, printers, copy machines, or fax machines. If you wanted to use the Internet, a computer, or a printer, you had to go to the library - but it was closed about a year ago. The nearest place to go is in Morant Bay - about 10 miles away, and the cost of a taxi prevents people from getting there. Private transportation is very uncommon in this part of Jamaica. Last summer, we learned that a government agency had made some computers available to a couple of community groups and they were attempting to build a community computer lab. We even visited it last Fall, but it was not complete. We would estimate they have approximately $40-50,000 USD worth of Dell computers, flat screens, desks, chairs, networking equipment, etc. Then as usual in Jamaica, there were unforeseen delays. Among them was a rent they could not afford. The lab just opened in January but is in danger of closing because they are 7 months behind on rent and cannot even pay the current rent. Many board members have abandoned it, etc. A group of very humble sincere board members approached us to see if we could help.
Could we be involved? After listening to the board members, praying about it, and discussing it with our board, we believe the answer has to be "Yes." We have recognized that the poverty is only getting worse. They are falling more and more behind educationally and education is one way out of poverty. The high school students now have to do Internet research but cannot afford to travel to the Internet cafes. The churches need to print flyers, bulletins, notices. The businesses have like needs. There are programs to help the students who did not pass all the subjects in their graduation exams. There are also plans to start programs for children like computer classes. We have made a proposal to the local board controlling this. It will require them to renegotiate their lease, allow us full access to their books and board seats, and let us try to teach them better business skills. We will give them money in the short term, but much of it will be in terms of vouchers for computer use that we can distribute to the very poor and to the churches. In addition, we proposed a diminishing money match to match their fundraising and their revenues from operation.
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On our last mission trip, we had a mature Christian church leader, who after a few days told me she could not believe what all we were involved with, how wide our reach was, and how many people we touched. She was totally amazed. Later in the week, she said we were trying to do too much and that we needed a focus - such as basic schools. Then I asked, "Well what do we give up? Hungry children? Hungry elderly? Those in the nursing home? The special needs school? Building schools and churches? Supplying clothing, shoes, Christmas, etc? Those needing housing? She said "No - you can't give any of it up." That is our dilemma. That is where our mission is. I believe that is where God would have us.
In Matthew 9:35-38 I think we also get the answer: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Please pray that we get the workers and the financial resources that we may show His compassion and help with His harvest.
Isaiahsixeight, Inc. and IS68 Jamaica, Ltd.
Isaiahsixeight is becoming better known in the area. In February, a mission team from Missouri led by Bobbie and Hank Langer, former long-term missionaries to Jamaica, used our rented house there in Jamaica. Technically they are not a part of Isaiahsixeight. However, as they traveled around to many communities, people introduced them as Isaiahsixeight. They were so pleased to find that Isaiahsixeight had such a good name in the area, so they did not correct the Jamaicans. We now welcome the Missouri team as the Missouri branch of Isaiahsixeight.
Since our last newsletter, we have made 4 trips to Jamaica. Rather than talk about the trips, we will highlight the ministries we are conducting:
Christmas programs
This was our largest and best Christmas program ever. We want to thank everyone for such generous support. 254 people were served as follows:
- 180 people were fed a hot meal, cake, and ice cream at the church.
- 150 of the 180 above were children who were given gifts
- the remaining 30 were adults who also received a bag of groceries. The bags contained: 4lb of rice, 4lb of sugar, 4 lb of flour, 2 lb of cornmeal, a can of mackerel, a can of sardines, salt fish, crackers, vegetable oil, cocoa, toilet paper, bath soap, laundry soap, matches, Lasco soy food drink powder, and salt. This is enough food for about two weeks.
- Another 35 who were sick and elderly had a bag of groceries delivered to them also.
- 24 men at the indigent nursing home received gift bags containing underwear, towels, skin lotion, olive oil for skin, soap, soap dish, comb, a washcloth, and oil for their hair.
- 15 women at the indigent nursing home received gift bags containing a house dress, towels, skin lotion, powder, olive oil for skin, soap, soap dish, comb, a washcloth, and oil for their hair.
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Schools
Buildings:
Since our last newsletter, we can report that we have two new basic school buildings in operation. The first was in Spring Bank. This project was difficult because we could not count on community support.
Then there is Johnson Mountain, another mountain community.We had planned to build a basic school there last summer, but because of the social unrest in Jamaica, we had to cancel that trip. It was, however, the main target of our mission team in January of this year. This was a wonderful project in almost every respect. It was greatly needed, it was in a poor rural area, the teacher had been praying and asking for help for years, the community came out to support us and the we were much appreciated.
A look at the photos of the school can give you some appreciation of the situation. While the condition of the old school was not the worst we have encountered, it was quite bad. It was built with scrap wood and tin. It was dark inside; and the desks were probably over 50 years old. Many were rotten. The chairs were broken. The adjacent toilet building was built with sticks instead of cut lumber. The hinges on the doors were pieces of old car tires.
Our team poured concrete footings for an extension of the school, demolished the old school, added a small porch, steps and rails, built a new toilet building, and built a new bus stop for children waiting for buses and taxis. In addition, through an arrangement with another mission organization operating in Jamaica, we were able to buy children's chairs and get some legs for tables. The Missouri team provided labor to build new tables for the classroom. We also donated them some educational electronic games, books, balls, chalk, etc.
One of our mission leaders who was not there for the building project, but who had visited both Spring Bank and Johnson Mountain on previous trips and was amazed at the change in the teachers. When we had met them on previous occasions, they seemed depressed and without much joy. After moving into their new schools, they were radiant, joyful and smiling all the time. The Johnson Mountain School only had 22 students in January, but had grown to 29 by March.
In March, we visited Market Road Basic School - probably the closest one to our rented house. We had heard many years ago that they were having difficulty due to a church - school dispute as well as some politics associated with the school. We were advised to steer clear of it until things had sorted out. Well, that time finally came. We were asked to visit because they needed as piece of plywood and could not afford to buy one. On our visit, we found a very depressing place. They had occupied a non-completed addition on the back of a church. Some materials had been donated and a few of the parents had done some work there. They needed a door to separate their bathrooms from their classroom. Also, they had pieces of tin over the window openings and had flexed the tin up to allow for ventilation. However, one opening was larger than a piece of tin, so they had rain coming in. In March, we went there and built a partition and door to separate the bathroom from the classroom and solved the rain problem as well. As depressing as that may seem, it gets worse. The school's lease on this space ran out in August 2010. They have no place to go, no property, and certainly no money. We are praying that God will show us a solution for these 32 children.School support:
We continue to take educational materials to the area. Audrey, our Jamaican liaison, works in a basic school and is part of a cluster of at least 8 other basic schools. She also has a relationship with the teacher at the Special Needs School. Every time we take supplies there, she distributes them among these schools. For years, we have seen great needs in these schools - financial, building, resources, materials, teacher training, etc. In the past our mission teams have been mostly composed of men - none of whom are trained in education of children. We knew how to build schools, but other than bringing them a few supplies, we did little to help with the education of these children. We have been praying for and trying to recruit people who have teaching skills, a heart for children, and the ability to help in these areas. We think someone who traveled with us in January can help supply these needs and is eager to get very involved. Please be in prayer that this person will continue to be used by God for these children in Jamaica.
Nutritional support:
Several years ago we had a photo of a little boy who appeared to have protein malnutrition. We started to investigate further and found that many children go to school hungry and may only have water or a Kool-Aid like drink with a very small bag of cheese curls for lunch. As we began to investigate this, we learned of a government program back by USAID and the World Food Bank that for a very small amount of money has provided some nutritious foods to the children in schools. After research, we contacted those government agencies in Jamaica. On a recent trip, we met with several of the sponsoring boards of these basic schools. Then we went back to the government only to find that because of funding problems in Jamaica, that they would not allow these basic schools to rejoin the program. So, we do not have an answer for this problem. Please be in prayer that God will show us a way.
Future school projects:
We have recently visited the Winchester community. It has a primary school (grades 1-6) in what is essentially a large one room school building. The school is very old and has some structural problems, but we were very impressed with the staff and the discipline we saw at the school. They asked us to consider helping them build a basic school since there is no basic school in the area. This means that many of the children do not have a preschool option prior to 1st grade.
Adjacent to the primary school is an old abandoned house that once was the principal's house. The roof is rotten, caving in, and is not the home of bats (the flying kind) and old desks. We are contemplating replacing the roof and making minor repairs to make it function as a basic school and a computer lab for the primary school.
As usual, we see one problem and there is another disturbing one as well. The toilets for the primary school are on a hill side and are just large outhouses. The pits beneath them are deep and dark. The seats are made out of plywood and have very large openings. As one could imagine, the very small children are afraid to use them. So, frequently they do not. They will go to the backroom in a corner of the school or in the floor of the outhouse to avoid these deep scary toilets. So, as we renovate the house, we will also try to install modern flush toilets and make it a more modern and less frightening place for the young children.
Visits:
Our last several mission teams have visited the following basic schools: Johnson Mountain, Spring Bank, Stokes Hall, Chapel Hill, and Market Road. We also visited Winchester Primary School and the Lysson's Special Needs School. In some, we had a music team perform and sing with the children. In others we played with the children, helped them with their work, and delivered vitamins, educational electronic games/toy computers, a laptop computer, balls, school supplies, books, etc.
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Churches and Bible Schools
In March, we had a youth team with musicians and a children's pastor. So, we conducted Bible schools for children. This was a little difficult because while it was Spring Break here at home, it was not in Jamaica. So, the children where in schools. So, we conducted them as late afternoon/evening programs. On Monday and Tuesday, we had Bible school from 4 PM until 7 PM in Stokes Hall at the Jamaica Evangelistic Association Church. We had over 100 people there both nights. We had singing, skits, crafts, play time, and a small sandwich and drink for all participants. We repeated this on Thursday and Friday nights at the Port Morant Methodist Church. Also, on Saturday afternoon, we had a version of Bible school with a movie at the Port Morant Methodist Church as well. We had more than 100 children at the Port Morant functions.
Prior to the Bible school on Saturday, the team participated with the Port Morant Methodist soup kitchen to prepare and deliver lunch to some of the sick and the elderly in the area.
