Latest News > 2004 Reports - Ernie Goldenman
Latest News - 2004 Trip Reports
Jamaicans display a true hunger for the Word
By Ernie Goldenman
I led a group of 10 people on a 2-week trip to Jamaica in early February. Wilda and Glen Nybeck of Edina, Ellie and Bernie Urban of Big Lake and Mardelle and Myself are seasoned veterans of past trips. Newcomers were Lynelle and Charlie Anderson of Zimmerman, Arlona Bergman of Anoka and Stephen Kjos from St. Francis. Arlona procured and brought along a keyboard that she used to assist in our ministry. The Andersons and 22-year-old Stephen gave effective testimonies at many times.
As
with most groups that I have been with, evangelism was our primary focus. We
distributed over 500 Gideon New Testaments (eight of our group are involved
with the Gideon ministry) and 80 complete Bibles. Bibles are every expensive
for many Jamaicans to buy. We already have requests for Bibles that we will
take next year. There is a genuine hunger for God's Word in Jamaica and we could
never bring enough of them. Reading materials, especially Christian books, magazines,
etc. are almost non-existent for the average Jamaican. They love the Daily Bread
devotional booklets and any other Christian reading material.
Every year we look for new opportunities to minister. We discovered this year that both public and private schools have Bible-based devotions for a half-hour every morning. We ministered at five different schools during our trip.
We again visited and ministered at the Windsor Girls Home at St. Ann's Bay. We saw eight to nine girls give their hearts to Jesus Christ there. It is always very difficult to leave our new found friends at Windsor. We are always so blessed by our experiences there.
Unwed, pregnant high school girls are not allowed to attend Jamaican schools. Some of these girls attend school at the Women's Center, which is one of our regular stops in Montego Bay. Eight of the girls prayer to ask Jesus into their lives.
The girl that I counseled with, Vanessa, had just had her baby the next week. She was a very scared and depressed young girl. She seemed to be so physically immature and so small to be delivering so soon. I wonder about her health and the health of her baby. I have written to encourage her and will continue to be in touch with her.
We again ministered at Cornwall Hospital in Montego Bay: the major hospital for the west one-third of Jamaica. We visited both the women's and men's wards to pray for and with the patients, leave scriptures and invite them to make decisions to follow Christ as savior. We had some very productive and exciting experiences there that I will share in the next Blessings newsletter.
Another
new adventure unfolded in Flankers, which is generally considered a ghetto community.
We went there to share Christ and distribute New Testaments, ditty bags and
T-shirts. To make the long story short we did not have enough of these items.
(I'm not sure that we could have carried enough stuff in our 15-passenger van.)
We finally drove away from the site fearing that someone might get injured.
We made our usual stops at New Beginnings Boys Home and Teamwork Church and School. Both are continuing to do effective ministries in their communities.
I would like to recognize Bernie Urban's eyeglass ministry. Most Jamaicans can't afford eyeglasses. Bernie is an optician and brings many pairs of glasses and fits them on people every year. If you have eyeglasses you are no longer using please send them to the Project Increase office. Reading glasses especially are in demand.
In summary, everyone in our group of 10 came to minister and share Christ. Over 35 Jamaican people prayed to receive Christ during the trip. Praise the Lord! Now, the follow up on these new Christians begins.
By the way, we really had an enjoyable trip. Lots of good hearted fun.
Ernie Goldenman is president of Project Increase.