During a period of a week, there were many things that happened to people that go to our church.  On Saturday, we as a family were at the church doing some work when I noticed one of the Sunday school children (Lacheim:  11 years old) walking in the walkway next to the church going leading into the community.  The next thing I knew, there was a group of three ladies about 5 yards behind Lacheim.  One of the ladies was throwing stones hard at him and shouting.  I couldn’t believe it, and I wondered what Lacheim did for that lady to throw stones at him and be so angry.  I had failed to recognize it, but Bud told me that was Lacheim’s mother throwing stones at him.  It broke my heart that a mother would do that to her own son.

We heard word on a Sunday morning that the young man (Ryan: 26 years old) who we normally pick up for church would be unable to come.  He called for prayer.  He wasn’t feeling well, but he also explained to us that his baby mother’s brother was up in an ackee tree the day before and was shot to death.  Ryan now had the brothers of the deceased in his home for hiding and most likely counseling.

This past week, we received a phone call from a man (Troy:  37) whom we’ve known for years.  He is working in a very violent school and has a big heart for the students.  He called us while he was at school requesting prayer.  Moments before, a student of his was stabbed in the head with a knife by another student.  They left the knife lodged in his head and he was presently being transported to the hospital.

There are so many people who are hurting and who need the Lord.  We are praying that God will use us to encourage people as they live for Christ and minister in their perspective areas .  Our desire is that God will use us to bring people to Himself.

It reminds me of the song:  “People Need the Lord”

Every day they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes
Empty people filled with care, headed who knows where
On they go through private pain, living fear to fear.

We are called to take His light, to a world where wrong seems right
What could be too great a cost for sharing life with one who’s lost
Through His love our hearts can feel all the grief they bear.
They must hear the words of life only we can share.

People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize, people need the Lord?

. . . March in the Infantry

. . . Ride in the Calvary

. . . Shoot the Artillery

But I’m in the Lord’s Army

In the children’s Sunday school we just finished a study on the Christian soldier.  We learned about the two kinds of soldiers: the good soldiers and the bad soldiers – the good soldiers beinbg the ones that obey their commander and follow his orders.  The bad soldiers being the ones who see how much they can get by with, ones that don’t want to cooperate, and ones that cause trouble.  We related that this is the same with Christians – there are ones who are faithful and sets good examples and then there are ones who compromise and live a Christian life ONLY when it is convenient.  We discussed how this hurts the name of the Lord.

Every day we are fighting a battle with sin – the fight between good and evil.  We talked about those who are watching us like our neighbors, teachers, classmates, and Jesus.  We  discussed things we are fighting against like dishonesty, cheating, laziness – not willing to do our part, lying, gossiping, temptation, bad habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and bad movies, etc.

Then we went on to discuss who delivers us and helps us in this fight against sin.  We talked about how we need to stand our ground, to take up the armor of God, and let God fight the battle.  We can’t fight this battle on our own and win.  We need God.  We went through a different armor each week discussing its importance:  the belt of truth, shield of faith, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of preparation, helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit.

We spoke of our enemy, Satan, and how he fights by tempting us.  He comes around as something good (an angel of light) and we shared how we shouldn’t be deceived by him.  We became aware that Satan wants us to destroy our bodies – he wants to make us weak.  He wants us not to get enough sleep at night, he wants us to eat more food that is bad for us, and he wants us to not exercise and take care of our bodies, so we can be weakened and not be able to stand to do the right when we are tempted to do wrong.

Finally, we ended up presenting the idea that each of us has a throne in our lives and each day we have a choice of who is going to sit on the throne to rule our lives: self or God. We shared that self is very proud, self is completely selfish, and he lives to please himself.  Self never likes to admit that he is wrong, and self is easily offended or “hurt”. When we (self) ends up sitting on the throne, we experience things like pride, self, lies, selfishness, hate, gossip, jealousy, bad talk, temper and disobedience.  When we allow God to be on the throne, we experience Christ, meekness, peace, love, and joy. We were all challenged to ask ourselves, “Who is sitting on my throne?”

Thanks all for praying for us today!

We had a wonderful time and had ten couples attend the retreat.

Jeff and Sue did a wonderful job and we thank God for what He did in the hearts of many.

I was too busy to take too many pictures but here are a few.  I trust you had a great Lord’s Day.

Please keep us in prayer today as we host the zone 4 marriage retreat at our house.

Pray that …

1. People will actually show up (we’ve had some couples drop out already)
2. For the Drakes as they teach the sessions
3. For healing of broken relationships
4. For good weather

We’ll keep you posted.

Team Tools

The teams this year each used different tools to reach out and minister.  We enjoyed each one and are always grateful for those that come and sacrifice their time, comfort and energies to be here to build the work in Spanish Town.  We are thrilled to be able to have a part in these ministries and have learned so much through them.

Our first team was a men’s work team who poured concrete pillars around the existing church in order to have enough strength be able to put a permanent roof on. We have a long way to go, but it is exciting to have it started.