While the team was showing the movie on Saturday, a two of us went to visit a church in the Wheelerfield community. Wheelerfield is a very poor area where the predominate employment is manual cutting of sugar cane. A cane cutter usually works in a team of two with one cutting sugar cane and the other stacking it. Because the cane is burned prior to harvesting, it is covered with ashes and soot. They begin cutting about 5 AM in the morning and finish about 4 PM working in full sun with temperatures into the mid 90's. A good pair can cut and stack 10 tons per day, with each one making only $16.35 USD per day. If they are lucky, they may work 3 days per week. Also, gasoline, building materials and most food items are more expensive there than here.
We went to this community because in one of the meetings with a school board member, I was asked by a chairman of the board to visit her church as see if we could help them with a building. It is a long story, but to make it short, we went just to be nice and expecting to politely say we would not build the church. As we talked with the pastor, we learned that she was a nurse at the sugar factory (almost all pastors earn their living doing something other than being a pastor) and was a member of the Stokes Hall branch of the Jamaica Evangelistic Association Church. We have a long track record with that church. This lady started a mission to the children in the Wheelerfield area many years ago, which eventually grew into the largest church in the area, but they have no building and are meeting in a multiuse community center. Well, while we are there, some children came to the pastor and asked if she had brought any food. Then they were walking with our children's minister (from Alabama) and one of the little girls asked her: "Miss, do you have any F. O. O. D. (spelling it out)?"
This visit truly troubled us. Even Audrey, our Jamaican liaison, was concerned that there were some significant hunger issues there. She has pledged to research it further and visit again as well as take some food there. As an organization, we have been trying to get out of the church building business, but this one is serving a very needy community, started as a mission, and it would seem that the pastor has probably been involved in helping feed the children. Will we be building this church? Probably if God will provide the money. So, expect this as a future team building project.
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Nursing Homes
Approximately one year ago, we visited the Morant Bay Infirmary which is the indigent nursing home in the area. As you can imagine with the poverty in the area and a dysfunctional government, this place is really in need. When we first went there, their washing machine was out and they were having to so their laundry by hand in sinks. Even some of the residents were having to wash their own clothes by hand. Flies covered the soiled linen. We purchased a commercial washing machine for the facility. On subsequent trips, we noticed how crowded the facility was. Patients have no privacy and no place to store personal belonging. There only chairs for the residents are on the veranda; in the wards, they only have their beds. The residents have no tables for food and must eat on a plate sitting in their lap. The evening meals are very sparse as well. We were encourage to see that the Chase Foundation (Jamaica's foundation that distributes the income from their national lottery) had decided to build them a large new dormitory with smaller rooms and hopefully more privacy. It was completed last Fall. When examining our photos from a trip last summer, we noticed something missing - pillows. Only about 25% of residents had pillows. So, we had our agents there to purchase pillows, but they were not distributed because they wanted to save them for the new unit (not our plans). So, on our January trip, we had our work team distribute the pillows to the residents.
Of course, we expected to see the new dormitory operational. It was completed in the Fall, however, it was not being used. Even in March, it sat empty. After inquiring the reason, we learned they had no money to install a septic system for the unit. We have our agents there in Jamaica studying this to find out what it would cost to get a septic system installed. We may need to involve ourselves with this. This is typical in Jamaica. There is something also ironic. One day we may see this unit functioning with a large sign on it that states it was built by lottery money. Of course it might be made usable by God's money, but that plaque may be on a septic system and underground.
Our youth team in March visited the nursing home and played music with some of the residents joining us in singing. We had a treat when one blind lady started singing one of their spirituals we did not know. Three other women joined her. It was quite emotional. When we were singing, one of our team members took a necklace they had made in the Bible Schools and placed it around the neck of one of the lady residents. Our Jamaican taxi driver, Devin, got emotional and gave his necklace and another cross necklace to some of the residents. I asked him about where he got the cross necklace. He said, with a tear in his eye, that Brenda from the Missouri mission team had left him a whole box of them to give out when the time was right. He said: "I think the time is right." I told him to drive home and get them and come back. He did and a cross was placed around the neck of every resident at the home. It was truly a special God time!
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Seaside Community
Lastly, we will talk about the Seaside community. It is certainly not last in our hearts but rather an ongoing area of mission for us. For years, we have been building homes in the shanty town near the ocean and we have helped the children there with clothes, shoes, Christmas, and school supplies amongst other things. In the past, we have sent some young ladies from there to church camps in the summer. Some of these ladies have grown up and now are assisting with Bible schools, basic schools, and are working on advanced degrees. There are many children in this area. We have helped several mothers gain skills and materials to provide for their families as well. The children know immediately when we are on the island. Most of them walk past our house every morning on their way to the primary school. On our last trip, we were making lunch for approximately 20 of them each morning. They would start coming to our door at 7:30 AM. We also left a lot of peanut butter and other food so our landlord (Ms. Patsy) can continue to feed them. We also brought clothes and shoes again for them. Of course we always make several trips to Seaside to see the children and play with them. They also were many of the children who attend the Port Morant Methodist Bible school, so we see them a lot.
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Computer Lab in Port Morant
Because of the poverty of the area, computers and the Internet are not readily available. Probably less than 5% of the homes have computers. The high school has a computer lab, but it is about 12 miles away. The only business in the area with a computer is the hardware store. None of the churches have computers, printers, copy machines, or fax machines. If you wanted to use the Internet, a computer, or a printer, you had to go to the library - but it was closed about a year ago. The nearest place to go is in Morant Bay - about 10 miles away, and the cost of a taxi prevents people from getting there. Private transportation is very uncommon in this part of Jamaica. Last summer, we learned that a government agency had made some computers available to a couple of community groups and they were attempting to build a community computer lab. We even visited it last Fall, but it was not complete. We would estimate they have approximately $40-50,000 USD worth of Dell computers, flat screens, desks, chairs, networking equipment, etc. Then as usual in Jamaica, there were unforeseen delays. Among them was a rent they could not afford. The lab just opened in January but is in danger of closing because they are 7 months behind on rent and cannot even pay the current rent. Many board members have abandoned it, etc. A group of very humble sincere board members approached us to see if we could help.
Could we be involved? After listening to the board members, praying about it, and discussing it with our board, we believe the answer has to be "Yes." We have recognized that the poverty is only getting worse. They are falling more and more behind educationally and education is one way out of poverty. The high school students now have to do Internet research but cannot afford to travel to the Internet cafes. The churches need to print flyers, bulletins, notices. The businesses have like needs. There are programs to help the students who did not pass all the subjects in their graduation exams. There are also plans to start programs for children like computer classes. We have made a proposal to the local board controlling this. It will require them to renegotiate their lease, allow us full access to their books and board seats, and let us try to teach them better business skills. We will give them money in the short term, but much of it will be in terms of vouchers for computer use that we can distribute to the very poor and to the churches. In addition, we proposed a diminishing money match to match their fundraising and their revenues from operation.
_____________________________________________________________
On our last mission trip, we had a mature Christian church leader, who after a few days told me she could not believe what all we were involved with, how wide our reach was, and how many people we touched. She was totally amazed. Later in the week, she said we were trying to do too much and that we needed a focus - such as basic schools. Then I asked, "Well what do we give up? Hungry children? Hungry elderly? Those in the nursing home? The special needs school? Building schools and churches? Supplying clothing, shoes, Christmas, etc? Those needing housing? She said "No - you can't give any of it up." That is our dilemma. That is where our mission is. I believe that is where God would have us.
In Matthew 9:35-38 I think we also get the answer: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Please pray that we get the workers and the financial resources that we may show His compassion and help with His harvest.
Isaiahsixeight, Inc. and IS68 Jamaica, Ltd.
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
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
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
We have had a lot of interest from people wanting to go on one of our mission teams this summer. Because of that, we are offering three possible dates. Since the school year in Jamaica does end until the first of July, the first week will primarily be a work team. The other weeks will be after school has ended and we plan to do one or more vacation Bible schools.
Here are the dates:
Week 1 - June 5-12, 2010
Week 2 - July 3-10, 2010
Week 3 - July 10-17, 2010
Planned projects:
Week 1 - We plan to tear down an old Basic School and build a new one on the same site, making it slightly larger. This will be mostly carpentry work. The building will be made out of wood. An existing good foundation and concrete flooring will be reused. The additional floor space will be build with some concrete piers, then conventional floor joists and plywood floor. The place is Johnson Mountain. This work site has one of the most beautiful views in Jamaica. It is on the side of a mountain. You have an unobstructed view of the eastern end of Jamaica and you can see the lighthouse over 9 miles away. There are cool breezes up there, but the work site has few trees. There are flush toilets and water available. In addition to the schools, we will need to build a simple rainproof shelter over the free standing toilets. There is a soccer field just below the school and there should be ample time to play with local children in the afternoons. This is a larger project than some of our basic schools. If we don't finish that week - no problem mon, we can finish on one of the later weeks.
School
View
Weeks 2 and 3 - These weeks will not primarily be for building buildings, but for building Christian relationships. We plan to center the first week around our home area - there at Port Morant and specifically much around the Methodist church there. We would like to host a Vacation Bible School and simultaneously, be reaching out to the community in other ways. We are talking about cooking some soup and getting some of the older Jamaican children to accompany us as we deliver it to some of the elderly and sick. We also plan to feed the children lunch. We may also offer free food a few nights as we show movies there at the church. We expect some of our adults will go to help deliver some of the food to the poor and may find some need we can meet while we are there. If so, we hope to be flexible enough to meet those. We are thinking - minor repairs, buying a fan, etc. The 3rd week may be similar to the second week, but may be in another community. We may also need to finish up the Basic School from Week 1.
While the first week will be heavily geared toward manual labor, there is always need for people to just entertain the children, pass work materials, keep everyone hydrated, help coordinate food, etc. The second and third weeks could accommodate youth (with appropriate chaperones), teachers, cooks, VBS coordinators, and carpenters (not professional ones).
Vacation Bible School
Sick and elderly we serve
It will be hot - probably in the 90's during the day and lower 80's at night. We have a safe rental house there with fans, hot showers, cooking facilities, refrigerator, comfortable beds with mosquito nets, but no air conditioner.
The trip cost will be $1,200 US all inclusive. We will provide plane tickets, ground transportation, lodging, food, a sightseeing day, and building materials. You will need a valid passport.
