Why I don’t celebrate Christmas

I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God. A daughter of the Most High King. I have been reconciled to God by the forgiveness of my sins through the death of His Son Jesus Christ. I strive daily to live according to the principles outlined in the Bible.

I do not celebrate Christmas because I do not believe that it has anything to do with Jesus.

I have no problem celebrating the birth of Christ. It is beyond my understanding how the fullness of the sovereign God, Creator of the universe, could be contained in a human body (Colossians 2:9), yet this is what happened when Jesus came to earth. He willingly left His place in heaven where He was equal to God, and subjected Himself to becoming a human, all so that He could be the payment for my sins (Philippians 2:6-11). This is something worth celebrating every day of the year, not just on December 25^th.

I celebrate Jesus by serving others who are in need. Instead of buying gifts for people just because “It’s Christmas”, I use the funds that God has blessed me with to support an orphanage in Haiti which cares for children who were orphaned by the earthquake in 2010. Instead of buying new furniture and appliances, I support an outreach effort in Kenya which ministers to the needs of persons living with HIV who have been neglected by their families. Instead of spending money on fancy Christmas dinners, I contribute towards an organisation that is working with survivors of ebola in Liberia to ensure that they do not starve due to famine. Instead of purchasing decorations for my home, I choose to be a blessing to a single mother with four children.

So please forgive me if I don’t send out “Merry Christmas” greetings, and if I don’t get into the “Christmas spirit”. To me, this time of year is full of persons indulging in excess while turning a blind eye to persons who are in need, and I prefer not to be a part of it.

For those who choose to celebrate, I would like to challenge you to do so by placing Jesus at the center of your festivities, not just looking to your own interests, but to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). And to not limit this serving of others to December 25^th, but to do so every day of your life.

Matthew 25:37-40: Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Blessing after blessing

As I reflect on the school term that has passed, I recognise that there is much to give God thanks for. One year ago, ISCF Grenada had recently been relaunched, volunteers were being sourced, and there was only one functioning ISCF group. At present, we have groups in the community college and six secondary schools. We have over 40 persons who are committed to the ministry in various ways - serving as Board members, sponsors, prayer and financial supporters, camp counsellors and volunteers.

Cheryl Jessemy and Arlene Marcell have been of great help in the school ministry, building  relationships with students and facilitating sessions. They have also served as volunteers at our national student rallies and ISCF Camps.

Cheryl with Happy Hill students

 Cheryl has a great love for ministry to young people, and is very excited about serving the Grenadian students through this avenue. Whenever she is unable to come to a school visit, the students ask, "Where is de next teacher?" One even said, "I think I like her better than you!" :)

Arlene has adopted the group at Westerhall Secondary as her 'baby'. In October, she conducted a session entitled "Is there really a God?" looking at looking at how creation, the Bible and Jesus all pointed to the existence of God. Arlene also shared about the reality of heaven and hell. There were many questions, such as “Why didn’t God just make all of us go to heaven instead of giving us a choice?” The discussion extended beyond the allocated time into the next period, since they did not have a teacher. By the end of the meeting, eleven students indicated that they wanted to surrender their lives to Christ!

Talking with students who committed their lives
to Christ about plans for follow up

One of the mottos of ISCF is "Students reaching students". This is a distinctive which sets ISCF apart from other youth organisations, with a focus on developing the leadership potential of students while they are in school, and have the opportunity to reach their fellow students. At Boca Secondary, under the guidance of sponsor Don-Rae Wilkinson, members of the Executive have started sharing the message at ISCF meetings. They meet on Mondays to discuss the topic for Wednesday, and take turns in presenting truths from God's word about issues which are relevant to their peers.

Boca students listening attentively as Hope shares about purpose.

Beacon High School is a private Christian school, but many of the students there are not believers. As members of the Executive have found out, the majority of their peers have no interest in learning more about God. This term the Executive decided to focus their energies on reaching out to the Form 1 students, and were able to conduct sessions on Bullying and Self Respect.