Our second team was a college sports team  who used sports as an outreach tool in the ghetto behind the church.  They attracted many young men as well as most of the children in the area.  While the guys played basketball, the girls played with the children and had opportunities to share Christ with them.  After the ball games, the team was able to share their testimonies.  We were also able to have some brief contact with some parents of the ball players.  In addition to the outreach, they finished pouring a ball court in the church yard.

Our third team was geared for reaching children with the Gospel through VBS, and we had over 100 children in attendance.   They also helped weld the basketball pole and made the backboard for the church ball court.

Our last team was a youth group that did a wonderful job doing VBS at our sister church in Cumberland.  They also worked on Cumberland’s church parsonage which was a great encouragement to the pastor and his family.
It is exciting to see the family of God at work for one purpose —  to see lives changed for eternity as they respond to Christ.

Funeral Freeway

Freeways, Turnpikes, Superhighways and Roads.
What do each of these have in common?  Each of these are a blessing to people as they travel along to reach their final destination safely and effectively.
This is the way we feel when our church is asked to host a funeral.   We hope to be a blessing to others as they travel along life’s road.  These funerals gives us the opportunity to be a spiritual blessing as we share the Gospel with those that normally would not come into the church.  It is a ministry that is unexpected, but we are praying that God will use it in the lives of those in whom we come in contact.
Within the past few months, our church has hosted many funerals and has had the opportunity to preach the Gospel.  Recently, the husband of the lady whom we just buried died.  So, in this case, we have two opportunities to share Christ with this family and their friends.  Unfortunately, many members of the Patterson family are still lost in their sins.  Pray that several will respond to God before it’s too late.

Infomation

• Lynda’s Dad has stage four cancer
• Dad and Mom Kay return in September
• Sharon and her two kids became  Christians
• We hosted a Marriage Seminar at our house September 12
• We are coming out of a drought
• Our Work permits are still pending
• We appreciate you and your support!

Special points of interest

• The church hosted a concert for the national church’s choral and many people from the community came.
• Wednesday night Bible Study and prayer meetings are growing numerically and with enthusiasm.
• Please pray for a national pastor and for continued church unity.

We have been blessed to have several teams this summer.  Here are some pictures of the work they have done and the church here in Spanishtown

One of the projects was installing a basketball court:

Wagwaan! means “What’s Up” in Jamaican!

Greeting from Kingston, Jamaica!  We just completed our third day.  It is Sunday and just as in the United States we woke up this morning and went to church. However, I guarantee our church service this morning was quite different than the typical church service I have attended in the U.S.

Jamaicans are not in a rush: they are not in a hurry to leave church at 12:00 noon and get on with their day awaiting the next sporting event; they are at church to fellowship, to invest in each others lives and to truly share with each other what God is doing in their lives.  It hit me today that I don’t even know half the people in my church back home, and here although the church is ¼ the size, I felt more at home and connected than ever.  They truly get the concept of the Body of Christ.  I have really been challenged in these few short days to really impact those around you.

During the welcome time at the church we all walked around and hugged and chatted with one another and really greeted one another.  I have not even hugged everyone on our team!  It shows the difference in culture, the difference on values and importance – they truly put people first.  Do we?

As a team we are reading through Worldliness edited by C.J. Mahaney.  This book is very eye-opening. Some of the key points and questions I have drawn out of it so far in chapter one have been:  “It is a gradual weakening, a subtle contaminating, and an eventual conforming to the world. We are so often ignorant of the signs, the symptoms of worldliness.  People can attend church, singing the songs, apparently listening to the sermons – no different on the outside than they’ve always been.  But inside that person is drifting.  He sits in church but is not excited to be there. She sings songs without affection.  He listens to preaching without conviction. She hears but does not apply.”  So the question is… ARE YOU DRIFTING?  That is the question I am wrestling with as I am on this trip right now, and if I were to be honest with myself, the answer to that would have to be “Yes”!  So please join me and our team as we struggle through this book and work through these challenging truths.

Please keep us in your prayers: you are having more of an impact through your prayers than you will ever know.  Thank you for being faithful!  We look forward to a big day tomorrow full of hard work; we will be prepping the church yards and hopefully pouring concrete to make a basketball court to help the ministry to youth at the church.  We also have an opportunity to play basketball with the Jamaicans-please pray that it will be an effective, God honoring day.

Loving the Jamaican culture,

Meredith Wrightson

We had a team in May from North Carolina.  They were a great help to the church.  They were able to begin forming up and pouring pillars/columns that will one day hold the church roof.

This was the first overseas mission’s trip for this church and it was the first mission’s trip for most of the men.

Below is part of an e-mail we received after the team arrived back in the States.

“It was a fantastic experience for all of us and really opened up Crossroads’ eyes to God’s work around the world. I expect this will be the beginnings of a solid missions program for our church and we will see more international trips in the future for Crossroads.”

– Dan

We are thrilled with what God is doing not only here in Jamaica, but in the lives of team members and churches back home as a result of the team ministries.