The teams will be limited to 15 people per week. Please make your reservations soon. If accepted to be a part of these missions, you will need to reserve a spot and then make a deposit of $600 US 21 days prior to your departure date. Once plane tickets are purchased, your $600 is committed. If you cancel, you will have to negotiate with the airline for a refund. If you stay more than 7 days (only during the July 3-17, there will be an additional charge of $50 per day. People arriving or departing on a schedule (by special permission only)separate from the main team will incur an additional charge of $100 (unless it is a real emergency) .
Posted by Isaiahsixeight.org at 5:28 PM
Here are the dates:
Week 1 - June 5-12, 2010
Week 2 - July 3-10, 2010
Week 3 - July 10-17, 2010
Planned projects:
Week 1 - We plan to tear down an old Basic School and build a new one on the same site, making it slightly larger. This will be mostly carpentry work. The building will be made out of wood. An existing good foundation and concrete flooring will be reused. The additional floor space will be build with some concrete piers, then conventional floor joists and plywood floor. The place is Johnson Mountain. This work site has one of the most beautiful views in Jamaica. It is on the side of a mountain. You have an unobstructed view of the eastern end of Jamaica and you can see the lighthouse over 9 miles away. There are cool breezes up there, but the work site has few trees. There are flush toilets and water available. In addition to the schools, we will need to build a simple rainproof shelter over the free standing toilets. There is a soccer field just below the school and there should be ample time to play with local children in the afternoons. This is a larger project than some of our basic schools. If we don't finish that week - no problem mon, we can finish on one of the later weeks.
School
View
Weeks 2 and 3 - These weeks will not primarily be for building buildings, but for building Christian relationships. We plan to center the first week around our home area - there at Port Morant and specifically much around the Methodist church there. We would like to host a Vacation Bible School and simultaneously, be reaching out to the community in other ways. We are talking about cooking some soup and getting some of the older Jamaican children to accompany us as we deliver it to some of the elderly and sick. We also plan to feed the children lunch. We may also offer free food a few nights as we show movies there at the church. We expect some of our adults will go to help deliver some of the food to the poor and may find some need we can meet while we are there. If so, we hope to be flexible enough to meet those. We are thinking - minor repairs, buying a fan, etc. The 3rd week may be similar to the second week, but may be in another community. We may also need to finish up the Basic School from Week 1.
While the first week will be heavily geared toward manual labor, there is always need for people to just entertain the children, pass work materials, keep everyone hydrated, help coordinate food, etc. The second and third weeks could accommodate youth (with appropriate chaperones), teachers, cooks, VBS coordinators, and carpenters (not professional ones).
Vacation Bible School
Sick and elderly we serve
It will be hot - probably in the 90's during the day and lower 80's at night. We have a safe rental house there with fans, hot showers, cooking facilities, refrigerator, comfortable beds with mosquito nets, but no air conditioner.
The trip cost will be $1,200 US all inclusive. We will provide plane tickets, ground transportation, lodging, food, a sightseeing day, and building materials. You will need a valid passport.
The teams will be limited to 15 people per week. Please make your reservations soon. If accepted to be a part of these missions, you will need to reserve a spot and then make a deposit of $600 US 21 days prior to your departure date. Once plane tickets are purchased, your $600 is committed. If you cancel, you will have to negotiate with the airline for a refund. If you stay more than 7 days (only during the July 3-17, there will be an additional charge of $50 per day. People arriving or departing on a schedule (by special permission only)separate from the main team will incur an additional charge of $100 (unless it is a real emergency) .
Posted by Isaiahsixeight.org at 5:28 PM
Much has happened in Jamaica since our last report. In January, we took a construction team and helped the Stokes Hall community do major structural repairs on their church and we helped them re-roof it. We also helped finance the electrical wiring. The congregation helped paint and decorate it. There is a great sense of pride for their church now.
In February, we produced a new video about our mission in Jamaica. It is less than 10 min. long and highly recommended. Here is the link: http://www.isaiahsixeight.org/Video.html.
In March, we took what was predominately a youth group from Pelham, Alabama. This group primarily painted homes in the Seaside community, but we also had a project of building church pews for the Stokes Hall church as well. This group also spent some quality time in the schools, in particular, the Lyssons Special Needs School. We fed the children there and then we went to visit and feed some sick elderly people in Curtis Bottom and Arcadia. This youth group bonded greatly with the youth and young adults in and around Port Morant. Jamaicans are still asking about these wonderful young people.
Following this trip, we began giving financial support to get a soup kitchen started in Stokes Hall to feed the elderly and disabled. This is ongoing.
Our latest trip was July 17-Aug 2. This was mostly two teams, each for one week. Our first week project was to replace the roof and ceiling of the two special needs buildings at Lyssons Primary School. We had wanted to do this project for well over a year and finally got permission to do it. These buildings, built by missionaries over 20 years ago had leaking roofs since their construction. This had gotten worse as the plywood ceiling began to decay and fall. In addition, the rooms were dark and dingy - both because of dirt and the need for paint, as well as the fact that only about 25% of the lighting was functional. Also, electrical outlets dangled from the walls creating an electrical hazard. The first week, we removed the old roof and ceiling and replaced it with a commercial grade roof. Continuing into the second week, we cleaned the ceiling and walls, then painted all the walls, ceilings, trim, and refinished the blackboards.
Also, the first week, we had taken Rev. Al and Pashion Lewis with us. Al and Pashion are professional musicians. Al lived the lifestyle of a professional musician until he gave his life to Christ over 30 years ago. Al still writes music and he and Pashion have recorded 3 CD's. He also went to seminary and became a Methodist minister. He is the pastor of an inner city church in Birmingham, AL where he also runs a drug rehab program and a food ministry. Pashion operates a children's ministry called the Dream Garden. Here is a link to their web page: http://www.alandpashionlewis.com. Al, not only writes most of their songs, but plays the saxophone and sings along with Pashion. Here is an example of their music: http://www.lightyear.com/music/gospel/reval/index.htm. In the mornings of the first week, we met for devotions on Miss Patsy's porch for devotions and music. Some people walking along the street would join us. We had as many as 17 on morning. Then, every night except Wednesday, we would end work early and go to bars and gambling facilities for Al and Pashion to perform and for Al to preach. Also, on Sunday, he preached at Stokes Hall where one young man accepted Christ. On Monday night, we were at a bar and gambling shack in Cotton Tree / Curtis Bottom (Port Morant). They performed and Al preached from the porch of the bar. Sixteen people answered the altar call. Then as Al was leaving, he went into the gambling shack to say "goodbye" and a man asked him to pray for him. Al said he would, but the man wanted prayer right then. So every man in the gambling shack bowed their heads as Al prayed for the man.
On the previous Saturday, a young man came to us before Al arrived and wanted to be with us. This was unusual because this man was never really close to us and had been under the an unhealthy influence of someone else in the ministry. On Monday, he showed up with his young daughter on our worksite. On Tuesday, he returned and we employed him to work. On the worksite, he broke down crying to Al and then recommitted his life to Christ - right there at the worksite. Later this young man told me that it seemed like every time he was in trouble or had difficulties, we were there on the island. I told him that was God at work and his timing. This was amazing considering what little time we are actually on the island.
Back to Rev. Al and Pashion - on Tuesday night, we went to a bar in Prospect where 3 answered the altar call. On Thursday night, they went to Leith Hall near several bars and shops. There were many people there and 40 people answered the altar call and gave their lives to Christ. It was an amazing night. On Friday night, we went to Pear Tree River outside a bar and gambling shack. This crowd was not very attentive and again, we had 3 to answer the altar call.
Credit should also be given to Yukman, Richie, Nikki, and Hortense from Stokes Hall. They provided the sound system and performed with Al and Pashion as well. This was really big for them as well - to be able to share the stage with some real professionals.
A small team worked on the computer lab we had installed the previous year. Minor repairs were made, Microsoft Office was installed, as well as several copies of Mavis Beacon and other software.
While at the Special Needs School, we were asked by many people about the scrap materials. The Principal told us about and later introduced us to a lady named April. April has five children, one is a special needs student, and in June, her home had burned. We were asked if she could have some of the old roofing material. We went to visit April and see her burned home. Next to it, was a foundation and poured floor for a 12' x 12' house. We told her we would build her a house on Monday. Our friend Rev. Al, encouraged her to enlarge the house by adding another 4' to one side. When we arrived, she had added a total of 12' - 8' more than we had planned. We built most of the house on the 2nd Monday and continued working on it on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, we went to Spring Bank to build a Basic School. The remainder of the week, our work teams worked between Lyssons Special Needs School, April's house, and the Spring Bank Basic School.
Then there was Vacation Bible School. We had 3 ladies, who along with Jamaican helpers from Port Morant and Stokes Hall, did VBS in both Port Morant and Stokes Hall. It was an incredible VBS with DVD's projected on a screen, a lot of singing with motions, puppet shows, crafts, games, lunch, and juice. Cheryl and Taylor had incredible energy and really motivated the children as well as the ladies and the youth in both communities. In addition, they left them with music and lyrics for the songs the children leaders wanted to continue to use in their children's ministry.
It was an incredible two weeks. Here is an incomplete list of what was accomplished:
• Replaced the roofs, cleaned, painted, replaced/repaired lighting, repaired electrical outlets, and resurfaced black boards in 4 special needs classrooms (two buildings) at Lyssons Primary School
• Donated approximately 11 Barbie computers, many teaching aids, and size 17 and size 14 shoes (for a large child who could not buy shoes on the island) to the Special Needs School
• Had concerts and sermons at bars and gambling shacks on 4 nights with over 60 people giving their lives to Christ. We also made sure each got a Bible
• Had devotions on the street and at the worksites with Jamaicans
• Serviced the 7 stations computer lab we had provided previously in Port Morant and installed Microsoft Office as well as many copies of Mavis Beacon and other software.
• Built a home for a mother and 5 children who had lost their home due to fire
• Built a Basic School (like a day school/kindergarten) in a community that needed one.
• Had Vacation Bible School in two communities serving over 120 children and inspiring many youth and adults
• Visited children, the old, and disabled in Seaside and Curtis Bottom
• Provided 5 additional Barbie computers, several Leap Frog Caterpillars and many teaching supplies to several basic schools
• Provided school supplies (crayons, pencils, notebooks, markers, color pencils, glue, etc.) for hundreds of children
• We gave reading glasses to many people who had difficulty reading
• Many people were touched and their lives made better - some of these were the Jamaican's who worked with us - those helping build, those serving as taxi drivers, and those involved in the music ministry.
