Isaiahsixeight.org

Jamaica News Spring 2011

2011-05-13T13:07:00.024-05:00

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:

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 (below) 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.

Jamaica Mission News - Fall 2010

2010-10-20T10:32:00.002-05:00

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

Isaiahsixeigh t
"Whom shall I send?" ... "Here am I, Send me!"
www.isaiahsixeight.org
dcantley@isaiahsixeight.org

(205) 201-0168

Summer Missions in Jamaica - 2010

2010-04-18T17:28:00.013-05:00

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) .

Isaiahsixeight / Jamaica Missions Report - Summer 2009

2009-08-31T09:01:00.012-05:00

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.

Stokes Hall Church before repairs (note wiring and pews and compare to below)

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.

Pelham youth group leading worship in repaired Stokes Hall church (also note new wiring and new pews)

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.

Removing the old roof at Lyssons Special Needs School

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.

Rev. Al and Pashion Lewis performing outside a bar and gambling shack

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.

April's new home with 2nd week team (note curtains already up)

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.
Vacation Bible School in newly repaired Stokes Hall Church (Note electrical work and new pews also)

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.

Poor special needs person receiving a Bible and reading glasses

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

http://www.isaiahsixeight.org/

January 2009 Update

2009-01-30T17:31:00.007-06:00

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.
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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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 deductable.

God bless you for your support!

Isaiahsixeight web page

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Early Fall Newsletter - 2008

2008-09-24T11:38:00.054-05:00

God has continued to bless our mission in eastern Jamaica. We had teams there for more than 3 weeks this summer and we were followed by a team from Virginia that was there for 10 days.

While the physical labor we do there is probably the least important thing we do there, we will cite our projects first to frame the other ways God is at work there.

For more photos, see the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Isaiahsixeight.org

Our first work team built a house in Prospect for a mother and 3 children. Their former house had thousands of holes in it and it leaked rain and air. The mother and children were frequently sick from the exposure.

House Before

This house was built in approximately 2 days.

After completion of the house in Prospect, the team moved to the Seaside community to do the promised work on Ms. McKenzie’s house (see previous blog including before photos). This required selective demolition of approximately ½ of her home and then rebuilding it and reinforcing the remaining portion. This gave Ms. McKenzie a safe, sound, and dry structure for her and her 6 year old grandson. There were also many children (too many) in the area and they were underfoot during much of the construction. We also had opportunities to play with them.

The first week team was also attended the graduation at Stokes Hall Basic School. We were all given seats of honor for the ceremony. Of course the children were beautiful.

We were invited to this because of the promise to build them a new basic school on our second week. The school they had was a single room that is about 10 feet square and in it, they had 20 students and a teacher. This concrete block structure was attached to a church and the entire structure was about to collapse. We felt that the structure was much too unsafe for the children.

Old Stokes Hall Basic School

A smaller group of our first week team installed a 7 station computer lab in the Port Morant Catholic Church where there had been a computer lab previously. They spent time working on the installation, securing the system, and teaching the teachers how to use it. This is the only computer lab in the area. Computer training is extremely lacking in this area.

The second week team had a construction element and a ministry element. The construction team went to Stokes Hall, where we found a very willing group of local men eager to help build the school. As a result, the school was erected in 2 days. Our work there allowed us to also engage the men in devotions. Most of these men were unchurched.

The second week team also had 3 young women who ministered to teenage girls in Port Morant. They had talks, sermons, socials, and crafts. Many of the talks and sermons were about living in the light, sexual purity, making good Christian decisions, etc. These teenage girls were very much impacted by the work of our young women.

Also, on two mornings, our young women went to Stokes Hall and had an impromptu Vacation Bible School with approximately 30 children.

At the beginning of the 3rd week, we went to a Jamaican wedding. In March, we had helped a couple rebuild their home that was destroyed previously by Hurricane Dean and they were living under a church (see previous blog).

This couple had been living together for close to 20 years and had 3 children. We strongly encouraged them to get married and our persistence paid off. It was very exciting for us to be invited as special guests.

Later that same afternoon, we were invited to participate in the dedication of the Stokes Hall Basic School that had been built the week before. This was yet another opportunity for us to be involved with the community.

The 3rd week team was primarily a team from First United Methodist Church of Alexander City, Alabama. Their goal was to conduct a Vacation Bible School in Duckenfield. Duckenfield is a very poor community on the eastern point of Jamaica. It is largely a sugar cane field with a sugar processing plant. The workers in the area mostly work in the cane fields or at the plant. The plant closes for long periods of time leaving the workers unemployed. Cane cutters there get $300 JD ($4.28 US) per ton for cane they cut by hand.