Ariel and Danielle leading ISCF meeting at Beacon High School

At the T.A. Marryshow Community College, sponsor Mae Patterson has also been encouraging members of the Community College Christian Fellowship (CCCF) to share their faith with their classmates. The preparation for these sessions are evident as the students deliver the message in a way that is engaging and appreciated by those who attend. There is much interaction as students feel free to share their view points when the meetings are conducted by one of their own.

Shanika sharing on the topic "Taking a stand for righteousness"

 I am also encouraged by the "little things", like last week Monday on the way to Happy Hill, I noticed there were many students on the road, indicating that school had been dismissed early. I wondered if the ISCF students had gone home, thereby making my journey a 'waste'. When I arrived, I was plesantly surprised to see that the students had not only been waiting for me since 1pm, but they had also encouraged two new persons to stay back for the meeting as well! We had a vibrant discussion on Jesus' teachings about forgiveness, and addressed concerns about how to forgive when you had been deeply hurt. Blessings like these are evidence to me that God is clearly at work through this student ministry.

Playing a game before the session on Forgivenss

Special thanks to all who have partnered with us in this journey to re-start the work of ISCF in Grenada. We give God all the glory and honor for the growth seen in this ministry over the past year.

Rodney and Lydia visit to Grenada

The Youth Executive at Calivigny Gospel Hall, one of the supporting churches of ISCF Grenada, invited Rodney Brown and his wife Lydia from Trinidad to be one of the ministers at their Youth Week 2014, along with Edward Richardson from Bermuda. Both of these gifted servants of God have no qualms about talking about sex from the pulpit, so ISCF Grenada jumped at the opportunity to have these brothers share at our ISCF groups about Sexual Purity and Relationships.

Convincing Happy Hill Secondary students that being in a
relationship is a 'tie down ting'

Rodney shared how teenagers' hormones cause them to change rapidly as they develop, causing their likes and dislikes to change as they mature. He discouraged them from committing themselves exclusively to any one relationship at this stage of their life, but to enjoy healthy relationships with all their peers. Some of these students were happy for the opportunity to learn more about sexual purity at a panel discussion hosted at Calivigny Gospel Hall later on in the week.

Beacon High School students react to the listing of
activities which are considered to be sexual impurity

At Beacon High School, Rodney had the privilege of addressing the entire school population on the topic of sexual purity. After defining sexual purity and giving examples of sexual impurity, he examined the causes, consequences and the cure for sexual impurity. This session was extremely well received, and the students begged him to come back for a follow up session.

The truth about what boys want

The young ladies at Anglican High School were given an insight into how boys view relationships. They were enlightened to understand that what the girls may interpret as signs of love and willingness to commit were considered by the boys as "nothing personal".

The truth about love and sex

At Boca Secondary, Brother Richardson had an opportunity to share with all the Form 4 students on commonly taught myths about love and sex. He countered each of these myths with truths from God's Word. The teachers who attended the session highly commended how the topic was handled, and the students were very engaged during the presentation, asking questions about situations they were currently facing.

ISCF meeting at Boca Secondary talking about relationships

At lunchtime, Rodney shared with the students at ISCF about the purpose of relationships, and the value of waiting until they were ready for marriage before considering entering relationships.

Feature speaker at Boca Secondary School's 36th anniversary

The ministry at Boca Secondary continued the following day, where Rodney addressed the entire school population at their anniversary program. He shared on Philippians 3:13, encouraging them not to be satisfied with past accomplishments, but to press forward for greater and better things.

Sharing at Westerhall Secondary School on sexual purity

On the last day, Rodney shared at two schools - Westerhall Secondary and Grenada Boys Secondary on the topic of sexual purity. The students responded well to the presentations, and on the following week, we were able to engage them in a discussion based on what they had learnt, and also answering questions they had about sex and relationships.

Arlene sharing on why God encourages us to save sex for marriage

GBSS boys at follow up session talking about fidelity in relationships

We thank God for the opportunity to partner with these visiting ministers to address the very pertinent topics of relationships and sexual purity with so many of the youths of Grenada. We pray that the principles shared would remain in the hearts and minds of these students, and will have a positive effect on their behaviour.

Before you think that it was all work and no play, I have evidence to the contrary...

