Mission Trip to Jamaica- February/March 2020

In mid-February, our family spent a little over a week in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica.  We were invited to come by Don & Elaine Schiffer who work with Follow the Source. They live in Jamaica full-time, but come back to this area for a month each summer to visit family and churches and have their yearly check-ups with J.R. Prior to moving to Jamaica, they had been going on short term trips to Jamaica for many years. When it came time for them to retire, it was around the time that a full-time missionary they used to work with needed to leave Jamaica due to health concerns. They asked if they could purchase the land from him for a reduced price so they could continue on in mission. Their hearts sank when he said that he would not sell it, but then he followed up by saying that he prayed about it and decided he should give it to them instead. They faced obstacles when they were starting out as missionaries in retirement. Many people said they were too old, but they feel they have been blessed with their freedom to be able to live off their retirement so any fundraising they do goes straight to the mission.

The purpose of Follow the Source is to share the gospel of Jesus. A primary focus is teaching children. The public schools in Jamaica are not closed to teaching about Jesus, so they are permitted to pass out Bible lessons and sometimes hold devotions with the children. After children complete several Bible lessons, they are able to earn a certificate. Schools also have incentive to participate by earning school supplies as children finish the lessons. We saw first-hand how these lessons can speak to children as we helped to grade some of these lessons and saw handwritten questions like “I would like to understand more how Jesus can be my Savior. Can you help me?” Follow the Source distributes lessons to over 2000 students each week.

Follow the Source also hosts short term teams that come with different talents. There have been dancers, puppeteers, and nurses that have come, and Elaine finds opportunities for them to use their gifts as an outreach to the surrounding area. In the case of our family, Elaine arranged opportunities for J.R. to do medical work (free walk-in clinics, nursing home help, visiting shut-ins, check-ups at schools, etc.) while the kids and I mostly interacted with the children at schools and at the kids clubs that they hold at their facility. We taught songs and learned new songs from the children we were visiting. Our kids had fun teaching drawing, Rubik’s cubes, liturgical dance moves, and even some math, reading and geography as they were asked to in the schools, but they had just as much fun learning from their new Jamaican friends. (If you get a chance, ask the kids how to say “What’s going on?” in Patoi or –better yet – how to play “Stop, lollipop.” They will be delighted to show you!)

As we arrived in Jamaica, we encouraged the kids to notice things that are the same and things that are different than in the US. One thing the younger kids found a bit disturbing was the presence of heavily armed police at checkpoints along the road. One thing they really liked were all the brightly painted buildings. Many, many of the little buildings in the little towns were bars with loud music playing even as we arrived on a Monday night. We were all surprised to see some very large mansions scattered here and there amidst tiny concrete homes. Elaine explained that many of the mansions are built by people that are from Jamaica but have moved to Europe or the US and plan to move back to Jamaica after retirement, but they often just sit vacant. Extreme wealth sits next to extreme poverty.

One day we were able to visit the pediatric ward at the Black River Hospital. J.R. did rounds while the kids and I visited and passed out toys to the children there. James bonded with a sweet preemie named Kyle and a precious boy Josiah who had been scalded with hot water all over his body and face. I was able to spend dear time reading to a sweet child Katrina that has severe developmental disabilities and has been in this ward for years because they can’t find a home for her. Please pray for these precious children.

Other than the people they met, if you were to ask our children their favorite thing about Jamaica, they will probably tell you the food. Scarlett is typically our picky eater, but apparently she has Jamaican taste buds. She loved the jerk pork, festivals, etc. If you ask our children their least favorite thing about Jamaica, they might tell you the cold showers. There is a major shortage of water, so Don and Elaine consider it a blessing that there is not heated water because short termers like us won’t waste the pressure water on long showers. Everyone collects rainwater, but rains are often scarce. When water needs trucked in, the government has trucks that will distribute water for a small fee, but they get backed up and it may be weeks before water is delivered. There are private trucks to deliver water, but the prices are very high.

We had the privilege of attending a local church during our trip. Each age group split up within the church room to study. Then they were quizzed, in front of the large group, on what they had learned from the Bible. Adults were not exempt from the quiz game. The pastor exhorted all the youth in the church to really listen and learn, and put them on the spot by asking them what the sermon was about the week before. The music was simple and lovely, though a bit out of our kids’ comfort zone as evidenced by the quote: “I guess Jamaicans like loud, huh?”

On a final note, please pray with us about the following areas:

• for healthcare in Jamaica. The government healthcare is lacking with medicines not being reviewed before new prescriptions are assigned and people with cancer being put on waiting lists for six months to a year before treatments can start if they are even able to get to one of the few facilities where treatments are available. Private healthcare has limitations as well and is too expensive for most people to consider.

• for Follow the Source. Don & Elaine know that they are getting up in years and want their mission to continue long after they are gone. They are very close with a sweet Christian family from Jamaica that lives down the road and has become actively integrated in their ministry. Their vision is that two of the adult children from this family, Feron & Gary, would continue their ministry onward, but they do not have the financial means as Don and Elaine do in retirement to do this without support. Please pray that, if it is the Lord’s will, they would be able to raise support for these men to continue on in this mission.

• Please pray for God’s word to be spread in Jamaica and the US. James observed that he thought we were going to Jamaica to teach people about Jesus, but it seems like more people in Jamaica know more about Jesus than people in the US. It does seem that as a nation, Jamaica is much more open to Christianity, and so it does appear that more people there may have heard about Jesus. In both countries, though, it seems there are many that simply call themselves Christians based on family heritage or tradition and are not true Christ-followers. As always, please pray for those that follow Christ to be a light for those around them both here and abroad.

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