We talked to several people in Duckenfield and no one could remember there ever being a Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the community. As a matter of fact, many of the children who attended had never seen a white person. Here is a report from the leader of this VBS:

The Duckenfield VBS team shared the Miracles of Jesus with 58 beautiful Jamaicans each day. We had children from age 4 to 14 and even a baby or two! Mothers and grandmothers brought their children to sing and learn about the love Jesus shared by performing miracles for the people He encountered on His walk.

Each day of our VBS we did coloring sheets that portrayed the Bible Story and acted out the story while reading it to the children. The children then answered questions about the Bible passage from that day and the days before. We really felt the children were learning about the love of Jesus in a brand new way.

We also sang songs each day and the children especially loved the words and motions to the song “I’m Diggin’ Life”. This is a song about digging life while splashing in the living waters of Jesus Christ and soaking in the “Son”. We wish everyone could have experienced the children of Jamaica jumping and singing along to the motions our kids made up to the song.

Recreation each day consisted of relay races, Duck Duck Goose, and some Jamaican games the children taught us! We ended each day with a craft such as sand art or scratch art and then after “Diggin’ Life” at least three more times, the children went home singing!

Our team was truly blessed by our days at the Duckenfield VBS!

Also, during all 3 weeks, but more so in the last week, there was work on the pig project. We selected a family of hard working people who lost everything in Hurricane Dean. Last winter, we built them a house. Now, we have built them a concrete pig pen, purchased a pregnant pig, and had water run to the pig pen. The plans are to take some of the pigs from the litter after they are weaned, give some to others who want to start raising pigs, sell some to the market to raise money for more pig feed, sell some to support the family, and start the cycle again. This is comparable to the better known Heifer Project.

One really realizes how good we have it. We ran water to their home for use by the pigs. The man and woman living there say it is the first time in their entire lives that they have had running water (and this is not even running to their house).

Well, we accomplished a lot: built a home for 4; installed a computer lab for 7; did a major rebuild of a house for 2; built a basic school; built a pig pen, etc. However, these activities were not as great as the intangible things we built: relations with a family and community at a wedding, seeing God at work in the family where we had planted a seed; seeing a community come together with Christians to build a Christian Basic School; conducting a VBS in a poor neglected community; working with teen girls; having community members attend our devotions in our mission home; having community members to come visit at nights; working closely with a family to offer them hope that a pig will give them opportunities to feed themselves and send an adopted grandson to school; to see our taxi driver of many years come to learn how to serve others and take lead in work on the pig project; see both of our taxi drivers start feeling the tug of the Holy Spirit and movement toward Christ. Likewise, team members from the U.S. saw God at work and moving in their own lives.

God showed us a lot in Jamaica. He has opened our eyes to other mission opportunities and He is moving us to more direct relational ministry – more involvement with the communities, families, and people we touch.

We have tentative plans for a very small team to return in October or November, 2008, a team in winter 2099, one in spring of 2009 and one in the summer of 2009. We will also expand on our Jamaican Christmas Angel project and continue to support other ministries even when we are not there.

We appreciate you continuing prayers and financial support for this mission.

Hurricane Gustav and related news:

Gustav hit Jamaica as a very strong tropical storm, just under the wind speed of a Category 1 hurricane, but it brought flooding rains and was on the island for more than 12 hours. The eye passed directly over Duckenfield, Golden Grove, Stokes Hall, and Rollinsfield. Baba and Joyce - the couple who had their home destroyed by Hurricane Dean and who were living under the church lost the roof off the house we had just helped them rebuild in March. We helped them purchase more tin (zinc) and some lumber. The original framing was with round tree limbs he had cut. So, we hope that the timbers and hurricane straps will help prevent this from occurring again.

Also, the rains in the Blue Mountains came into the valleys and washed again some homes as well as the bridge at Harbourview (very near the airport). This cut St. Thomas and Portland off from Kingston and goods and supplies had to be trucked over the mountains to the north coast then via Portland to St. Thomas. For a while, there was a shortage of gasoline and food. We distributed some aid (food primarily) in the week following the storm. Because of a gasoline shortage, buses and taxis could not operate so schools were closed for over a week. A temporary bridge has been constructed relieving some of the shortages.

Also - Delroy's pig gave birth to a litter of 8. That is an appropriate number for the first litter in the Isaiahsixeight project.