Enjoying their welcome to Grenada lunch

Loving the scenery at La Phare Bleu

Grenadian Sunday lunch courtesy the Sampsons

Chowing down on Grenada's national dish

Soaking in the calm waters of BBC beach

Freezing at Grand Etang lake

Getting a helping hand up at Fort George

Getting sprayed by the mist at Concord Waterfall

Loving the lobster at Fish Friday

A little souvenir shopping

First taste of tania log just before they went home

The Blessings of the Lord at Link Up

Four days before Link Up, we found out that the advertised venue was not available. There was a mix up in communication, and the management at the Youth Center had no idea that we had applied and were granted approval for the use of the venue. We prayed for favour, and asked her if there was anything she could do to facilitate us, since it would be very difficult for us to find an alternate venue at this late stage. 

Volunteers praying before the start of Link Up

She remembered us from the last Link Up, and, although she had initially said that all the conference rooms were booked, she agreed to make some changes to allow us to use the biggest one. However, we had to promise not to make noise since this would disturb the other activities. I promised that we would have all our noisy activities outdoors. I asked people to pray for good weather so we could maximise our fun in the sun.

Beautiful weather for our outdoor activities

The day of Link Up, it rained. Really, really hard. There was flooding in certain parts of town, and some villages lost power for a couple hours. But the God that I serve is a Mighty God. He hears the prayers of His children, even the ‘insignificant’ ones like “Please don’t let it rain until we finish our outdoor activities”. 

Praying for God to hold up the rain

We began our program with a getting to know you activity that had everyone laughing as we got to know things about everyone that no one else knew. This was followed by a time of worship led by students from TAMCC.

One Thing You Don't Know About Me

Hearts united in worship

 We had a moment of silent prayer to lift up the friends and family of Yana Terris, the staffworker from St. Lucia who died earlier that week. Later on in the day we took up an offering to help with her funeral expenses. We then broke up into groups to pray for the needs of students from 15 countries with IFES movements. This formed part of our World Student Day of prayer activities as we united with students all over the world in praying for one another. We were grateful for the opportunity to show the Grenadian students that they are a part of an international fellowship.

Praying for the needs of students from different countries

Just before the sun became too unbearably hot, we shifted location to the conference room where the speaker, Pastor Royston Isaac, delivered a powerful message about being transformed based on Romans 12:1-2. He used examples of Abraham and Paul being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and made the message relevant to the young people and the challenges that they face, and how they too could be transformed. Many of them listed this message as the part of the program that had the biggest impact on them. They recognised that they have value as children of God created for a purpose, and saw the importance of being willing to change rather than conforming to the world around them. 

Pastor Isaac delivering a powerful message about transformation

After the message, they broke up into small groups where they were given case studies which illustrated the theme “Transform Us” in a practical way that they could relate to. There was a time of questions and discussions and then prayer for those who wanted to commit their lives to Christ.

Committing to live transformed lives

After a short lunch break, the gray skies which were lurking in the distance began drawing closer. We quickly put the students in teams for our last outdoor activity – an exciting treasure hunt! They had a ball running around outside, trying to decipher the clues and searching for the next hint. In the meantime, some of our volunteers were praying that the rain would not wash out the treasure hunt. As soon as the winning team located the treasure, the raindrops started to fall. As soon as the children were all safely indoors, the heavens opened and there was a downpour. Talk about an awesome God!

Winning team with the treasure

The teams were then given 40 minutes to prepare a presentation which would show what they learnt through the message and small group discussions. I continue to be amazed at the talent that is evident in the Kingdom of God, as these young people were able to come up with items which included poetry, drama and song to illustrate what they had learnt.

One of the dramatic presentations

Thanks to the generosity of our corporate sponsors, there was high energy throughout the entire day as $5 digicel top ups were given out as prizes during the course of the day. There were snacks and worship CDs as the prize for the treasure hunt, and the winning team presentation was awarded with snacks as well. Due to the great timing of a shipment of Christian resources from a ministry called Resourcing Now out of the States, we were able to give a bible to each student who attended. The school with the biggest crew, Boca Secondary, received two free pizzas to share amongst the nineteen students who came. 

Free snacks!

Out of fifty-one students from seventeen different schools, ten young people gave their lives to God for the first time, and thirty-two students rededicated their lives to Christ. Link Up “Transform Us” was a resounding success!

