“Occupy till . . .
– Luke 19:13 –
It is hard to believe that six months have gone by so quickly since we landed in Jamaica! We came here with the intent of obtaining our PIO (Person of Indian Origin, which is like a green card for India) and then heading off to India in a relatively short amount of time, but that “short amount of time” has been relative indeed. We are thankful, however, that we are in the final phase of the process—YES!!!
In the meantime, we have been occupying as missionaries here in Jamaica and have been seeing God do tremendous works. What a blessing to know that God can use us anywhere, despite our geographical location.
Since we started our Saturday morning soul-winning program at church this January, God has allowed us to see many people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! One young lady, after being out soul winning faithfully for the past several weeks, finally got it—she realized that though she carried the Gospel message, she did not have the message of the Gospel. She trusted Jesus Christ as her Saviour this past Saturday!
We are always reminded of the fact that because of your partnership, we are enabled to do what God has called us to do. Thank you for being our friend and partner in the work of the Lord!
Immigration Changes
We recently found out about a development in the Indian Immigration system: they added “missionary activities” to their list of restrictions for people holding PIOs. This amendment will certainly affect us, since this is the type of visa we have been working to obtain. Previously with this status, we would have had unrestricted privileges to do missions work.
Terrorism
There is a growing anti-American undertone in the regions where we are heading. With radical Hindus and the growing concern of ISIS/ISUL in India, we certainly crave your prayers for the people and even for us also.
Reading Classes
There is an alarming rate of students who are being passed through the public school system here whose reading skills are at elementary level or below. Some of these have gone on to become adults and still struggle with very basic reading skills, which limits much of their potential. Out of necessity, we recently started a remedial reading program to help some of our people to be able to read, more specifically, to be able to read their Bibles. It is a beautiful thing when people are able to read and understand God’s Word for themselves!
Electricity
We have been so excited the past few days—we got electricity in the church building . . . finally! We have been trying to get it since August, but here in this country, nothing goes on schedule. We recently saw a spoof of the Nike slogan that says so much about the culture here: “Just do it . . . later! No problem, Mon!”
Prayer Needs
• Stability and growth of the church
• Major building repairs for the church
• New pastor for the church
• Reconciliation for the previous pastor
• Final phase of the Indian Immigration process
• More godly men in our church
Missionary #6703