Spring 2008 News

2008-04-15T13:16:00.012-05:00

Jamaica Spring 2008 Newsletter

Since our last newsletter, we have been quite busy in Jamaica. God has blessed us and our ministry greatly. In January, we built a home destroyed by Hurricane Dean in September, we repaired a damaged home where 14 children lived, we did major repairs on two other homes, as well as repairing the roof on a Special Needs School. We also rented a mission house. Bobbie and Hank Langer, missionaries there in Port Morant, have sold their Port Morant home, necessitating the need for renting of a home there. Jerry Cole's team from Blackstone, Virginia came and made significant improvements on the property. The Langers also supervised and worked to have our rental home painted and cleaned. Then, they were kind and generous to move many of their furnishings into the house and to leave most of their tools for future missions. Also, in January, we had discussions with the Catholic Church in Port Morant to jointly set up a computer lab there onsite.

In March, a team of two went to Jamaica to do some work at the mission house/compound and to make arrangements for summer mission teams. A very significant need was identified that could not wait for the summer and provisions were made for a house to be built.

For the summer, we are planning for mission teams to be present June 28-July 19. This will probably be mostly 3 one week teams; however, there are some team members who will stay longer than one week. We also know already that these teams will represent at least 3 different church congregations.

Also, please keep Vickie Moore's misison team from Virginia in your prayers. They are conducting a medical mission there in the St. Thomas parish. Also, keep Hank Langer in your prayers. He is having some significant heart problems and has been in the hospital.

Many details and stories are below:

Summer trips
Isaiahsixeight news
Mission House / Compound
Details of Summer projects
January 2008 trip
March 2008 trip
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Summer trips

June 25 - Donnie Cantley and hopefully at least one other person will go as an advance team to purchase supplies, ready the rental house, survey the projects, and get materials in place.

June 28- July 5 - First week mission trip - The plans are to work in Seaside to finish the work on Ms. Morrison's home. Some of you will remember this as the home in the swampy area with collapsing wall and ceiling that houses her grandson. His room was the one that was inhabited by pigeons as well. (We are happy to say, that at our very strong recommendation, the pigeons have been eradicated). A second project will be to build a house in the Prospect area. The current house is a house made of tin (they call it zinc) walls and roof. There are hundreds of holes in the walls and roof. The house is leaning badly, it has a dirt floor, and there is no electricity. The mom of the house has been very sick because of the rain and inability to restrain the wind. There are also 3 children living in the house. We may also begin work on a computer lab to be housed at the Catholic Church - depending on interest of team members; this project may be continued or delayed until the other weeks.

July 5 - 12 - Second week mission trip - For years, the Langers have told us that the Basic School (kindergarten) in Stokeshall was the worst they have seen. Also, the Hurricane destroyed 1/2 of it in September. The building housing the Basic School is very unsafe as well as the attached church are in danger of collapsing. We have decided to build a replacement Basic School approximately 250 feet from the existing one. Also, we are considering conducting a Vacation Bible School (VBS) there as well. This week of VBS could be interchanged with one listed under week 3.

July 12-19 - Third week mission trip - There will be building this week - probably completion of the Stokeshall Basic School as well as some other projects God will show us in the prior weeks. We hope this week to also do some ministry in the Duckenfield area. Duckenfield is one of the most economically depressed areas we have seen. It is the area around the sugar factory which is populated mainly by sugar cane cutters and a few factory workers. The work is seasonal and they only operate approximately 6 months per year. A cane cutter is paid by how much cane he cuts by hand with a machete. The pay is about $1.25 (U.S. equivalent) per ton of cane he cuts. As you can see, this is a very depressed area. We plan on conducting a VBS here and possibly a youth rally or youth ministry depending on team composition. Also, Billy Graham, the Jamaican evangelist, will set up his tent in Duckenfield for our use and he may do a revival at nights in the area.

Note: We are hoping that some youth leaders and musicians will be among our team members. Depending upon the team makeup for the particular weeks, we could move the Duckenfield ministry and the Stokeshall projects to make the best use of team members.
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Trip details:

Cost: The high cost of oil has caused an increase in airfare. As a result, we had had to increase the cost of the trips. We have set the price at $1,200.00 U.S. for the usual one week trip. This will include transportation to and from airports, airfare, meals in Jamaica, room, board, building materials/mission supplies, and one day of group sightseeing/tourist activities. The only reason you would need additional money is for souvenirs, incidental snacks, and donations for other needs you may desire to help.