As you can tell, it was an incredible two weeks. Many Jamaicans as well as some of our new team members could not believe how much we accomplished, how many needy people had been helped, and the impact of our trip. It was amazing - and not something humans alone could do. This was God's work and there is no doubt about it. God opened many doors and many hearts. He had us there at the right time. He had touched many of our supporters - both financial and prayer - so that we could do His work He had put before us.
You know, some people think we sacrifice to go to Jamaica and suffer the heat and inconveniences, but the blessings we received by being there and watching God work far outweigh the sacrifices. We are benefited more than even we can imagine.
We would like to thank all our supporters for allowing us and making it possible for us to be involved in God's work in Jamaica. May you be blessed as richly as we have been by this work.
Isaiahsixeight, Inc.
A Christian Mission organization
In February, we produced a new video about our mission in Jamaica. It is less than 10 min. long and highly recommended. Here is the link: http://www.isaiahsixeight.org/Video.html.
In March, we took what was predominately a youth group from Pelham, Alabama. This group primarily painted homes in the Seaside community, but we also had a project of building church pews for the Stokes Hall church as well. This group also spent some quality time in the schools, in particular, the Lyssons Special Needs School. We fed the children there and then we went to visit and feed some sick elderly people in Curtis Bottom and Arcadia. This youth group bonded greatly with the youth and young adults in and around Port Morant. Jamaicans are still asking about these wonderful young people.
Following this trip, we began giving financial support to get a soup kitchen started in Stokes Hall to feed the elderly and disabled. This is ongoing.
Our latest trip was July 17-Aug 2. This was mostly two teams, each for one week. Our first week project was to replace the roof and ceiling of the two special needs buildings at Lyssons Primary School. We had wanted to do this project for well over a year and finally got permission to do it. These buildings, built by missionaries over 20 years ago had leaking roofs since their construction. This had gotten worse as the plywood ceiling began to decay and fall. In addition, the rooms were dark and dingy - both because of dirt and the need for paint, as well as the fact that only about 25% of the lighting was functional. Also, electrical outlets dangled from the walls creating an electrical hazard. The first week, we removed the old roof and ceiling and replaced it with a commercial grade roof. Continuing into the second week, we cleaned the ceiling and walls, then painted all the walls, ceilings, trim, and refinished the blackboards.
Also, the first week, we had taken Rev. Al and Pashion Lewis with us. Al and Pashion are professional musicians. Al lived the lifestyle of a professional musician until he gave his life to Christ over 30 years ago. Al still writes music and he and Pashion have recorded 3 CD's. He also went to seminary and became a Methodist minister. He is the pastor of an inner city church in Birmingham, AL where he also runs a drug rehab program and a food ministry. Pashion operates a children's ministry called the Dream Garden. Here is a link to their web page: http://www.alandpashionlewis.com. Al, not only writes most of their songs, but plays the saxophone and sings along with Pashion. Here is an example of their music: http://www.lightyear.com/music/gospel/reval/index.htm. In the mornings of the first week, we met for devotions on Miss Patsy's porch for devotions and music. Some people walking along the street would join us. We had as many as 17 on morning. Then, every night except Wednesday, we would end work early and go to bars and gambling facilities for Al and Pashion to perform and for Al to preach. Also, on Sunday, he preached at Stokes Hall where one young man accepted Christ. On Monday night, we were at a bar and gambling shack in Cotton Tree / Curtis Bottom (Port Morant). They performed and Al preached from the porch of the bar. Sixteen people answered the altar call. Then as Al was leaving, he went into the gambling shack to say "goodbye" and a man asked him to pray for him. Al said he would, but the man wanted prayer right then. So every man in the gambling shack bowed their heads as Al prayed for the man.
On the previous Saturday, a young man came to us before Al arrived and wanted to be with us. This was unusual because this man was never really close to us and had been under the an unhealthy influence of someone else in the ministry. On Monday, he showed up with his young daughter on our worksite. On Tuesday, he returned and we employed him to work. On the worksite, he broke down crying to Al and then recommitted his life to Christ - right there at the worksite. Later this young man told me that it seemed like every time he was in trouble or had difficulties, we were there on the island. I told him that was God at work and his timing. This was amazing considering what little time we are actually on the island.
Back to Rev. Al and Pashion - on Tuesday night, we went to a bar in Prospect where 3 answered the altar call. On Thursday night, they went to Leith Hall near several bars and shops. There were many people there and 40 people answered the altar call and gave their lives to Christ. It was an amazing night. On Friday night, we went to Pear Tree River outside a bar and gambling shack. This crowd was not very attentive and again, we had 3 to answer the altar call.
Credit should also be given to Yukman, Richie, Nikki, and Hortense from Stokes Hall. They provided the sound system and performed with Al and Pashion as well. This was really big for them as well - to be able to share the stage with some real professionals.
A small team worked on the computer lab we had installed the previous year. Minor repairs were made, Microsoft Office was installed, as well as several copies of Mavis Beacon and other software.
While at the Special Needs School, we were asked by many people about the scrap materials. The Principal told us about and later introduced us to a lady named April. April has five children, one is a special needs student, and in June, her home had burned. We were asked if she could have some of the old roofing material. We went to visit April and see her burned home. Next to it, was a foundation and poured floor for a 12' x 12' house. We told her we would build her a house on Monday. Our friend Rev. Al, encouraged her to enlarge the house by adding another 4' to one side. When we arrived, she had added a total of 12' - 8' more than we had planned. We built most of the house on the 2nd Monday and continued working on it on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, we went to Spring Bank to build a Basic School. The remainder of the week, our work teams worked between Lyssons Special Needs School, April's house, and the Spring Bank Basic School.
Then there was Vacation Bible School. We had 3 ladies, who along with Jamaican helpers from Port Morant and Stokes Hall, did VBS in both Port Morant and Stokes Hall. It was an incredible VBS with DVD's projected on a screen, a lot of singing with motions, puppet shows, crafts, games, lunch, and juice. Cheryl and Taylor had incredible energy and really motivated the children as well as the ladies and the youth in both communities. In addition, they left them with music and lyrics for the songs the children leaders wanted to continue to use in their children's ministry.
It was an incredible two weeks. Here is an incomplete list of what was accomplished:
• Replaced the roofs, cleaned, painted, replaced/repaired lighting, repaired electrical outlets, and resurfaced black boards in 4 special needs classrooms (two buildings) at Lyssons Primary School
• Donated approximately 11 Barbie computers, many teaching aids, and size 17 and size 14 shoes (for a large child who could not buy shoes on the island) to the Special Needs School
• Had concerts and sermons at bars and gambling shacks on 4 nights with over 60 people giving their lives to Christ. We also made sure each got a Bible
• Had devotions on the street and at the worksites with Jamaicans
• Serviced the 7 stations computer lab we had provided previously in Port Morant and installed Microsoft Office as well as many copies of Mavis Beacon and other software.
• Built a home for a mother and 5 children who had lost their home due to fire
• Built a Basic School (like a day school/kindergarten) in a community that needed one.
• Had Vacation Bible School in two communities serving over 120 children and inspiring many youth and adults
• Visited children, the old, and disabled in Seaside and Curtis Bottom
• Provided 5 additional Barbie computers, several Leap Frog Caterpillars and many teaching supplies to several basic schools
• Provided school supplies (crayons, pencils, notebooks, markers, color pencils, glue, etc.) for hundreds of children
• We gave reading glasses to many people who had difficulty reading
• Many people were touched and their lives made better - some of these were the Jamaican's who worked with us - those helping build, those serving as taxi drivers, and those involved in the music ministry.
As you can tell, it was an incredible two weeks. Many Jamaicans as well as some of our new team members could not believe how much we accomplished, how many needy people had been helped, and the impact of our trip. It was amazing - and not something humans alone could do. This was God's work and there is no doubt about it. God opened many doors and many hearts. He had us there at the right time. He had touched many of our supporters - both financial and prayer - so that we could do His work He had put before us.
You know, some people think we sacrifice to go to Jamaica and suffer the heat and inconveniences, but the blessings we received by being there and watching God work far outweigh the sacrifices. We are benefited more than even we can imagine.
We would like to thank all our supporters for allowing us and making it possible for us to be involved in God's work in Jamaica. May you be blessed as richly as we have been by this work.
Isaiahsixeight, Inc.
A Christian Mission organization
God is moving in Jamaica. Isaiahsixeight is active on many fronts - in education, with computer labs, school construction, church repairs, feeding and clothing the needy, home construction, farm development, and direct evangelism.
We appreciate your support through your gifts, prayers and participation on our trips.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goose Bumps, Gungo Beans, God, and Government
We had heard about the plight of Delroy and his family just a few days after Hurricane Dean hit Jamaica. He, his wife, a daughter and three grandchildren lost their home and everything except the clothes they were wearing. Delroy has no skills and worked in agriculture. Of course, even that was gone with the banana trees all blown down, fruit stripped from the trees and the blight that has destroyed the coconuts. Delroy was able to salvage a few scraps of wood and some tin (commonly called “zinc” in Jamaica). Money we had prepositioned in Jamaica prior to Hurricane Dean was used to help clothe and feed Delroy and others. On our next trip, not knowing him or where he was living, we met him near his temporary home – a small room of a decaying abandoned wharf. They were hot and miserable there. You could look into his eyes and see the misery and despair.
We visited the site of his previous home and decided that on our next trip, we would try to rebuild his home. A few months later, we built him and his family a tiny two room house with total size of 16’ x 16’. They were still suffering. We continued to help him with some money, food, and clothing. Then we decided to try to help him help themself. We had this idea to help people get started raising pigs and Delroy’s family would be our pilot project. So, in the summer of 2008, we helped him build a pig pen and bought him a pregnant pig as well as feed. We also had to run water to his property. He commented that this was the first time in his life he has had running water (and this is not even connected to his home).
Two weeks ago, I (Donnie) was on the island and drove up to the base of the hill at Delroy’s. There he was with a produce stand, scales hanging from a tree, and two nicely dressed customers. I got goose bumps. Here is a man who was in despair and had lost most of his worldly possessions now making an income selling produce from his farm in the bush.