Lynda’s Parents

Some of you may know already but please keep Lynda’s Dad, in prayer. Though he was never a smoker… he has been diagnosed with cancer in both lungs and spine.   He started radiation on May 11th and then after a few weeks they will discuss chemotherapy.  He is in a lot of pain and is also recovering from a spinal surgery in which they also fused some vertebrae in the spine effected by the cancer.  We received a call from Lynda’s brother, and after talking with him, we decided to send Lynda back to Wisconsin for a few weeks to help take care of them till they get settled.   Unfortunately, her mom is not in very good health either.  (Lynda should be returning on the 20th of May to a lonely, hungry, skinny, half starved family!!!  The kids and I will all be ready for some of Momma’s good home-cooked food again and a break from peanut butter sandwiches….ha, ha ).

Successful Work Days

We thank God that the last two Saturdays were so beneficial. We had “church work day” where we had roughly 30 people working on the 1st Saturday and about 15 people on the second. We were able to successfully pour concrete on most of the north side where the roof was so badly leaking.  (And just in time as the rainy season is upon us now.)   The second work day was primarily spent cleaning up the church yard from where the front end loader pushed the trash pile away,and filled in the footers with dirt. This will be important since parking will be needed to host several upcoming events…

Video Night

We all enjoyed the film that one of our members brought back from her recent visit to the States. It was entitled “Fireproof.”   We had a good turn out from the community and even had a few people from our sister churches in our zone who attended.   Afterwards Dad gave a few challenging comments and we concluded with refreshments… Sodas, hot -dogs and ice cream.

Upcoming Events this Month…

• May 16th – Evangelistic Outreach from Spanish Town into May Pen (1 hr away) new church plant
• May 20 – Lynda Returns to Jamaica
• May 19 & 20 – Hosting the Ministry of Education to host conduct training classes for our district.
• May 22 – 24th – Zone 4 Mission Conference
• May 25th – Jamaica Labour Day – Work day at community re-building bridge and or home of poor member in Irish Pen ghetto
• May 26th – Dad and Mom leaving for summer months back to IN
• May 26th – First Team Arrives to continue work on columns
• May 30th – Hosting JEM national concert for fund raiser for JEM Radio program

Tensions High

Pray for peace in Irish Pen.   Last Saturday we noticed several police cars and a mob of people by the church yard.  It turned out that a policeman was shot and killed a few hours earlier near our church yard.   Apparently, he was leaving his “girlfriend’s” yard in the early hours of the morning when someone followed him and shot him.   Since then, the community has been seeing a high volume of police in the area and tensions are hot.

Summer Teams Help

• May 26 – 3rd – Crossroads Bible Church
• June 12 – 22 – Lancaster Bible College
• July 3rd – 11th – Highland Baptist Church
• July 24th – Aug 3rd – Calvary Bible Church

Ministries continue

“Karing Hearts Ministries”, an outgrowth of Spanish Town Tabernacle, started with Sister Jody Dove’s vision for helping the poor in our surrounding communities.   Lives continue to be touched in practical helpful ways.   (If you would like, I have a short power point presentation I can email you showing more of this ministry. Just contact me at bkay@cwjamaica.com)

Ministering to Hurting Families

We thank God for how He is working in the life of the church. Sister Jody started a new ministry outreach called “Karing Hearts”.

Karing is spelled with a “K” in memory of her late husband Karl Dove.

Sunday before last was the first distribution of food and clothing to the less fortunate living in the ghetto behind the church.

The people who received were very grateful.

Below is an excerpt from Jody whom we have

known since she was about 12 years old. What a privilege to be able to see her come to the

Lord in her teens, grow in her walk with the Lord, and now branch out into ministry.

“I prayed and ask God for His help, because He is the one that

has placed this burden on my heart for this ministry and I believe that He will never ask us to do something that His grace

and power are not able to sustain.   We prayed and blessed the items and shared them as equally as we could, and ended up with four small bags of groceries. I prayed that God would direct us to the right persons and left.  When we arrived, we introduced ourselves to a lady and her blind husband.  We gave her a bag and prayed with her. As we held their hands and reminded them that God loved and cared for them, the lady broke down in tears. She shared that they both were sick and did not have anyone to take care of them, except for the times when persons would stop by to make them some tea. It was so obvious that the Lord had directed us to this house to remind these two people that He

loved them and that He would never leave or forsake them.”

Last Sunday this elderly couple was able to come to our free medical clinic to receive help. We are excited about what God is doing!

Ministering to Boys

Another ministry is the boys sling shot club led by Bud. It is a ministry to boys in the community from ages 8-12.   Many of them don’t have a father figure.

Each week they have a chant which includes five “stones” of commitment:

“no to drugs, no to alcohol, no to sex, no to fighting, and no to ‘teefing’ (stealing). Jesus only, God’s way, God’s time.”

They have studied godly men of the Bible, have had Bible memorization, and lots of fun.

Please keep these boys in prayer.

Special Points for Prayer

• We’ve had to deal with our first discipline issue involving  a church member  who is nineteen, single,  and pregnant.
• We are getting ready to renew our work permits which can be a long, tedious process.
• Our annual mission’s conference is coming up the fourth weekend in May.  This involves the four churches in our zone