We are encouraged by words of the Psalmist David when he said, Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. Psalm 125:1
Dear Christian Friends,
There are a number of things that happen in Jamaica and the Caribbean since our last newsletter to you.
Hurricane Dean came our way on the 19th of August. It hit Jamaica very hard; most of the damages were not caused by the wind but by the flood rains that were associated with it. Landslides blocked roads, bridges were washed away and many communities were cut off. The government had to open shelters all over the island to house hundreds of people who lost their homes.
School was supposed to reopen in the first week of September but they did not reopen until the 10th of September. Some schools still did not open until the first week of October; because they were either badly damaged or were housing people whose homes were damaged. Our agricultural industries were the hardest hit.
The Jamaica General Election was held on September 3rd. We all feared this day because of the crime and violence that are associated with our elections, and this one was no exception. Thank God it is over with and the party that was governing the country for over 15 years has lost and we now have a new government. We need to pray for them.
Since October we are having continuous rain everyday until now. This has caused billions of dollars of damages to our islands crops, homes, roads and bridges.
During the hurricane our churches suffered very little damages. But this continuous rain has badly damage the roof of the clinic at Eastern.
MEADOWBROOK CHURCH OF CHRIST
There was no damage to any of our buildings at Meadowbrook. Our attendance continues to grow weekly and our fellowship has been really good. On Sunday, November 4th we had a baptism and we thank the Lord.
Brother Gilbert Wesley and his family have been in Jamaica since July and are working with the Meadowbrook church. Gilbert graduated from Ozark Christian College and will be the new minister at Meadowbrook come next year.
HOWARD PARKWAY CHURCH OF CHRIST
On Sunday, September 23rd we had the dedication service for our new church building. It was a wonderful experience to have the brotherhood churches from all over the island coming to celebrate this event. We had a capacity crowd that evening. Our guest speaker was Tom Scott associate minister at Countryside Christian Church, Wichita, Kansas. We raised over $100,000.00JA towards the completion of the educational building.
LINSTEAD CHURCH OF CHRIST
Both the Linstead church and school are doing their best to carry out the great commission of Jesus; Mark 16:15 --- Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
CHURCHES OF CHRIST ANNUAL CONVENTION
The Churches of Christ Convention was held from Friday, October 12th to Sunday, October 14th. The Meadowbrook church hosted the first two days. On Sunday, we had the largest crowd; we went to the University of Technology's Auditorium. It was a great day of fellowship. Churches from all over the island came in busses, cars and whatever they could to get there. Our guest speaker was a Jamaican, Dr. Denzil Holiness who lives and preaches in Atlanta, Georgia.
One of the highlights of the convention was the National Bible Bowl Competition and the Howard Parkway Youth Group won the trophy for the second consecutive year. We are very proud of them because they are a very young group.
RADIO PROGRAM
Over two months ago the Fall City Christian Church told us that their mission is to put bibles in the hands of people who have none. They sent us $US500 and we were able to buy 80 full bibles. We then announced it on the radio programme that we were giving away these bibles free of cost. The response was overwhelming. Within weeks all the bibles were gone and we are still receiving request for more daily. If you would like to be a part of this Bible ministry please send your money to Caribbean Evangelism Inc. and we will buy the bibles here at a big discount.
After over 30 years of preaching on the radio we couldn't find a better way to tell how many people we are reaching across the island. We have 14 parishes in this island and we have received letters from 13 of these parishes. The comments we get regarding the program are most encouraging.
PRAYER REQUESTS
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Prayers for our safety, crime and violence have gone out of control.
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Pray for Vince and Alice's health.
URGENT NEED
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Help to repair the roof of the clinic building.
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We need medical teams for 2008, General, Optical and Dental.
May God bless every one of you and please remember that it is your giving that keeps the light of Caribbean Evangelism burning.
Your partners in Christ,
Vince & Alice
PS This is a note from the forwarding agent: I just received the following email from Alice Graham. Please pray for Vince and the situation there.
Hi Don,
Just to give you a brief update. Thieves broke into the Meadowbrook Church Saturday night, Dec.8. They destroyed several doors to get into the church auditorium, offices, storeroom and classrooms. The offices were pathetic to look at; all the files from the filing cabinet drawers, cupboards, shelves and desk drawers were all strewn on the ground. We went into Vince's office on Monday to try sorting out the files, about two hours later he felt sick, started running a temperature and thought he was coming down with the flu. We went to the pharmacy and bought some flu medication. He never developed a cold but continued getting weaker and was still having a fever. I took him to the doctor on Thursday, very weak and with a high temperature. The doctor stated that he had to be admitted in the hospital right away.
UPDATE: December 22 Vince is home. Doctor told him to take it easy for a while so Vince preached only one time Christmas week. He's doing fine.