On his hillside, close to his house, now reside 8 small 4 month old pigs each weighing about 100 lbs. The mother sow is pregnant again. He has planted bananas and plantains on the hill to help shade the pigs from the hot morning sun. Delroy also has gungo beans (the bean most often found in the staple food of “rice and peas (actually beans)” and sorrel growing.
Later in the week, I accompanied Delroy and his wife to their farm in the bush (out in the country). Eleven months earlier, he had rented approximately 10 acres of land on a hillside not suitable for standard agriculture. When we were there in the fall, he was planting 200 banana trees and 200 plantain trees. Now on this rugged steep hillside, he has the banana trees, plantains, coconuts, yams, gungo beans, sorrel, pumpkin, sweet potato, and coffee growing.
So, back to the corner produce stand and my goose bumps. Why did I get them? God led us to help this man and his family in a time of great despair. That helped ignite hope. Now, he has a home, a pig farm, produce near their home, an amazing farm on a hill 10 miles away, and he is selling produce. He now has an income and a bright future. Seeing this end product – hope and relief - brought the goose bumps.
What about those guys buying the produce? Well they wanted to know what we were about. So, I started explaining how God had led us to Delroy, what we had done to help Delroy and the progress Delroy had made. Then they wanted to know more about what we as Isaiahsixeight hope to do in the future with the help of God. One of these men got goose bumps that he showed to me. During our discussion, Delroy told them how he read his Bible daily and again when he felt down or depressed. Goose bumps for me again. Delroy was not a Christian when we met him and he had Rastafarian leanings. The two men there both had connections with the government. They made some contacts which resulted in a meeting with Dr. Fenton Ferguson, the Member of Parliament representing the eastern ½ of the St. Thomas province and Vice President of the second strongest political party in Jamaica. He vowed to help us and try to clear some governmental obstacles for us.
God is amazing! He uses very ordinary people in very bad situations to do amazing things for those who follow and listen to Him.
See more about Delroy's family
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guinness, Ganga, Gambling, and the Gospel
Over the years, God has put it on our heart that we need to be working with men in Jamaica – particularly the young men. The reason for this is that you rarely see young men in the churches. Are they exposed to the Gospel? Not really. You do see tents with tent evangelists around, but these young men rarely attend those. They have heard and seen all that.
A few quotes resonate in our minds:
“Go straight for souls, and go for the worst.” William Booth
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." -- C.T. Studd
“No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.” -- Oswald J. Smith
“Evangelization is a process of bringing the gospel to people where they are, not where you would like them to be… When the gospel reaches a people where they are, their response to the gospel is the church in a new place...” --Vincent Donovan
Where did Jesus go? He taught in the temple and synagogues, but he spent most of his time in the presence of sinners – going to meet them where they were. Another thing about Jamaica is that people seem very bored with nothing to do. At nights, they go to the numerous bars, drink Guinness, Red Stripe beer, or rum, smoke ganga (local name for marijuana), and gamble with cards and dominoes. So, if you want to take the Gospel to sinners like Jesus did, you have to go to them – to the bars and gambling establishments.
Thinking about this several months ago, we were struggling with how to reach these people. We realized that they were bored, tended to cluster around the bars, and were quite inquisitive. God has not empowered us to preach plus the preachers there are not reaching many, even when the preacher goes to them. So, how do we get the Gospel to them? God showed us a way. Entertain them and expose them to the Gospel where they are. People retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 70% of what they see and hear together (Mars Hill project). So, we decided to put together a portable theater and show outdoor movies where the people are (generally the bars). Some of the movies are clean secular ones that draw a crowd, and then we show a movie containing the Gospel message.
Well, you might ask how it works. It is really quite amazing. In almost all instances, we get our electrical current from a bar. We have children, women, and men in attendance. Many of the men are there to drink, smoke ganga (marijuana), and gamble. We have even had to compete with loud card games when showing movies with a Christian theme, but in all instances in which we have shown a movie with a direct Gospel presentation, the gambling has ceased and the men watch the movie. We have averaged over 50 people per showing.
Many of the men smoke ganga and drink through the movies. At times, the smoke is so thick that it burns our eyes, but usually they are captivated by what they are hearing – so much so that their conversations, cursing, and gambling cease.
We have people coming up to us after the movies asking us when and where we are showing them again. We have had people 15 miles away in the small town to see us on the street and ask us when and where we are showing the movies again. We have had people to ask us for copies of the movie DVD and the music we play. We have given Bibles to people at movies.
What is next and where do we see this going? We pray God will continue to show us the way and we think he has. We will continue with the movies, but they are teaching us something else. From the data above from the Mars Hill project about retaining 10% of what you read, 20% of what you hear, 30% of what you see, and 70% of what they see and hear together – how do we use this data and is this data true in Jamaica? Well, we are finding that many people in Jamaica cannot read even though they say they can; so, why give them a Bible? We need to think more outside the box. The cost of buying and shipping a Bible there is quite expensive, but some are still needed. Many people there have DVD players or have friends who have them. If our aim is to get the Gospel before them, we can do it using their DVD players by supplying DVD’s with the Gospel message or Bibles on CD. The Hope video, probably our best movie, can be purchased for less that ½ the cost of getting a Bible there. Also, hopefully, more than one person will see it. Also, we can legally copy some audio Bibles in MP3 format onto CD’s that play in many DVD players. So, for less than $1 US we could give them an audio Bible that they may copy as much as they want.
We believe God is leading us to continue the movie ministry, but also to distribute tracts, Bibles, DVD’s of the Hope video, and audio Bible CD’s. We are praying that this will help us reach people who are not reached by conventional methods so they can hear the Gospel message.
I have heard for years that music can calm a savage beast. It is truly amazing to watch a great presentation of the Gospel captivate a crowd of men who thought they would be drinking, smoking ganga, cursing, and gambling. The Gospel has that power. We just have to take it to the people.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schools, Shoes, and Steeples
Last summer, we built a Basic School (similar to a kindergarten) in Stokes Hall. It is a remarkable community with a strong work ethic, a strong church, and community spirit. We promised to come back to help repair their church which was in major disrepair and in danger of collapsing. Of course, we knew the amount of work was too much for our small team, but this community really turned out and did most of the work. We even had the women of the church carrying buckets of sand, gravel, and mixed concrete. It was a great project in a great and grateful community. We had the opportunity to make new friends, share our faith and the Gospel.
We were pleased to see that the community had painted the Basic school with the sea and waves across the bottom and white skies above. The school which was down to 20 students before we built the new building now has 27 and can take up to 40. They are extremely happy with it.
One of our team members brought 140 pairs of shoes donated by the members of Riverchase United Methodist Church. We gave some of the children shoes as well as a suitcase of clothes from Holy Apostles Episcopal Church to the school teacher to distribute. The team members also donated some of their own shoes to many of the men workers on site. Some were wearing tennis shoes with no heels and with the laces tied around the bottom to hold on the remnant of sole. Some worked on top of the rafters in their bare feet. All were most appreciative of our friendship, our work and our contributions. We also left some Bibles for the minister to distribute. He also said he needed a large print Bible. He is 74 years old and has some difficulty with his vision. So, we presented him a large print Bible someone had made possible by a donation.
Read more about Stokes Hall Basic School
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angels and Anguish
We visited some of the sick and elderly aided by the Christmas Angel program. We went to see some of the same people I had met a year ago. Their plight is worse. Their health has worsened and their hope has diminished as the economy has declined. Two of these women are now captives in their own homes with no family to help them. They survive on a pension of about $55 US per month – in a place where gasoline is still over $2.38 per gallon. One lady can no longer stand and she has no indoor toilet. The other is an amputee living in what looks like a chicken coop made of old rusted tin. She crawls around on the floor then out to a small enclosure with a dirt floor where she has a small charcoal grill where she cooks? There are small chickens all around as she cooks as well as huge spiders and other creatures.
They say that they survive because the Port Morant Methodist Church serves them soup on Saturdays. I have seen the soup. It is a noble gesture, but it is thin and only one day a week. What about their other needs? What about the days other than Saturday?
We do not have an answer yet, but God has laid a heavy burden on our hearts and we know it could be better for them if we had a full time presence there. They need more food, possibly some vitamins, and someone to just show them that there are Christians who care.
They are angels and they are in anguish. We are in anguish over how we can help them. Maybe God will show us how we can be angels to them.
See more about these Angels
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With God's help and direction, we plan to expand God's work in Jamaica. Our desire now is to continue the things we have been doing, but try to gain a full-time presence there to be able to minister to hurting people, like the elderly listed in the story above. The local church delivers them soup once a week. We believe more is needed.
We pray that you will help this ministry by praying for it, supporting it with your gifts, and participating on mission teams.
If you feel led to help financially, please mail a contribution to:
Isaiahsixeight, Inc.
5692 Chestnut Trace
Birmingham, AL 35244
Isaiahsixeight is a not for profit tax exempt Christian mission. All contributions are tax deductible.
God bless you for your support!
We appreciate your support through your gifts, prayers and participation on our trips.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goose Bumps, Gungo Beans, God, and Government
We had heard about the plight of Delroy and his family just a few days after Hurricane Dean hit Jamaica. He, his wife, a daughter and three grandchildren lost their home and everything except the clothes they were wearing. Delroy has no skills and worked in agriculture. Of course, even that was gone with the banana trees all blown down, fruit stripped from the trees and the blight that has destroyed the coconuts. Delroy was able to salvage a few scraps of wood and some tin (commonly called “zinc” in Jamaica). Money we had prepositioned in Jamaica prior to Hurricane Dean was used to help clothe and feed Delroy and others. On our next trip, not knowing him or where he was living, we met him near his temporary home – a small room of a decaying abandoned wharf. They were hot and miserable there. You could look into his eyes and see the misery and despair.
We visited the site of his previous home and decided that on our next trip, we would try to rebuild his home. A few months later, we built him and his family a tiny two room house with total size of 16’ x 16’. They were still suffering. We continued to help him with some money, food, and clothing. Then we decided to try to help him help themself. We had this idea to help people get started raising pigs and Delroy’s family would be our pilot project. So, in the summer of 2008, we helped him build a pig pen and bought him a pregnant pig as well as feed. We also had to run water to his property. He commented that this was the first time in his life he has had running water (and this is not even connected to his home).
