29 Aug Highlights from – JOY TO THE WORLD Missions Trip June 2017 Part 2

Many people have inquired about our recent Joy to the World Missions trip.

Here is our very own Community Outreach Pastor Eddie Wilson, sharing some highlights!

Last week Pastor Eddie shared with us the first part of this amazing trip.

This week let us continue…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3

After our awesome team spent an hour in Word and Prayer, we had breakfast and hit the buses.  We ministered in FOUR SCHOOLS AT ONCE!  Hundreds of students accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!

After ministering at the schools, we had the entire group meet at The Terminals.  Now, The Terminals is a place not far from Sam Sharpe Square where all the buses and taxis in Montego Bay are parked waiting for customers.  Our team witnessed to the bus drivers and taxi drivers and the people who had places to go.  We led over 30 people to the Lord during this time!

After The Terminals our entire team went to Doctor’s Cave Beach in Downtown Montego Bay.  Imagine the whitest sand and the clearest crystal blue water you have ever seen in your life.  Before we ate and snorkeled and swam, Pastor Jim baptized 32 members of our group.  We had a huge crowd of native Jamaicans and tourists watching us while we did the baptisms, which led to more witnessing opportunities!

Later that evening we headed up to New Ramble.  Think of a community on the side of a mountain over- looking all of Montego Bay and you would have New Ramble.

As part of our team ministered at the Kids Club there (ministry to children) the rest of us spread out and canvassed the entire area.

In 1995, while attending our World Changers Bible Institute, Pastor Rob Simms and his wife Abby (who are now Joy Church youth Pastors) met a 6 year old girl in New Ramble.  During this trip, as Pastor Rob and I were walking around New Ramble we ran into her!  She remembered Pastor Rob from when she was a child.  She was now 28 years old!  One of our youth came over and started talking to her and led her to Jesus!  That moment right there is why we keep going back to Montego Bay Jamaica!

Day 4

This was a super busy day!

Our team started off again by going to 4 different schools and leading over 100 Jamaican children to Jesus!!!

We then went back to Sam Sharpe Square where we split up into groups and witnessed to hundreds of people passing though.  

Did I mention that every single person on this missions trip led someone to Christ?!  

We had to suffer for Jesus during lunch when we stopped at “The Pork Pit” for the best and purest Jamaican jerk chicken and pork in the world! (While we were there our team led every cook and every server to Jesus!).

We then split up our team into Women and Men.  The men went to The Gulley which is probably the roughest and toughest ghetto in Montego Bay.  You would have been so proud of them as they went shack to shack telling anyone who would listen about Jesus.  The women went to The Women’s Center, which is a home for teen girls who have children.  Our ladies ministered The Good News to those girls and many of them made decisions for Jesus!

After dinner we headed off to Family Church on the Rock for an awesome Jamaican church service! (You have to experience Jamaican Reggae Praise and Worship!!!!)  Pastor Jim preached a message called “No Problem” which was awesome and took our team to a whole new level in serving and attitude.  What was equally amazing is the number of people from Montego Bay that we witnessed to during the week that showed up for this service.  One guy even walked SIX MILES to come hear Pastor Jim and to sit with the team that ministered the Good News of Jesus to him.

Day 5

On this morning our teams split up for the last ministry day, and hit several schools.  We then went back to Family Church on the Rock where we had a work day.  Our team was really able to bless Family Church on the Rock in so many ways.  We cut down brush and trees (with machetes!) and painted and cleaned and helped them organize their entire facilities.  And even though it rained we continued to work hard and every single person had an attitude of serving!

Day 6

This day was a travel day back to Tennessee.  But even while traveling, our team (in the airports in Montego Bay and Miami AND on the planes) led over 20 people to Jesus.  And there in a microcosm is the purpose of our missions trips.  It doesn’t matter where you are…..you will always have an opportunity to spread the Good News….all you need is the boldness to do so.

We had the Best Team!  We had the Best Team Chemistry!  We had the Best Time!  And 1284 people now have their names written in the Book of Life!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part of our five fold vision at Joy Church is:  Reaches People Internationally (Matthew 28:19)

Thank you for your prayers and support for this mission trip and many more like it to come!

Join us next month as we share Teaching Tips and more from our series Book It!