Jamaica Teaching Ministry 2015

Arriving in Jamaica never gets old or routine.  As the plane dropped out of the sky on the edge of the ocean, I was filled with emotion and excitement.  I passed through customs uneventfully and more quickly than ever before.  Since the Rathbuns are in the U.S. awaiting their visa renewal, I was met at the airport by Pastor Madden of Hillview Baptist Church.  We had a lovely time of fellowship on the 45 minute drive up the mountain to Fairview.  I had barely settled into the "big house" when visitors started arriving.  It was wonderful to see my Jamaican friends again.

Today I attended Bird Mountain Baptist Church.  It included a rugged one hour ride on a road that wound through the mountains and got increasingly narrower until it was only one lane.  I marvel at how fast they drive on these roads.  I was able to see another province of Jamaica (Westmoreland) and some beautiful views of the mountains and sugar cane plantations.  The service began at 10:30 with a unified Sunday School and concluded just after 1:00 p.m.  Then we had a "snack" of sandwiches and pop and a time of fellowship.

I am in Jamaica during the rainy season.  Do you remember that huge, heavy rainstorm we had in June?  Multiply that volume a few times, add a lot of very loud thunder, and you will have an idea of the rain we received here this afternoon.  When it finally cleared, I hiked up to the Wrights home for dinner.  Mrs. Wright specializes in baking cakes - so much for my idea of losing weight on this trip.

If someone had suggested five years ago that I would be here today, I would have laughed incredulously and begun naming reasons why I could never do it.  But on that first Jam 2013 trip, the Lord carved a place in my heart for this ministry.  My love for Fairview and its people far outweighs the challenges of heat, humidity, and wasp nests.  Now I understand all those missionary presentations I heard while growing up, and I have my own story of God's amazing plan for my life.  Thanks be to God!

The building before and after...

The building in November

 


The same room after some work.

Why Fairview? Helping, Equipping and Promoting

Why is EBC investing in Fairview Baptist Bible College in Jamaica? 

There is a January post answer this question.  Click HERE for that post.

I want to share a couple of other answers to this question.

First of all, ongoing support of someone from our church and school is a great investment.  Ken Rathbun is a graduate of Emmanuel Christian School and is the Dean of Academics at FBBC. 

While this is a good reason, one individual is not a reason to support a ministry.

Second, supporting Fairview Baptist Bible College is a multiplication ministry. 

As we go down and lay tile, paint walls and burglar bars and install windows, it equips Fairview staff and students to better serve churches in Jamaica and around the world through leadership preparation, camps and other events.

Third, supporting Fairview Baptist Bible College is supporting a like-minded ministry.

Like minded in doctrine

Like minded in philosophy, Biblical Counseling.  They asked us as a church to send one of our pastors down to teach a Biblical Counseling class.

Here is the description of the class I taught this fall at Fairview.

This class will assist the student in understanding and developing a Biblical counseling ministry in the church.  General Biblical principles along with specific tools to be used in counseling depression, anger, addiction and other problems will be studied.

Helping one from us who is Taking the Word to the World.

Equipping current and future leaders in the church.

Promoting disciple making through Biblical counseling.

Pastor Dave with some of the students
from Fairview Baptist Bible Bible College

Lou's Blog Post

Here is Lou's blog post from Jamaica.   

This was supposed to be posted earlier but we are on Jamaica time.

Lou has been on over 20 mission trips from Columbus, OH to Canada to Brazil to many other places.  He was able to be on this trip with his grandson, Adam. 

Well we have been here for eight days and tomorrow (Monday, April 6) will be leaving.  I must admit I'm really sorry that work is over because we were not able to finish everything we wanted to get done but I think we did enough work to help Dickie and the other men that are going to finish the work before the May 1st deadline. 

When you go on a trip such as this you learn about things about people.  Things you didn't know before.  It is great to hear the testimonies. What is really great is that they'll be your friend as long as you're seeing him because you remember the things that you did on the trip. 

I'm thankful for God and his grace during the trip and the memories He brings to me of past trips.

He is Risen! Prayer request and update

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!

PRAYER

Pray for us as we lead the children's lesson today at Baylife.

Pray for Adam.  He stepped on a nail on Friday.  He has some medicine and is doing better.

UPDATE

In 2013 they underestimated what we could get done in a week so this time they gave us a lot of work to do.

Brian knew we were not going to get every project done.  

We did the following:  

lots of painting, 

set two bathrooms (one has two stools and two sinks and the other has two stools two sinks and two urinals), 

set drywall to make up three offices did not get it mudded and taped

three security doors set

laid a lot of tile outside

got most of the building's electrical done.  

So there was a lot done.  

While there is more that we would have liked to get done, we are very pleased with what was done.

Last Day of Work!!!

Be sure to check back tomorrow night for Lou's once every two years blog post.

We completed our last day of work at FBBC.

While there is more we would like to have gotten done. 

There was a tremendous amount of progress.

The young and not so young working together.

Soul Care group members (Pastor Shane and Mindy) along with Lynette posing in front of just some of the doors they sanded, stained and shined up.

 

Our group of very diverse people came together and got a lot of work done and grew together through times of testimony, work and fun.

Members of our groups became known as plumbers, dry-wallers and tilers as they were stretched to learn new skills and work together.

Even meal times provide a great opportunity for the team to work together.  

Rainy Wednesday &Extreme Work Thursday!!!

UPDATE:
Rick is back in the states.  We have not yet heard how his dad is doing.
Krista's arm is doing much better.
Thanks for your prayers.

WEDNESDAY
We had a great morning at one of the nearby elementary schools.

The neighborhood elementary school we visited.

Students singing Jesus Loves Me! with Autumn and the teens.

Abbey shared her testimony and had her picture taken
with one of the students.

Work related, the rain made it a challenging day!

But the team worked hard.

THURSDAY
Schools were not in session so the teens and adults got to work first thing in the morning.  

With much better weather, we were able to get a lot more done.