Two weeks ago, I (Donnie) was on the island and drove up to the base of the hill at Delroy’s. There he was with a produce stand, scales hanging from a tree, and two nicely dressed customers. I got goose bumps. Here is a man who was in despair and had lost most of his worldly possessions now making an income selling produce from his farm in the bush.
On his hillside, close to his house, now reside 8 small 4 month old pigs each weighing about 100 lbs. The mother sow is pregnant again. He has planted bananas and plantains on the hill to help shade the pigs from the hot morning sun. Delroy also has gungo beans (the bean most often found in the staple food of “rice and peas (actually beans)” and sorrel growing.
Later in the week, I accompanied Delroy and his wife to their farm in the bush (out in the country). Eleven months earlier, he had rented approximately 10 acres of land on a hillside not suitable for standard agriculture. When we were there in the fall, he was planting 200 banana trees and 200 plantain trees. Now on this rugged steep hillside, he has the banana trees, plantains, coconuts, yams, gungo beans, sorrel, pumpkin, sweet potato, and coffee growing.
So, back to the corner produce stand and my goose bumps. Why did I get them? God led us to help this man and his family in a time of great despair. That helped ignite hope. Now, he has a home, a pig farm, produce near their home, an amazing farm on a hill 10 miles away, and he is selling produce. He now has an income and a bright future. Seeing this end product – hope and relief - brought the goose bumps.
What about those guys buying the produce? Well they wanted to know what we were about. So, I started explaining how God had led us to Delroy, what we had done to help Delroy and the progress Delroy had made. Then they wanted to know more about what we as Isaiahsixeight hope to do in the future with the help of God. One of these men got goose bumps that he showed to me. During our discussion, Delroy told them how he read his Bible daily and again when he felt down or depressed. Goose bumps for me again. Delroy was not a Christian when we met him and he had Rastafarian leanings. The two men there both had connections with the government. They made some contacts which resulted in a meeting with Dr. Fenton Ferguson, the Member of Parliament representing the eastern ½ of the St. Thomas province and Vice President of the second strongest political party in Jamaica. He vowed to help us and try to clear some governmental obstacles for us.
God is amazing! He uses very ordinary people in very bad situations to do amazing things for those who follow and listen to Him.
See more about Delroy's family
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guinness, Ganga, Gambling, and the Gospel
Over the years, God has put it on our heart that we need to be working with men in Jamaica – particularly the young men. The reason for this is that you rarely see young men in the churches. Are they exposed to the Gospel? Not really. You do see tents with tent evangelists around, but these young men rarely attend those. They have heard and seen all that.
A few quotes resonate in our minds:
“Go straight for souls, and go for the worst.” William Booth
"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell." -- C.T. Studd
“No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.” -- Oswald J. Smith
“Evangelization is a process of bringing the gospel to people where they are, not where you would like them to be… When the gospel reaches a people where they are, their response to the gospel is the church in a new place...” --Vincent Donovan
Where did Jesus go? He taught in the temple and synagogues, but he spent most of his time in the presence of sinners – going to meet them where they were. Another thing about Jamaica is that people seem very bored with nothing to do. At nights, they go to the numerous bars, drink Guinness, Red Stripe beer, or rum, smoke ganga (local name for marijuana), and gamble with cards and dominoes. So, if you want to take the Gospel to sinners like Jesus did, you have to go to them – to the bars and gambling establishments.
Thinking about this several months ago, we were struggling with how to reach these people. We realized that they were bored, tended to cluster around the bars, and were quite inquisitive. God has not empowered us to preach plus the preachers there are not reaching many, even when the preacher goes to them. So, how do we get the Gospel to them? God showed us a way. Entertain them and expose them to the Gospel where they are. People retain 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 70% of what they see and hear together (Mars Hill project). So, we decided to put together a portable theater and show outdoor movies where the people are (generally the bars). Some of the movies are clean secular ones that draw a crowd, and then we show a movie containing the Gospel message.
Well, you might ask how it works. It is really quite amazing. In almost all instances, we get our electrical current from a bar. We have children, women, and men in attendance. Many of the men are there to drink, smoke ganga (marijuana), and gamble. We have even had to compete with loud card games when showing movies with a Christian theme, but in all instances in which we have shown a movie with a direct Gospel presentation, the gambling has ceased and the men watch the movie. We have averaged over 50 people per showing.
Many of the men smoke ganga and drink through the movies. At times, the smoke is so thick that it burns our eyes, but usually they are captivated by what they are hearing – so much so that their conversations, cursing, and gambling cease.
We have people coming up to us after the movies asking us when and where we are showing them again. We have had people 15 miles away in the small town to see us on the street and ask us when and where we are showing the movies again. We have had people to ask us for copies of the movie DVD and the music we play. We have given Bibles to people at movies.
What is next and where do we see this going? We pray God will continue to show us the way and we think he has. We will continue with the movies, but they are teaching us something else. From the data above from the Mars Hill project about retaining 10% of what you read, 20% of what you hear, 30% of what you see, and 70% of what they see and hear together – how do we use this data and is this data true in Jamaica? Well, we are finding that many people in Jamaica cannot read even though they say they can; so, why give them a Bible? We need to think more outside the box. The cost of buying and shipping a Bible there is quite expensive, but some are still needed. Many people there have DVD players or have friends who have them. If our aim is to get the Gospel before them, we can do it using their DVD players by supplying DVD’s with the Gospel message or Bibles on CD. The Hope video, probably our best movie, can be purchased for less that ½ the cost of getting a Bible there. Also, hopefully, more than one person will see it. Also, we can legally copy some audio Bibles in MP3 format onto CD’s that play in many DVD players. So, for less than $1 US we could give them an audio Bible that they may copy as much as they want.
We believe God is leading us to continue the movie ministry, but also to distribute tracts, Bibles, DVD’s of the Hope video, and audio Bible CD’s. We are praying that this will help us reach people who are not reached by conventional methods so they can hear the Gospel message.
I have heard for years that music can calm a savage beast. It is truly amazing to watch a great presentation of the Gospel captivate a crowd of men who thought they would be drinking, smoking ganga, cursing, and gambling. The Gospel has that power. We just have to take it to the people.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schools, Shoes, and Steeples
Last summer, we built a Basic School (similar to a kindergarten) in Stokes Hall. It is a remarkable community with a strong work ethic, a strong church, and community spirit. We promised to come back to help repair their church which was in major disrepair and in danger of collapsing. Of course, we knew the amount of work was too much for our small team, but this community really turned out and did most of the work. We even had the women of the church carrying buckets of sand, gravel, and mixed concrete. It was a great project in a great and grateful community. We had the opportunity to make new friends, share our faith and the Gospel.
We were pleased to see that the community had painted the Basic school with the sea and waves across the bottom and white skies above. The school which was down to 20 students before we built the new building now has 27 and can take up to 40. They are extremely happy with it.
One of our team members brought 140 pairs of shoes donated by the members of Riverchase United Methodist Church. We gave some of the children shoes as well as a suitcase of clothes from Holy Apostles Episcopal Church to the school teacher to distribute. The team members also donated some of their own shoes to many of the men workers on site. Some were wearing tennis shoes with no heels and with the laces tied around the bottom to hold on the remnant of sole. Some worked on top of the rafters in their bare feet. All were most appreciative of our friendship, our work and our contributions. We also left some Bibles for the minister to distribute. He also said he needed a large print Bible. He is 74 years old and has some difficulty with his vision. So, we presented him a large print Bible someone had made possible by a donation.
Read more about Stokes Hall Basic School
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angels and Anguish
We visited some of the sick and elderly aided by the Christmas Angel program. We went to see some of the same people I had met a year ago. Their plight is worse. Their health has worsened and their hope has diminished as the economy has declined. Two of these women are now captives in their own homes with no family to help them. They survive on a pension of about $55 US per month – in a place where gasoline is still over $2.38 per gallon. One lady can no longer stand and she has no indoor toilet. The other is an amputee living in what looks like a chicken coop made of old rusted tin. She crawls around on the floor then out to a small enclosure with a dirt floor where she has a small charcoal grill where she cooks? There are small chickens all around as she cooks as well as huge spiders and other creatures.
They say that they survive because the Port Morant Methodist Church serves them soup on Saturdays. I have seen the soup. It is a noble gesture, but it is thin and only one day a week. What about their other needs? What about the days other than Saturday?
We do not have an answer yet, but God has laid a heavy burden on our hearts and we know it could be better for them if we had a full time presence there. They need more food, possibly some vitamins, and someone to just show them that there are Christians who care.
They are angels and they are in anguish. We are in anguish over how we can help them. Maybe God will show us how we can be angels to them.
See more about these Angels
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With God's help and direction, we plan to expand God's work in Jamaica. Our desire now is to continue the things we have been doing, but try to gain a full-time presence there to be able to minister to hurting people, like the elderly listed in the story above. The local church delivers them soup once a week. We believe more is needed.
We pray that you will help this ministry by praying for it, supporting it with your gifts, and participating on mission teams.
If you feel led to help financially, please mail a contribution to:
Isaiahsixeight, Inc.
5692 Chestnut Trace
Birmingham, AL 35244
Isaiahsixeight is a not for profit tax exempt Christian mission. All contributions are tax deductible.
God bless you for your support!
_____________________________________________________________
Features of Mission House / Compound:
-Compound is behind Ms. Patsy Lindsey's house and is surrounded by a masonry wall with padlocked iron gates
-Prince, the Langer's German Shepherd, is Isaiahsixeight's guard dog and lives within the fenced area
-The house and store rooms have iron bars protecting all windows, doors, and veranda/balcony
-House has 3 bedrooms, two full baths, a small kitchen, small dining room, a large den and small balcony.
-House is furnished largely through the generosity of the Langers
-The two large bedrooms will each have 3 sets of bunk beds
-The smaller bedroom has one set of bunk beds and a single bed
-Total sleeping capacity in beds in house is 15
-In addition, we have had a small concrete patio built to accommodate plastic chairs and tables
-We have built two outdoor showers in addition to the two indoor showers
-All showers and kitchen have hot water
-In addition, in the back of Patsy Lindsey's house, we have rented two large secure store rooms for tools and materials. Adjacent to these is a 1/2 bath that is ours.
-If a team exceeds 15, we have arrangements with Patsy to rent a large room contiguous with our store rooms and 1/2 bath. That room has a set of bunk beds, a queen size bed, and a twin bed giving sleeping arrangements for up to 6 more missioners.