Team composition: We can accommodate no more than 21 missioners at any one time, so please sign up early. We accept Christians of any denomination, but we retain the right to interview the team members to determine compatibility with team members, etc. and we reserve the right to refuse anyone.

Contact: Please contact Donnie Cantley to reserve a spot or for further information at dcantley@isaiahsixeight.org or call 205-967-7999.

Deadlines:

May 15, 2008 - Isaiahsixeight will need a nonrefundable deposit of $600 by May 15 and the following data faxed to 205-969-3797:
Name on Passport
Date of Birth
Expiration Date of Passport

June 15, 2008 - Isaiahsixeight will need the remaining $600 (total of $1,200) along with a color copy of your passport, completed medical information and release.
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Isaiahsixeight News:

Tax Exempt Status Obtained!

We are extremely pleased to announce that Isaiahsixeight has received its tax-exempt status under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This tax-exempt status is retroactive for contributions from March 9, 2007. You may now make contributions directly to Isaiahsixeight; however, Riverchase United Methodist Church, the church primarily involved with the formation of Isaiahsixeight will still take donations made out to it and earmarked for Isaiahsixeight. Some other churches may also forward contributions to Isaiahsixeight, but one should get permission from the church before doing so. Soon, we hope to have the ability to accept donations via credit card.

Mission House / Compound Rented in Port Morant, St. Thomas, Jamaica

Since the foundation of Isaiahsixeight, we have been faced with the possibility of Hank and Bobbie Langer, the missionaries in Port Morant, might move. They have been trying to sell their home and move back to Missouri. Isaiahsixeight entered negotiations to buy the house, but it was sold to a man from England. We feel God was in this, because we found a great house to rent just two lots north of the Langer home. The house needed a lot of work to make it suitable, but the expense and investment of buying a home was avoided leaving Isaiahsixeight with the ability to direct more of its funds toward meeting needs and less toward meeting mortgage payments, etc. See more below:

Mission House

Mission House / Compound

Kitchen

Small Bedroom

Living Room
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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
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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)
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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'.

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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!
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Fall News

2007-10-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

January Mission trip to Jamaica!

We have set a date (actually date range) for our next planned trip. It will be the week of Jan. 12-19, 2008. Since Martin Luther King Day is the next Monday, some of us may wait until then to return - giving us a few more days there. Staying the extra few days would give us a free Saturday so we can possibly spend some time with children either at Muirton Boys Home or in the Port Morant area. The children will probably be in school during the week. We suspect that the trip will cost close to $1,000. The greatest variable is cost of the flights - one we cannot control.
If there is enough demand or another church group wants to plan a team for another week, we can assist with that and I will be willing to stay there longer or go earlier to assist.

We have not set our primary projects for the January 2008 trip. What we decide to do may depend upon the team makeup. Also, we wanted to deliberately plan for less manual labor and more time for building relationships. We have talked about working in the Seaside area - repairs to homes that were damaged by the hurricane, etc. Of course, we might be able to work in the schools as well if the team so desires.
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Tentative Plans for future mission trips:

We are also hoping we can have a team for Spring Break - March 15-22, 2008. If another church from another area wants to plan a trip and has a different time for Spring break, we will try to make that work as well. Projects will depend upon team makeup, but if we have youth and musicians, we may want to do a nightly youth rally.
We are also planning a trip for June 28-July 5, 2006. We believe the children in Jamaica will be out of school and we can plan a Vacation Bible school and work with the boys at Muirton Boys Home.

If you have interest in one of our trips, please let us know. We will have to make plans for the January 12-19, 2008 trip very soon.

Email: info@isaiahsixeight.org
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Joy in Jamaica - a Christmas ministry

We are changing our Christmas focus this year. For many years, we have purchased gifts and/or sent money for Christmas presents and food for the poor at Christmas time. Riverchase United Methodist Church, where much of these ministry efforts began, has as its motto: "Sharing the Joy of Christ" . As we celebrate Christ's birth, what a better time to share the joy that is Christ! Our plans are to find individuals and families who are in need, make those known and pray that sponsors will step forward to share their joy with these people. We hope to send money to Audrey, our helper in Jamaica, to purchase the items and present them to those in need for Christmas. For families, we are considering flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil, soap powder, and similar things. For the children, we are thinking a gift bag may contain a small toy (probably less that $5 U.S.), socks, underwear, a book, and maybe a pencil.

