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VBS Jamaica 2023 |
Isaiahsixeight, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Christian Mission that has been serving in Eastern Jamaica for many years. Isaiahsixeight was incorporated in 2007, but the mission actually began approximately 13 years earlier. Donnie Cantley (pictured right), has been leading teams there for over 27 years. We estimate there have been over 20 VBS teams we have taken down, conducted VBS in over 8 communities, and serving thousands of Jamaican children.
In 2023, we plan to take one or two VBS teams to Jamaica July 1-8, 2023.
Here are some more details and hopefully answers to questions that may come up?
Safety:
Donnie Cantley and Terry Fry will be leading the teams. Donnie has been there approximately 57 times. Terry has been there approximately 45 times. So, we are quite familiar with the area, the people, and have many trusted friends. We use bus and taxi drivers who have known for over 16 years. The communities where we work are well known to us and are safe. We avoid going out at night. We stay in a hotel compound at night and take most of our meals there.
Donnie is a retired physician. Medical care in Jamaica is not very good, so we try to be very safe to prevent injuries.
What about the Travel Advisory the State Department has issued? Isn’t there a State of Emergency in Jamaica? As of this writing, there is a Travel Advisory and a State of Emergency in Jamaica; however, most of the problems are in Kingston and around Montego Bay. This is mostly gang related activity and also extends to the resort areas on the west and north coasts.
We encourage you to look at a map of Jamaica. Our center of operation is a little town named Port Morant in the extreme southeastern portion of the island. Our VBS locations are within a 10 mile radius of Port Morant. Our hotel is approximately 7 miles east of Port Morant. Crime has not been a problem in that area.
We fly into Kingston airport (KIN) which is on a small peninsula southeast of Kingston proper. So, we do not go into the areas of Kingston where crime is bad. It is costly to fly into Kingston because it is a financial, business, and governmental center and not a tourist area like Montego Bay. It is also closer to our operating base. We will not fly into Montego Bay because of the crime there, it is a 6-8 hour bus ride, and it is more dangerous. Also, we do not travel at night. So, we will not book a flight that arrives in Jamaica after 3 PM. We will be met at the Kingston airport by bus drivers and/or taxi drivers we know and trust.
Accommodations:
We will stay at the Golden Shore Resort in Lyssons. The word resort is a part of the name and I certainly would not call it a resort. It is on the water with a beach, but there is no pool and few other amenities associated with a resort. We have used it for about 10 years. We know the owner and most of the staff. The rooms are clean, there is hot and cold running water, air conditioning, many rooms have mini refrigerators, and there is a dining room, but don’t expect any food options on demand. We will have the hotel staff to prepare breakfast and lunch. We have found the food to be quite good. There are no vending machines or snack bars. There is WiFi Internet, but it is quite limited.
VBS:
This part of Jamaica is the poorest part of Jamaica. Few people have cars. Most people have to walk to churches, so the churches are small. Most of the children have never had an opportunity to attend a VBS. Many will come hungry, so we feed them a nutritious snack before VBS and then lunch. Sometimes, we may divide the teams into two groups and each group will do VBS are two different locations. Donnie Cantley and Terry Fry are both very good at leading teams to Jamaica, but neither are good at VBS. So, we hope we have VBS leaders to organize the VBS with a lot of our assistance.
The children we work with are usually very clean, but very needy and love the attention. Oh, and I almost forgot - English is the official language of Jamaica, so the children will understand you and you can usually understand them, especially the older ones. Some of the older children will have social media accounts, so you may make friends who will contact you even when you return from Jamaica.
Cost:
Trips to Jamaica are more costly than you would expect. There are several reasons for this:
1. Flights to Kingston are quite expensive. Round-trip tickets with assigned seats for that time period are approximately $890. Prediction are that the tickets will increase to as much as $1400 in July.
2. There are no churches with the facilities or personnel to accommodate us. So, we must use a hotel and purchase our meals.