-Kitchen area has a gas stove, microwave, hot and cold water, a twin sink, and a large refrigerator
-All beds in the mission house will be outfitted with mosquito nets
-There are ample electric fans, but there is no air conditioning
_____________________________________________________________
Summer Projects:
Ms. Morrison's house / Seaside:
Ms. Morrison is an elderly lady in the Seaside community with a home in the marshy area adjacent to a swamp in the Seaside area. Two rooms - her bedroom and the one her 5 year old grandson uses are both about to fall down. The side facing the sea, from which the rain comes, has old rotten newspaper covering the inside walls to keep the rain out. In January, there were 4-5 pigeons on the young boy's bed, tables, and other furniture. The floor is falling, the roof rafters are rotten and falling and in places and sticks are holding the walls up. We made temporary repairs in January and now we plan to come in with a masonry foundation and erect 3 walls to attach to the structurally sound existing portion of house. The addition will be approximately 12' x 22'.
Ms. Morrison's House
Middle and right portions are to be replaced
Bedroom with newspaper on wall (note stick holding rafters)
Little boy's room. (note pigeons)
_____________________________________________________________
House at Prospect:
This is the house of a family of 4, a mom and 3 children. The walls and ceiling are made of old rusted reclaimed tin with hundreds if not thousands of holes. The entire house is leaning and it has a dirt floor with scraps of carpet lying on top of the dirt. The house is approximately 10' x 10' and there are two full size beds in it. There is no electricity or running water in the house. When we saw her, the mom had been sick for several weeks. We paid for her to go to the doctor and for her medication. She had been getting cold and wet. (Yes, even we got cold in Jamaica at night). Her house has so many holes that the wind and rain blow right through it. We plan to have some Jamaicans build a masonry foundation before we arrive. We plan to build a house with plywood walls and a tin roof. The finished structure should be about 14' x 14'.
_____________________________________________________________
Stokeshall Basic School:
Stokeshall is a small community between Port Morant and Duckenfield. You drive through it on the way to Muirton Boys Home or to Port Antonio. The basic school is attached to the back of a church. All the structures are masonry, but old and apparently built before steel was used routinely in such structures. The school had 2 rooms, but the roof of one was destroyed by Hurricane Dean in September. The remaining room is approximately 10' x 10', has a concrete floor with a slant of approximately 15 degrees. The room shares a wall with the back of the church. The church wall has numerous cracks in it, at the top; it has moved approximately 6 inches from the roof and is leaning approximately 10 degrees toward the children. There are large cracks (some you could stick you hand in) in the nearby wall that have sun shining through them. The school had 30 children prior to the hurricane, but has had to reduce that to 20. There are 20 children and one teacher in this 10' x 10' room. We are very concerned that this tall leaning cracked wall could fall killing many of the children. Also, since Jamaica has many earthquakes, the chance of this happening is great.
Our plan is to go to a level lot approximately 250' away and build a free-standing building, approximately 12' x 20'. We will ask local labors to build a masonry foundation before we arrive, then we will build a building with plywood walls and a tin roof. We may have to do the internal electrical connections and some plumbing as well.
Room destroyed by Hurricane Dean
Room for 20 children. Note slanting floor and wall on left.
_____________________________________________________________
Duckenfield:
Duckenfield is a community that surrounds the sugar factory in the cane fields on the eastern most point of Jamaica. The area is quite flat and low. Thousands of people live in this area and it is very economically distressed. To our knowledge, there are no mission efforts or relief efforts in the area. Billy Graham, a Jamaican tent evangelist, targets this area frequently. Bobbie Langer, the American missionary, has told us of the great needs in the area. Apparently, once they announced they were bringing some used clothing and hundreds lined up to get some of the clothing. She said one elderly lady came up and was asked what she wanted or needed. The lady said: "If I could just get anything, I would be happy."
I have asked people familiar with the area if there were ever any Vacation Bible School programs in the area for the children. No one had any knowledge of one having been conducted in the area. So, we have decided to try to have a Vacation Bible School there. Logistically, it will be a little more challenging, but it is greatly needed in the area. Also, Billy says the youth there have nothing to do, and he says that it is worse in that respect than Port Morant. So, if we can get the right kind of team with youth leaders and/or musicians, we hope to do something with youth in the afternoons or evenings. Billy will also set his tent up in the area and we may use that as well.
_____________________________________________________________
Computer Lab:
When the Langers, the missionary family, first came to Port Morant, Jamaica, they had approximately 8 computers set up in their dining room and used them as a computer learning laboratory for the local children. During the morning, many of the area Basic Schools (similar to our kindergartens) would bring their classes to the house for computer learning. After school, children would line up in front of the house. They would allow 8 in at a time for 30 minute computer lessons. After a while, they would have hundreds of children line up in front of their gate. Eventually, the public elementary school had to choose which children could come to the lab. Over time, with the many power surges and low voltage, the computers died and the computer lab ended.
Obviously, computers are rare in the area. There is one computer in the public library. The Basic Schools do not have them, and we doubt there is much availability in the elementary and high schools. We have over the last 14 month been purchasing toy Barbie computers for the Special Needs School in Lyssons and many have been placed in the Basic Schools. These Basic Schools have no technology of any kind. These Barbie computers have been very well received by the students and the teachers.
We have wanted to re-establish a real computer lab in the community, but we have had trouble finding the proper place. Recently, we began discussions with the local Catholic Church which had an old non-operating computer lab. We have reached an agreement with that church to jointly provide the computer lab. The church will provide the space, utilities, security, and personnel whereas we will provide the computers and the technical expertise to set up the lab. Plans are to complete this on our summer trips.
_____________________________________________________________
January 2008 Trip Report:
The trip in January was fantastic. We had a rather small all male team, but we hired a few Jamaican's to work with us to multiply our effectiveness and to minister to them on the job site as well. Our main project was to rebuild a house on a hill that had been totally destroyed by Hurricane Dean. This house was approximately 16' x 16' and housed a man, wife, a daughter and a grandchild. The location was difficult to access because it was up a very steep hill with no road. There was initially no electricity and there was no water. We used a generator until it burned up 2 circular saws. We also had a nonfunctioning air compressor. This house was completed in 3 days. We had a dedication of the house and the wife started crying, dancing, and praising God. It was probably the most moving experience we had ever had in Jamaica. Those 10 minutes on that hill were worth the entire cost of the trip.
Our next project was to help an extended family of 18 living in a 3 room house with each room being 10' x 10'. 14 of these people were children. The room housing 8 of them had several large holes in the roof and the tin had been damaged by Hurricane Dean. Also, before the hurricane, they had a small lean-to room on the side of the house that served as a kitchen. Since the hurricane, they had been doing all their food preparation outside in an unprotected area. Imagine cooking outside for a family of 18. In November, they had rain every day with flooding. We built two small attached rooms for kitchens and repaired the roof. The following Sunday, we saw 17 of the 18 in church.
Next, we helped provide temporary repairs to Ms. Morrison's house (see above - to be one of the projects for this summer).
We also made repairs on the leaking roof at Lyssons Special Needs School.
Lastly, we helped Ms. McKenzie. Ms. McKenzie is in her late 70's. She lives in a one room house that is about 10' x 10'. She has a dirt floor with plastic sheeting and carpet scraps on it. The foundation is just a pile of rocks. Her house is about 18 inches above sea level and her dirt floor is always damp. The roof was tin and had numerous holes. She had pieces of plastic bags attached to rafters to divert the largest leaks away from her bed. On the floor is a charcoal stove where she cooks. Carbon monoxide poisoning is not a concern because there is no way to block the air. The front door was a sheet of tin she bends back to open. When we realized we had time, we tore off her old roof and replaced it. We build a new hinged window and a hinged plywood door with a hasp so she could lock it. We visited with her in March and she was very happy. Ms. McKenzie survives on approximately $25 per month.
Was this trip a success? One of the team members who was in Jamaica for the first time sent us the following email: "I am looking forward to the next trip. As I told you I would like to bring my 16 year old son. It will probably be summer before we can go but all the same I look forward to it. Doc that was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had."
Ms. McKenzie's House
House with 14 children after Hurricane Dean
Inside small kitchen
After repairs
_____________________________________________________________
March 2008 Trip
The March trip was primarily to prepare the Mission House for the summer teams and to search for summer projects, but God showed us a need. In the mountains west of Duckenfield in an area called Rollinsfield, there was a man, his wife, and a young boy whose home had been destroyed by Hurricane Dean. The family was living in the crawl space of a church. There was no electricity, no water, no toilet, and they had no fuel for their camping stove. The Jamaican government had given them enough money to purchase approximately 30% of the materials needed to rebuild his 8' x 12' house. The husband had gone into the woods cut poles with his machete and skinned the bark off them. He had used these to frame the house. He needed more plywood, more tin, nails, concrete, and hinges as well as some carpentry help. We planned to take this as a summer project until we learned that the church was evicting the family from the crawl space on May 1. So, we bought them a tank of propane for cooking, then purchased all the needed supplies and had them delivered to the site. We also paid to hire two carpenters for 2 days to complete the house. This cost approximately $500 U.S. that we had not expected to spend. 3 days after we returned, I was relating the story to some Christian friends. One pulled me aside later and pulled a previously completed check for $500. God had put it on this man's heart to contribute almost the exact amount even before he knew the story. God is great!
Crawl space beneath church
Living conditions in crawl space
Terry and family on floor of home site
_____________________________________________________________
As you can see, we have been quite busy in the last few months and have great things planned for the summer. God has been very good and faithful to us. Please pray for Isaiahsixeight and Jamaica. We hope you can join us in our mission by traveling with us on a team, helping us financially, and/or praying for us.
Thank you for your support!
Features of Mission House / Compound:
-Compound is behind Ms. Patsy Lindsey's house and is surrounded by a masonry wall with padlocked iron gates
-Prince, the Langer's German Shepherd, is Isaiahsixeight's guard dog and lives within the fenced area
-The house and store rooms have iron bars protecting all windows, doors, and veranda/balcony
-House has 3 bedrooms, two full baths, a small kitchen, small dining room, a large den and small balcony.