It has been our experience that most of the children in the area will not receive a gift for Christmas unless we help provide it. So, help us Share the Joy of Christ at Christmas in Jamaica. We will have more information about this soon.
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Other news:
- We are launching an email newsletter. If you are not on our email list, please got to: http://www.isaiahsixeight.org/maillist.html and sign in.
- There have been heavy rains in Jamaica causing some damage to the back wall of the Langer's Mission house. The good news is it appears Hurricane Noel will miss them.
- Earl B produced a great video about our July 2007 trip please see it at: www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a02c7fa1deea7e114955

Please keep Jamaica and Isaiahsixeight in your prayers!

Update from Trip September 19, 2007

2007-09-27T13:45:00.000-05:00

On September 19, 2007, four of us returned to Jamaica to survey and document the damage from Hurricane Dean, as well as plan future trips and conduct some business.
One of our first stops was to stop in and check with Ms. Nunes at the Lysson's Special Needs School. During our July trip, we took her several toy computers for her children. She said they were a great hit with the children, but that she needed some more. Not only are they educational, but they entertain the children while she is working individually with the children. Her new class this year is quite difficult because some of the children have severe learning disabilities. She has asked us for more of the toy computers and some visual aids such as posters with letters, etc.

Then we went to the Seaside community, a fishing village built on marsh land near the sea. As you can see from the photo to the left, some of these homes are less than 30 feet from the sea. There was a lady and two daughters living in this house. Because she was afraid someone would steal all her things, she decided to stay in the house during the hurricane. When she thought her house was doomed, she moved into the tiny masonry structure attached to her house (right back of house) and stayed in it. Water was over her waist when she was rescued from that building.

This home was badly damaged as were many in the area. The walls and the roof of 1/2 of the house were lost. Again, this is the home of one lady and two daughters.

This is another example of damaged homes in Seaside. This is the home for several mothers and children.

This home near Seaside was actually on a very steep hill before the storm. After the storm, it was several hundred feet away, down the hill, and in the road. A family of six lived in this home. The owner is a farmer and is doing lawn work and working other people's gardens just to survive. He cut the grass in the entire church yard of Port Morant Methodist with a machete.

On Friday afternoon, we went to the Muirton Boys Home. It was great, even though many of the boys had not returned from school, but you could sense an renewed sense of pride. First and most obvious, there was a white picket fence around the flower bed that had been constructed by the boys and some of the male instructors there.

Inside, we learned that there were now 22 boys there. Up from 15 in January 2007 and 18 in July. There were 6 of the boys staying in the room were we had replaced the floor in July. The lockers we built were being used and the facility was much neater because of them. Many of the boys had custom painted their lockers, some with artwork. The one to the left has an excerpt from the Lord's Prayer. Also, we noted that according to their daily schedules, they have devotions in the morning and evening. We left Bibles for them on our previous trip. After that, a minister and missionaries went there and had several boys give their lives to Christ. So, the Spirit is moving at that home and the director encouraged us to come back and help further their spiritual development even more.

One of the new boys, who was not there in July when our team helped them paint the mural in the community room, took us into the room, pulled a table away from the wall and pridefully showed us the mural.

We also check on the chicken house. We had left it nearly completed, but we could not find any chicks. We were pleased to know that it was working great and they had cleaned the first batch of chickens a few days before we arrived and they had a freezer filled with them. In the photo, you can see the next batch. The third batch had not been purchased because of the hurricane. They are also planning to buy some layers.

In summary, the hurricane damage was not as severe as we had anticipated, but people are hurting severely. Almost all of the fruit was lost and with that, many jobs no longer exist. There is still a shortage of food, but it is not severe. We see God working in many areas. The soil is fertile and we hope to join Him in his work there soon.

Jamaica Update 9/6/07

2007-09-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

I just talked to Audrey in Port Morant. Apparently things are getting better there. The public water was restored one week ago. The electricity was restored only on Sunday. Land base phones are still not working.

Audrey has spent all the money we sent - buying food and things to help the children get back to school. She still has notepads, paper, pencils, etc. that she is distributing to needy children. She said there is still a lot of suffering in the Seaside Community. Of course, they lost most of their personal possessions, much of their homes, and their livelihood (boats). Recovery of that community will take a long time. Audrey took some photographs and will be sending them soon.

Also, apparently the banana plantation was severely damaged and many of those who worked there now have no work. So, the depressed economy there is even more depressed.

All of this, yet you read the Kingston newspaper (on-line) and there is barely any mention of the hurricane there now.

Audrey said that even Hurricane Felix which was no closer than 260 miles or so from Jamaica caused very rough seas and wind for them. She said other than sand and salt spray; however, there was little damage from it.