3. We will have to hire buses and taxi drivers to get us to the hotel and churches we are serving. We also make sure a taxi driver is present with a team at each location for safety reasons.
4. Let me assure you that you cost does not benefit the leaders or the mission organization in any way. We pay our own way also. We have no employees. VBS materials will be paid for out of Briarwood Mission Committees allocated funds and/or out of Isaiahsixeight's funds. The cost for participants is just for the actual cost for transportation, meals, and accommodations.
5. Based on all the above, the price is $1,700 per person. Briarwood Presbyterian Church is sponsoring this trip and the Missions committee has allocated money for this trip. Briarwood members might be eligible for up to a 20% scholarship for this trip - making the cost to them approximately $1,300, but they are also expected to write letters asking for support. This price will include airfare, ground transportation in Jamaica, hotel accommodations (see note), and meals. This does not include meals in airports, or transport to and from your US airport.
Dr. Matt Davis - twice
Shane Davis
Isabelle Davis
Bryan Wintersteen
Jim Bragan
Keith Russell
Blake Wintersteen
Ron Martin
Fred Brown
John Stevenson
Mark Adams (former member and son of Steve and Peggy Adams)
There are non-Briarwood members who have been to Jamaica before and have expressed an interest in going back and possibly inviting others. So, these trips may not be exclusive.
Thank you for your consideration of this trip! It will be a great trip with many opportunities to share Christ with others, experience a different culture, meet some real spiritual needs, feed some hungry children, and deepen your love for the World.
I know that this Jamaican mission has been the greatest blessing of my life and it could be yours as well! Please be in prayer for this trip and that God will open the hearts of those in Jamaica and we will be equipped to share Christ with them.
If you have further questions, please contact Donnie Cantley (called “Doc” in Jamaica) at:
vbs.jamaica.2023@gmail.com
In 2023, we plan to take one or two VBS teams to Jamaica July 1-8, 2023.
Here are some more details and hopefully answers to questions that may come up?
Safety:
Donnie Cantley and Terry Fry will be leading the teams. Donnie has been there approximately 57 times. Terry has been there approximately 45 times. So, we are quite familiar with the area, the people, and have many trusted friends. We use bus and taxi drivers who have known for over 16 years. The communities where we work are well known to us and are safe. We avoid going out at night. We stay in a hotel compound at night and take most of our meals there.
Donnie is a retired physician. Medical care in Jamaica is not very good, so we try to be very safe to prevent injuries.
What about the Travel Advisory the State Department has issued? Isn’t there a State of Emergency in Jamaica? As of this writing, there is a Travel Advisory and a State of Emergency in Jamaica; however, most of the problems are in Kingston and around Montego Bay. This is mostly gang related activity and also extends to the resort areas on the west and north coasts.
We encourage you to look at a map of Jamaica. Our center of operation is a little town named Port Morant in the extreme southeastern portion of the island. Our VBS locations are within a 10 mile radius of Port Morant. Our hotel is approximately 7 miles east of Port Morant. Crime has not been a problem in that area.
We fly into Kingston airport (KIN) which is on a small peninsula southeast of Kingston proper. So, we do not go into the areas of Kingston where crime is bad. It is costly to fly into Kingston because it is a financial, business, and governmental center and not a tourist area like Montego Bay. It is also closer to our operating base. We will not fly into Montego Bay because of the crime there, it is a 6-8 hour bus ride, and it is more dangerous. Also, we do not travel at night. So, we will not book a flight that arrives in Jamaica after 3 PM. We will be met at the Kingston airport by bus drivers and/or taxi drivers we know and trust.