-House is furnished largely through the generosity of the Langers
-The two large bedrooms will each have 3 sets of bunk beds
-The smaller bedroom has one set of bunk beds and a single bed
-Total sleeping capacity in beds in house is 15
-In addition, we have had a small concrete patio built to accommodate plastic chairs and tables
-We have built two outdoor showers in addition to the two indoor showers
-All showers and kitchen have hot water
-In addition, in the back of Patsy Lindsey's house, we have rented two large secure store rooms for tools and materials. Adjacent to these is a 1/2 bath that is ours.
-If a team exceeds 15, we have arrangements with Patsy to rent a large room contiguous with our store rooms and 1/2 bath. That room has a set of bunk beds, a queen size bed, and a twin bed giving sleeping arrangements for up to 6 more missioners.
-Kitchen area has a gas stove, microwave, hot and cold water, a twin sink, and a large refrigerator
-All beds in the mission house will be outfitted with mosquito nets
-There are ample electric fans, but there is no air conditioning
_____________________________________________________________
Summer Projects:
Ms. Morrison's house / Seaside:
Ms. Morrison is an elderly lady in the Seaside community with a home in the marshy area adjacent to a swamp in the Seaside area. Two rooms - her bedroom and the one her 5 year old grandson uses are both about to fall down. The side facing the sea, from which the rain comes, has old rotten newspaper covering the inside walls to keep the rain out. In January, there were 4-5 pigeons on the young boy's bed, tables, and other furniture. The floor is falling, the roof rafters are rotten and falling and in places and sticks are holding the walls up. We made temporary repairs in January and now we plan to come in with a masonry foundation and erect 3 walls to attach to the structurally sound existing portion of house. The addition will be approximately 12' x 22'.
Ms. Morrison's House
Middle and right portions are to be replaced
Bedroom with newspaper on wall (note stick holding rafters)
Little boy's room. (note pigeons)
_____________________________________________________________
House at Prospect:
This is the house of a family of 4, a mom and 3 children. The walls and ceiling are made of old rusted reclaimed tin with hundreds if not thousands of holes. The entire house is leaning and it has a dirt floor with scraps of carpet lying on top of the dirt. The house is approximately 10' x 10' and there are two full size beds in it. There is no electricity or running water in the house. When we saw her, the mom had been sick for several weeks. We paid for her to go to the doctor and for her medication. She had been getting cold and wet. (Yes, even we got cold in Jamaica at night). Her house has so many holes that the wind and rain blow right through it. We plan to have some Jamaicans build a masonry foundation before we arrive. We plan to build a house with plywood walls and a tin roof. The finished structure should be about 14' x 14'.
_____________________________________________________________
Stokeshall Basic School:
Stokeshall is a small community between Port Morant and Duckenfield. You drive through it on the way to Muirton Boys Home or to Port Antonio. The basic school is attached to the back of a church. All the structures are masonry, but old and apparently built before steel was used routinely in such structures. The school had 2 rooms, but the roof of one was destroyed by Hurricane Dean in September. The remaining room is approximately 10' x 10', has a concrete floor with a slant of approximately 15 degrees. The room shares a wall with the back of the church. The church wall has numerous cracks in it, at the top; it has moved approximately 6 inches from the roof and is leaning approximately 10 degrees toward the children. There are large cracks (some you could stick you hand in) in the nearby wall that have sun shining through them. The school had 30 children prior to the hurricane, but has had to reduce that to 20. There are 20 children and one teacher in this 10' x 10' room. We are very concerned that this tall leaning cracked wall could fall killing many of the children. Also, since Jamaica has many earthquakes, the chance of this happening is great.
Our plan is to go to a level lot approximately 250' away and build a free-standing building, approximately 12' x 20'. We will ask local labors to build a masonry foundation before we arrive, then we will build a building with plywood walls and a tin roof. We may have to do the internal electrical connections and some plumbing as well.
Room destroyed by Hurricane Dean
Room for 20 children. Note slanting floor and wall on left.
_____________________________________________________________
Duckenfield:
Duckenfield is a community that surrounds the sugar factory in the cane fields on the eastern most point of Jamaica. The area is quite flat and low. Thousands of people live in this area and it is very economically distressed. To our knowledge, there are no mission efforts or relief efforts in the area. Billy Graham, a Jamaican tent evangelist, targets this area frequently. Bobbie Langer, the American missionary, has told us of the great needs in the area. Apparently, once they announced they were bringing some used clothing and hundreds lined up to get some of the clothing. She said one elderly lady came up and was asked what she wanted or needed. The lady said: "If I could just get anything, I would be happy."
I have asked people familiar with the area if there were ever any Vacation Bible School programs in the area for the children. No one had any knowledge of one having been conducted in the area. So, we have decided to try to have a Vacation Bible School there. Logistically, it will be a little more challenging, but it is greatly needed in the area. Also, Billy says the youth there have nothing to do, and he says that it is worse in that respect than Port Morant. So, if we can get the right kind of team with youth leaders and/or musicians, we hope to do something with youth in the afternoons or evenings. Billy will also set his tent up in the area and we may use that as well.
_____________________________________________________________
Computer Lab:
When the Langers, the missionary family, first came to Port Morant, Jamaica, they had approximately 8 computers set up in their dining room and used them as a computer learning laboratory for the local children. During the morning, many of the area Basic Schools (similar to our kindergartens) would bring their classes to the house for computer learning. After school, children would line up in front of the house. They would allow 8 in at a time for 30 minute computer lessons. After a while, they would have hundreds of children line up in front of their gate. Eventually, the public elementary school had to choose which children could come to the lab. Over time, with the many power surges and low voltage, the computers died and the computer lab ended.
Obviously, computers are rare in the area. There is one computer in the public library. The Basic Schools do not have them, and we doubt there is much availability in the elementary and high schools. We have over the last 14 month been purchasing toy Barbie computers for the Special Needs School in Lyssons and many have been placed in the Basic Schools. These Basic Schools have no technology of any kind. These Barbie computers have been very well received by the students and the teachers.
We have wanted to re-establish a real computer lab in the community, but we have had trouble finding the proper place. Recently, we began discussions with the local Catholic Church which had an old non-operating computer lab. We have reached an agreement with that church to jointly provide the computer lab. The church will provide the space, utilities, security, and personnel whereas we will provide the computers and the technical expertise to set up the lab. Plans are to complete this on our summer trips.
_____________________________________________________________
January 2008 Trip Report:
The trip in January was fantastic. We had a rather small all male team, but we hired a few Jamaican's to work with us to multiply our effectiveness and to minister to them on the job site as well. Our main project was to rebuild a house on a hill that had been totally destroyed by Hurricane Dean. This house was approximately 16' x 16' and housed a man, wife, a daughter and a grandchild. The location was difficult to access because it was up a very steep hill with no road. There was initially no electricity and there was no water. We used a generator until it burned up 2 circular saws. We also had a nonfunctioning air compressor. This house was completed in 3 days. We had a dedication of the house and the wife started crying, dancing, and praising God. It was probably the most moving experience we had ever had in Jamaica. Those 10 minutes on that hill were worth the entire cost of the trip.
Our next project was to help an extended family of 18 living in a 3 room house with each room being 10' x 10'. 14 of these people were children. The room housing 8 of them had several large holes in the roof and the tin had been damaged by Hurricane Dean. Also, before the hurricane, they had a small lean-to room on the side of the house that served as a kitchen. Since the hurricane, they had been doing all their food preparation outside in an unprotected area. Imagine cooking outside for a family of 18. In November, they had rain every day with flooding. We built two small attached rooms for kitchens and repaired the roof. The following Sunday, we saw 17 of the 18 in church.
Next, we helped provide temporary repairs to Ms. Morrison's house (see above - to be one of the projects for this summer).
We also made repairs on the leaking roof at Lyssons Special Needs School.
Lastly, we helped Ms. McKenzie. Ms. McKenzie is in her late 70's. She lives in a one room house that is about 10' x 10'. She has a dirt floor with plastic sheeting and carpet scraps on it. The foundation is just a pile of rocks. Her house is about 18 inches above sea level and her dirt floor is always damp. The roof was tin and had numerous holes. She had pieces of plastic bags attached to rafters to divert the largest leaks away from her bed. On the floor is a charcoal stove where she cooks. Carbon monoxide poisoning is not a concern because there is no way to block the air. The front door was a sheet of tin she bends back to open. When we realized we had time, we tore off her old roof and replaced it. We build a new hinged window and a hinged plywood door with a hasp so she could lock it. We visited with her in March and she was very happy. Ms. McKenzie survives on approximately $25 per month.
Was this trip a success? One of the team members who was in Jamaica for the first time sent us the following email: "I am looking forward to the next trip. As I told you I would like to bring my 16 year old son. It will probably be summer before we can go but all the same I look forward to it. Doc that was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had."
Ms. McKenzie's House
House with 14 children after Hurricane Dean
Inside small kitchen
After repairs
_____________________________________________________________
March 2008 Trip
The March trip was primarily to prepare the Mission House for the summer teams and to search for summer projects, but God showed us a need. In the mountains west of Duckenfield in an area called Rollinsfield, there was a man, his wife, and a young boy whose home had been destroyed by Hurricane Dean. The family was living in the crawl space of a church. There was no electricity, no water, no toilet, and they had no fuel for their camping stove. The Jamaican government had given them enough money to purchase approximately 30% of the materials needed to rebuild his 8' x 12' house. The husband had gone into the woods cut poles with his machete and skinned the bark off them. He had used these to frame the house. He needed more plywood, more tin, nails, concrete, and hinges as well as some carpentry help. We planned to take this as a summer project until we learned that the church was evicting the family from the crawl space on May 1. So, we bought them a tank of propane for cooking, then purchased all the needed supplies and had them delivered to the site. We also paid to hire two carpenters for 2 days to complete the house. This cost approximately $500 U.S. that we had not expected to spend. 3 days after we returned, I was relating the story to some Christian friends. One pulled me aside later and pulled a previously completed check for $500. God had put it on this man's heart to contribute almost the exact amount even before he knew the story. God is great!
Crawl space beneath church
Living conditions in crawl space
Terry and family on floor of home site
_____________________________________________________________
As you can see, we have been quite busy in the last few months and have great things planned for the summer. God has been very good and faithful to us. Please pray for Isaiahsixeight and Jamaica. We hope you can join us in our mission by traveling with us on a team, helping us financially, and/or praying for us.
Thank you for your support!
Author
Donnie Cantley. By the Grace of God, I have been allowed to lead this mission since 1996.
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