Many of you know we came back to Jamaica after our home assignment under different circumstances. The student pastor (28 years old) who was to graduate in June and take over the pastorate of Spanish Town Tabernacle, died suddenly in January. We arrived on the island on a Tuesday and went to his funeral the next Saturday. It was a bittersweet time, though, seeing our friends and co-workers again under these circumstances. It has taken the congregation some time to grieve and find their way after this tremendous loss for the church. We are thankful to the Lord for providing others to do the various things our student pastor used to do such as leading the service, leading youth group, witnessing, preaching, etc, however, Karl is still greatly missed. Please pray for his wife, Jody, as she continues to grieve the loss of her husband.
In the midst of this, we are thrilled with what God is doing in the church. There were four people who went forward to receive Jesus as their Savior the weekend of February 24 after the church service. On Good Friday a man in his thirties came for the first time and was asked if he was a Christian and he said “That’s why I am here. I want to become a Christian .” Devon became a Christian that day. We found out that he has his own business working in the same exact location of a man we knew over ten years ago named Clinton (from Kingston) who had his own business there, but has since migrated to the States.
Sherry lives with Devon. We found out that for a few Sundays she stood outside the door after worship service and called Donette over to give her tithe for the church. Sherry didn’t come to service because of her work schedule, but continued to give her tithe. She finally came to church the week before Palm Sunday for the first time. She was thrilled to be able to come and be a part of the service. She is not a Christian, but we see God working in her life. Please pray for her and Devon as they grow in the knowledge of God. Also after the Good Friday service, there was a young lady, Tracy, in her twenties who had been coming to church consistently for about a month. She came up right after service was over and said “I’m ready! I’m ready!” She accepted the Lord that morning!
A few Sundays ago after church, two teenage sisters made professions of faith. There are five sisters of which four came to church. They came out to youth group the Friday before. Later that evening when Bud and Dad went witnessing in the community they ended up at the Arnett’s house where they sat on the veranda with all the sisters and their mother and father. They had a piece of fabric hanging as a door to their house. Their house was deep in the ghetto. As they sat there on the veranda speaking with Mr. Arnett, (Daniel) they found out that no one in the household works. He made a comment, “My children are my life, my pension, my retirement, my everything.” When we heard this statement, we became a bit concerned for the girls in this regard. Many times in a situation like this, young girls are forced into a compromising lifestyle just to survive. During the course of the conversation talking about the Lord, Daniel said, “Why do you care about me?” Dad’s response was, “Once I wouldn’t care, but now Christ lives in me and His love causes me to care.”
They were also able to visit a man whom we’ve had contact with before, Patrick Brown. He is the father of two of our Sunday School children. He made a profession of faith that same evening. A few days later they saw him again and were able to encourage him in his walk with the Lord. They also “ran into” a man they had met months before who made a profession of faith while they were working on the church building. His name is Max. He just “so happened” to get off work early that day and they “just so happened” to be on the same path leading into the community when their paths crossed. Coincidence? No! We discovered that he hasn’t come to church like he said he would because he works seven days a week. Please pray for these dear ones whom God has called to Himself that they will make the time to meet with us and or find themselves in church so they will begin to grow in their new found faith.
A group of ten young adults have joined the 2-7 discipleship class offered during the Sunday School hour. It is a wonderful time of accountability and growing in the Lord. Please continue to pray for this group as they take this class that they will find the time during the week to study the lesson and memorize the Scripture passages.
Please pray that the truth of God’s assurance of salvation, answered prayer, victory over temptation, forgiveness and guidance will sink deep into their hearts as they go throughout their spiritual life.
For those of you who haven’t heard, we have been blessed to have Pastor Clark Lindsay offer to put together and update a blog site for us. The address is: kayschronicle.wordpress.com
We try to update this as often as possible. This site will contain more information on what is happening here in Jamaica from day to day and will keep people informed of updated prayer requests as well as including some pictures. God has so abundantly provided for us throughout the years and this is just another example of His goodness.
No comments:
Post a Comment