Accommodations:
We will stay at the Golden Shore Resort in Lyssons. The word resort is a part of the name and I certainly would not call it a resort. It is on the water with a beach, but there is no pool and few other amenities associated with a resort. We have used it for about 10 years. We know the owner and most of the staff. The rooms are clean, there is hot and cold running water, air conditioning, many rooms have mini refrigerators, and there is a dining room, but don’t expect any food options on demand. We will have the hotel staff to prepare breakfast and lunch. We have found the food to be quite good. There are no vending machines or snack bars. There is WiFi Internet, but it is quite limited.
VBS:
This part of Jamaica is the poorest part of Jamaica. Few people have cars. Most people have to walk to churches, so the churches are small. Most of the children have never had an opportunity to attend a VBS. Many will come hungry, so we feed them a nutritious snack before VBS and then lunch. Sometimes, we may divide the teams into two groups and each group will do VBS are two different locations. Donnie Cantley and Terry Fry are both very good at leading teams to Jamaica, but neither are good at VBS. So, we hope we have VBS leaders to organize the VBS with a lot of our assistance.
The children we work with are usually very clean, but very needy and love the attention. Oh, and I almost forgot - English is the official language of Jamaica, so the children will understand you and you can usually understand them, especially the older ones. Some of the older children will have social media accounts, so you may make friends who will contact you even when you return from Jamaica.
Cost:
Trips to Jamaica are more costly than you would expect. There are several reasons for this:
1. Flights to Kingston are quite expensive. Round-trip tickets with assigned seats for that time period are approximately $890. Prediction are that the tickets will increase to as much as $1400 in July.
2. There are no churches with the facilities or personnel to accommodate us. So, we must use a hotel and purchase our meals.
3. We will have to hire buses and taxi drivers to get us to the hotel and churches we are serving. We also make sure a taxi driver is present with a team at each location for safety reasons.
4. Let me assure you that you cost does not benefit the leaders or the mission organization in any way. We pay our own way also. We have no employees. VBS materials will be paid for out of Briarwood Mission Committees allocated funds and/or out of Isaiahsixeight's funds. The cost for participants is just for the actual cost for transportation, meals, and accommodations.
5. Based on all the above, the price is $1,700 per person. Briarwood Presbyterian Church is sponsoring this trip and the Missions committee has allocated money for this trip. Briarwood members might be eligible for up to a 20% scholarship for this trip - making the cost to them approximately $1,300, but they are also expected to write letters asking for support. This price will include airfare, ground transportation in Jamaica, hotel accommodations (see note), and meals. This does not include meals in airports, or transport to and from your US airport.
- Note - this hotel does not have king or queen size beds. Also, sleeper sofas and rollaway beds are probably not available. Most rooms have one (1) double (full size) bed and the cost above is calculated to have two people in each bed. Rare rooms have two full sized beds. Some rooms have a sofa. If you want something other than to share a double bed with another team member, this may be at an extra cost. Also, if a family is going on this trip, we can possibly make some changes in the accommodations and meals to adjust the pricing. I (Donnie Cantley) expect to be there before the first group arrives. Also, our Terry Fry and Donnie Cantley will be going down to Jamaica May 20-26, 2023 and will make final plans then.
Dr. Matt Davis - twice
Shane Davis
Isabelle Davis
Bryan Wintersteen
Jim Bragan
Keith Russell
Blake Wintersteen
Ron Martin
Fred Brown
John Stevenson
Mark Adams (former member and son of Steve and Peggy Adams)
There are non-Briarwood members who have been to Jamaica before and have expressed an interest in going back and possibly inviting others. So, these trips may not be exclusive.
Thank you for your consideration of this trip! It will be a great trip with many opportunities to share Christ with others, experience a different culture, meet some real spiritual needs, feed some hungry children, and deepen your love for the World.
I know that this Jamaican mission has been the greatest blessing of my life and it could be yours as well! Please be in prayer for this trip and that God will open the hearts of those in Jamaica and we will be equipped to share Christ with them.
If you have further questions, please contact Donnie Cantley (called “Doc” in Jamaica) at:
vbs.jamaica.2023@gmail.com