Also, several of us are planning to travel down either late this month or early next month. The purposes of this trip are to: survey the damage, document the damage with photos, open a bank account, go into Kingston to evaluate the availability of tools that we can buy there and not have to ship, plan the projects and focus of our next trip. So, pray that we are led by God on this trip.

Donnie

Summary of new Report from Port Morant

2007-08-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

I had a long talk with Audrey. It doesn't sound too desperate there, but I think there is not much she can do. Apparently it has been raining a lot and many of the people who have inadequate shelter are getting wet again and are having trouble keeping things dry.

Food is still a big problem. Without electricity, they are having trouble producing some of the food items. Also, apparently the stores have very little, so she cannot buy food for the people. They cleaned out all the food at the church. When they did buy food, they went to the Seaside community and made people line up. She told them that we are the ones who made it available.

She has money left and is looking to buy shoes, uniforms, and school books for the children. Sounds like they may have lost what little they had. Sounds like the food emergency has passed or she has resigned herself to the fact that there is none to buy.

Thank you from Jamaica

2007-08-28T08:17:00.000-05:00

Many times, we give sacrificially or go on mission trips and work very hard in difficult situations and expect someone to thank us. Of course, if we are doing it for our own recognition, we are doing it for the wrong reasons. Or, we do the work and even afterward, we question whether we really did anything significant.

We received a response from our blog yesterday that deserves repeating, because it answers some of the questions about what we are doing in Jamaica. The response is from Fern McFarlane, wife of Rev. Wayneford McFarlane. Rev. McFarlane was the Methodist minister in the Port Morant area around 1996. He now serves in the area around Spanish Town. Fern is highly educated and has a position with the Ministry of Education. She was been one of our invaluable advisors early in the formation of Isaiahsixeight.

Here is an excerpt from her email:

Thank you all for your prayers and practical support. The hurricane has indicated that God is blessing the work you do here. Evidence of God's blessings on your efforts are seen in the fact that the house you built stood firm; the money you sent was at hand to help alleviate immediate needs; the church hall you refurbished was sturdy and dry to house people who had to flee their homes...

God bless you and your families. I also pray that He will expand and strengthen Isaiahsixeight.

Yours in Christ,

Fern McFarlane

I believe that Fern has the right idea, but may have a part of it backwards. God is probably not blessing our work because of our efforts, but He is blessing the work we are doing because we are doing His work. Better yet, we want to be doing the work that God is blessing, because that is His work and His will.

Also, if Isaiahsixeight is to expand and strengthen then, we have to do it not for Isaiahsixeight or for our own purposes, but because it is God’s work we are doing.

Please join us as we try to do God’s work and what He is blessing.

Hurricane Dean Aftermath in Port Morant

2007-08-24T17:25:00.000-05:00

Finally an accurate report of the Hurricane Dean Aftermath in Port Morant area!

Audrey in Port Morant borrowed her husband’s cell phone to call today. Following is her report:

The damage in the area was very bad. She said this was a very bad hurricane. Many roofs were lost. The area is expected to be without electricity for more than a week longer. The water came on for a very short time this morning, but then was off the rest of the day and is unclean and has to be boiled.

The Seaside community was severely damaged. All the homes there received severe damage from water and most lost their roofs. Some homes were mostly destroyed. 22 adults and 23 children from the Seaside community took refuge in the Fellowship Hall of the Port Morant Methodist Church – a structure we helped construct in 2001. After the hurricane past, they went back to their village to see the severe destruction. Audrey says they lost most of their personal possessions. They are trying to scavenge the zinc (we would call it tin roofing) and nail it back in place. Most of the wood siding (largely plywood) was lost from the homes. They are trying to nail what they can find back.

She also said that food is a serious problem. She and Sharon went yesterday and today to Morant Bay to buy food. Apparently there are long lines at the food stores and a shortage of sugar, rice, and flour. The stores are rationing it. Tonight, she and June are returning to try to buy more food. They are using the food for the Seaside community and others who are suffering. Apparently, food is a big problem. Also we would suspect that the mangoes and other fruits are damaged as well. She did say that many of the trees are down.

Also, zinc is in short supply and cannot be obtained. This will greatly hinder reconstruction. We would suspect other building materials would be in short supply also.

Morant Bay, the largest town and government seat of the province, just received power today. Yesterday, the nurses at the hospital there had a demonstration in the street to draw attention to the fact that they still had no electricity or water.