ISCF Grenada celebrates World Student Day of Prayer

ISCF Grenada celebrated the World Student Day of Prayer for the entire week of October 13^th – 18^th 2014. On October 14th at Anglican High School, the students did a Bible study on prayer, examining what the Bible taught about prayer. 

Anglican High School students unite in prayer

At T.A. Marryshow Community College on October 16th, there was a teaching session on fasting: what is fasting, it’s purpose and benefits, and some practical tips. After the session, they committed to pray and fast next week Tuesday for one of their members who has a brain tumor and needs surgery.

TAMCC students taking in the session

 The ISCF meeting at the Grenada Boys’ Secondary School on October 17th was the second meeting for the term, and many of the students were new so they had questions about ISCF. The first part of the meeting was spent answering questions that the students had asked about ISCF – how it started, why it exists, where it operates etc. This provided a good foundation for the introduction to the IFES world student day of prayer, the day set aside to pray for students from countries all over the world. There were specific requests for each country where IFES has a movement, so the boys were put into three groups and assigned a country to pray for.

Praying in groups for Syria, Israel and Martinique

It was amusing to see them fighting over who would pray “I am a pastor, I will pray!” “I go to church every Sunday – I know how to pray”. Eventually they broke up the requests so they were each able to lift up the requests before God in prayer.

Pastor Jerron leading his group in prayer

The final activity was Link Up on October 18th – a student rally which involved students from schools throughout Grenada, even schools that have no ISCF group at present. Following a time of worship led by students from the community college, we had a moment of silent prayer to lift up the friends and family of Yana Terris, the staffworker from St. Lucia who died earlier this week. Later on in the day we took up an offering to help with her funeral expenses.

Students leading in prayer

We then broke up into groups to pray for the needs of students from 15 countries with IFES movements.

Praying for countries from each region where IFES exists

We were grateful for the opportunity to show the Grenadian students that they are a part of an international fellowship. 

1 Corinthians 12: 12 - 14

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

A historic Annual General Meeting

On Saturday 11th October 2014, ISCF Grenada held it's first ever Annual General Meeting. Although the attendance was small, we had a great time celebrating what God has done through the ministry over the past year.

Here are some of the testimonies shared by students on the impact of ISCF Grenada over the past year:

“Ever since joining ISCF, God has gracefully blessed me;

He has given me the strength to be faithful and respectful.

He makes me more responsible and appreciative of what God has done in my life.

The ISCF group has helped me to remember how important God is and to always put Him first in everything and all the other things will fall in place.

Although temptations may intervene, I learnt that by knowing God’s Word we can resist them all.”

- Cassida Mapson

“ISCF has helped us to have faith in God.

To believe that everything and everyone was created for a reason

To know that there is a living God out there

To know that He loves us and will forever love us

ISCF has helped us to develop confidence in ourselves

To know that what we have to say is important

We now value our opinions, everyone is heard

ISCF has helped us to make lasting friendships with others and God

ISCF has taught us how to listen to what others have to say

It has also changed what people have to say about us

ISCF has transformed us into people with a purpose

A purpose to change our community and our country

To teach the Word of God

To know Christ and to make Him known”

- Hope Mitchell

Registration table

CARIFES representative and founder of ISCF Grenada,
Josephine Romain meets IFES representative Paul Borthwick

Rodney Mc Intyre, our new Board Chairman

Thanking God for His faithfulness 

Welcome by chairperson of the Interim Committee, Joan Purcell

Attendees at AGM

Hearts united in worship

Privileged to be a part of this historic occasion

Paul Borthwick brings greetings on behalf of IFES

Josephine Romain represented CARIFES

Joan Purcell giving the report of the Interim Committee

Sharing the staffworker's report of activities for
the year October 2013 - August 2014

Evette John formally appointing the first official
Board of Directors of ISCF Grenada

Board members and staff of ISCF Grenada

Students from Boca Secondary sharing their testimonies

Pastor Marcus Christopher bringing the scriptural challenge

Arlene Marcell giving the vote of thanks

Thanks again for those who have partnered with us since ISCF Grenada has been revived, and we look forward to your continued support.