As severe as the damage was, Audrey tells of only one death in the St. Thomas province. That was a 14 year old girl in the Whitehorses area. Apparently there were concrete blocks placed on the roof of her house to hold down the zinc. The zinc blew off and the concrete block fell and hit the girl in the head. Her family tried to get her to the hospital, but could not because of the water washing out the road. They took her back to Whitehorses Methodist Church (another one of our previous work sites) where she died.

We had previously sent money to Audrey just before the storm to help the Seaside children with school expenses. I told her to use the money to relieve suffering any way she could. She has told the people of Seaside we were praying for them and that we were helping buy the food for them. She said they expressed a lot of gratitude to us.

We talked about coming back and helping with the housing in Seaside. We discussed the relocation of the community, but land availability may be a major issue. They are squatting on this land. Also, it is a fishing community and Audrey said all the boats were smashed. So, not only did these people lose most of their homes and possessions, but their meager livelihood as well.

These people will not have the luxury of FEMA trailers, gift cards, or government assistance. Right now, they need zinc, plywood, food, and clean water. Once they get these necessities, they will need boats.

One other interesting side note – on previous trips, we built two plywood homes with zinc roofs - Stephen’s house and Valerie’s house. Stephen and his three children rode the hurricane out in his house. I talked to his daughter who said it had no damage, but it did leak. Audrey said it had absolutely no damage. Valerie and her daughter started out in her house, but apparently it started shaking violently so they went next door to a masonry structure. Audrey said it was amazing, but there was no damage to either house. I told her that was a miracle. She said it was because God had built those houses. I told her “Yes, God and a couple of fools”.

Stephen's house upon completion in 2004

Valerie's house upon completion in 2005

Donnie

Hurricane Dean

2007-08-18T19:31:00.000-05:00

These are children who live in the Seaside community, a village of fisherman that is only approximately 18 inches above sea level near Port Morant, Jamaica. Port Morant and Seaside are both on the southeast coast of Jamaica, the area that appears to be the main target area for Hurricane Dean. A storm surge of 3 feet would literally wash the village away. Isaiahsixeight has been aiding these children for years. Our recent mission trip there included a Vacation Bible School that catered to these children.

We have already wired money to Jamaica in anticipation of damage to this village. Please pray that they will safely weather this storm. If you would like to help, please send an email to info@isaiahsixeight.org.

Jamaica Mission Trip July 2007 report

2007-08-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

Being on our recent mission trip to Jamaica, it was obvious that God had prepared the way and was with us. We accomplished every task we had planned – a very full agenda, but as usually happens, God showed us other needs, He gave us added energy, and He found the resources for us to address these needs. Also, the community responded and we planted some seeds that already have been harvested by a subsequent mission team.

On Sunday, we attended a local Methodist Church and then Rev. Jack Hinnen and about 6 of our team members rode in the back of a pickup truck for approximately 8 miles into the jungle to preach at another church. On Sunday afternoon, the entire team went to Muirton Boys Home, the boy’s orphanage where we planned to begin working on Monday. Our plans were to show the entire team what the projects were there and to evaluate the various projects and plan the strategy to attack the projects.

We had originally planned for a team from Alexander City First United Methodist Church to stay in the community of our mission home in Port Morant Monday through Thursday doing a Vacation Bible School in the mornings and other work in the community in the afternoons. However, after seeing the condition of the Boys Home, things changed. As one of the ladies on the team said: “it looks like a prison without bars”. So, immediately, they hatched the plan to paint a lot of the rooms and paint a large mural on the community room wall. This would require them to ride for 55 min. each way in the afternoon to get to the Boys Home for these projects. Of course, neither the extra two taxis each way nor the paint was in the budget.

Also, that Sunday afternoon, we learned that the bathrooms were locked. Why? They had no water. None! And they had not had any for quite a while. We also learned that the boys had to walk down the mountain for approximately ½ mile to bathe in the river. We learned that even when they had water, there was no pressure during the day. They would collect it at night for use in the kitchen, etc. Part of this was because the pump that was needed to pump the water from the public source up the mountain was broken and had been broken for over two years. So, while this was not a project we had planned to do, our team decided that not only would we try to repair this problem; it would become our most important project. Needless to say, this was also an expensive project which we had not planned. More about this later.

Back to the Vacation Bible School – the Alexander City team was wonderfully prepared and had the help and support of several members of the Port Morant Methodist Church as well as a few others. They built many friendships with the other workers, but what about the children? They were planning the VBS for Monday through Thursday and were using an “Around the World” theme. For example, on the first day, the country was the U.S. They played baseball; all were given a baseball cap, etc. Also, the team gave each child a sandwich to take home, knowing that they may not have anything else to eat.

There was some publicity before we got there, so some of the children were expecting the VBS. To put things in perspective, excluding our mission team and another small mission team visiting, the attendance at church on Sunday was approximately 40 people – mostly adults. On Monday, the VBS had 65 children and everyone was please with the turnout. On Tuesday, there were 85 children. On Wednesday, 100. On Thursday, 125. On Friday, 150. The problem was, that VBS was only Mon – Thur. So, 150 children showed up on Friday and some of the leaders of the children at the church had to come and provide some activities with the children. So, I guess you could say that the VBS was successful.

Back at the Boys Home, we had a team remove a floor in one of the bedrooms, replace all the floor joists, put in a sub floor, install luan, then place vinyl tile on the luan. This repair allowed 3 more sets of bunk beds to be moved into this room.

Another large team built 30 lockers for the boys. These lockers were approximately 18” x 18” and stood approximately 5 feet tall. They had doors and we installed hasps with combination locks. This does not sound like much until you realize the boys had no place to store any personal items. Some of us saw an amazing site – one of the boys lifted up his mattress on his upper bunk and there between the 4” foam mattress and the plywood on which the mattress rested, he had probably a hundred items – essentially all his material possessions – a set of tempera paints, CD’s, cards, a power supply, combs, photos, etc. This was his only personal area until he got his locker. Obviously, they were very excited about the lockers and many of the boys help construct them also – giving us a chance to minister to them and be a father figure for them.

We learned more about the chicken house. They had recently been given the funds to purchase 50 small chicks, but within 3 days, all were killed - obviously either rats or mongoose. While we were there, large rats were coming in and out – so realized the problem. To stop the rats, we concreted the floor, and then built an internal room-size cage for the chickens. Also, there were dangerous electrical wires and light hanging from the ceiling, etc. So, this was all repaired. We did not get to finish the chicken house, but we left money and a worker to complete it and we left money and instructions to buy chicks and feed.

As mentioned before, the big project became the plumbing project. Again, God assembled the right team. We had a plumber and two additional guys who work for companies that build/supply pumps. The water supply was over 400 feet down the mountain in a jungle like area. This team had to repair numerous leaks, install a pump after pouring concrete into the pump house, secure the pump, ran over 400 feet of electrical wire in new conduit, install switches, etc. All of this and they also discovered that poison ivy grows in Jamaica. This was a major project taking a lot of work, was very expensive, but there was an incredible need and as always, God provides.

Also, as mentioned above, the VBS ladies traveled to the Boys Home every afternoon to paint and to work with the boys. The boys got so excited about the mural that two of the older ones took over and would not even let our people work on it. It was quite impressive. On one wall, amongst sports equipment painted on the wall was a scroll with Philippians 4:13 (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.). Then at the other end of the room are the painted flags of the U.S. and Jamaica with “Whom shall I send? And who shall go for us?” (Isaiah 6:8).

Also, the VBS team made tie dye tee-shirts – both at VBS and at the Boys Home. Also, they built two soccer goals for the boys.

Not only were we witnesses for Christ’s love to the boys, but a donor had given us youth Bibles to take to Jamaica for the boys. We left those there for the boys. Only last week, we learned that following that, another small mission team and a pastor went to the Boys Home. Several of the boys as well as our favorite taxi driver gave their lives to Christ.

Our team had some very spiritual devotions as well. This was an incredible team. Despite temperatures in the day in the high 90’s and in the mid 80’s at night with mosquitoes and little air movement, we had an extremely hard working team that never complained. It was the body of Christ, doing Christ’s work for the lost and forgotten.

The missionaries who were our hosts are growing old and want to come back to the U.S. Their home is a great mission house and has a lot of potential for future missions. They have offered it to our mission organization to purchase for 53% of the appraised value. While that may seem crazy, God sometimes ask us to do things that seem a little crazy – just look at the story of Noah. However, I believe everyone who went on this trip realizes what an impact we have when we go and how much more we can do if we have a mission house and how vital this house is to our future efforts in Jamaica.

Finally, we would like to thank you for your prayers and support of our mission efforts. We would appreciate your future prayers and support as we expand our missions there and consider the purchase of this mission house. We know we cannot do it alone, but with your help and with God’s guidance we can.

If you have any questions about our trip, future trips, our future plans or the mission house, please fill free to contact us. We would be happy to discuss this with you.

“Whom shall I send?”

Help us answer that question.

Donnie