Celebrating Christ in three different countries

While I celebrate Christ all year round, there is a particular day that has been set aside to commemorate His leaving heaven and coming to earth in the form of man, so He could pay the penalty for our sins by dying (so we wouldn't have to). There are many persons who are open to hearing this message around that particular time of year, and I am grateful to use these opportunities to share Christ with them.

Presents for the Bible Club children

At the end of the year, we usually have a special treat the children from our community of Dow Village who come out for Bible Club. Instead of having a guest speaker, two of our in-house teachers did an excellent job pointing the children to the importance of having Jesus as king of their lives, and listening and obeying His voice while blocking out the voices of the world.

Activity reinforces having Christ as king

Early in December, I had the pleasure of visiting my aunt who lives in New Jersey. When she heard the dates I was coming, she happily booked me for two events. The first one was a ladies brunch with the sisters from her church, where I was able to share my testimony of how God brought me through my diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder 1 in 2024. Later that evening some of the ladies at the second event who missed the brunch asked me to share my story again, and we spent almost two hours outside around the campfire talking about my experience. One of them in particular appreciated my testimony because of a loved one she had that was going through something similar, so I thank God that it helped her get a better understanding of what her loved one was experiencing and how best she could support them.

Fellowshipping around a scrumptious meal

The second event was an outreach that her church friend hosted at her house every year. Children from the community and the school where her daughter teaches would come out and be treated to hot chocolate, donuts, a craft station and have fun bouncing on the trampoline. When it got dark everyone went to the front and the children from the church sang carols, which was followed by an evangelistic message by a brother from her church. It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship.

Can you tell which one of us lives in 
the tropics? LOL

I was in charge of the slime station

I was also able to see my sister and
her husband minister at their
church's Advent concert :)

My initial plan for Christmas 2025 was to spend it with my friends who are my family in Tobago, relaxing on a beach. But while I was in the States my heart turned towards the people of Jamaica whose lives had been severly devastated by hurricane Melissa two months earlier. I reached out to Avonelle, founder of the relief and development organization Is There Not A Cause (ITNAC), to find out if there were any outreach plans for Jamaica for Christmas. She excitedly informed me that a small team from Trinidad were heading there to share the love of God in a tangible way during that time. So, five days after returning from the cold and snow in the States, I was on another plane heading to Jamaica.

Our "likkle but tallawah" crew

I must publicly thank my brother-from-another-mother Ricardo for accommodating us with just a few days notice. His hospitality was a tremendous blessing, picking us up from the airport and giving us a place to stay. Our schedule was packed with three days of ministry culminating on Christmas Day, and I was flying out the next day so I could fulfil my niece's desire that I be at home for her birthday.

Cardo always has my back

We got up early the first morning to join with the Richmond Park Church of the Nazarene on a three hour long journey to Aberdeen, one of the communities up in the mountains of St. Elizabeth that most Jamaicans I spoke to had never heard about before. The ladies from the church had been up from 5am cooking the meal that we would be distributing. The church members had packed hampers and wrapped toys which were donated through ITNAC, and by the time we loaded everything on the bus, along with the team, there was barely room for the door to close!

Loading up the snack bags

Praying before we go

Had to capture this personification of
humility: the pastor who waited until
everyone got a seat and took the last
space available - on the floor

As we got closer to Aberdeen we started seeing the effects of hurricane Melisssa - the buildings which were crumbled, the houses which had no roofs, the sparse vegetation. But there were signs of hope in the midst of disaster: the roads were cleared of fallen vegetation, the rubble which had been cleared from the inside of someone's home now on the outside so they could remain in the structure although they now had a tarpaulin as a roof, the leaves which started to grow back on the trees which would have been stripped bare by Melissa, the resilience of the people who had been living for the past two months without electricity or internet access and a limited supply of water. 

This 200 year old church looked like it was hit
by an earthquake instead of a hurricane

Seeing the leaves growing back
reminded me of God's mercies which
are new every morning

We left Kingston in brilliant sunshine, but by the time we got to Aberdeen it was raining. The villagers met us at the Aberdeen Nazarene church where the four walls were still standing, but the entire roof was gone. Rain was pouring through the gaps in the tarpaulin but still the people gathered and participated in the time of worship, and shared things that they were thankful for, despite all they had lost. One person started to sing "When I think of the goodness of God and all He has done for me". Another said that their clothes were gone, their home was gone, but they were giving God thanks for life. Someone else spoke about how they experienced water running through their home and losing everything, but they thanked God for life. For me it gave new meaning to 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In everything give thanks.

Literally praising through the 'storm' (if you look
closely you will see the rain coming through the tarp)

Dishing out the traditional peas and rice
with fried chicken, macaroni salad and ham

Distributing gifts to the children

On Christmas Eve we loaded up our stocks of toys and headed to Rockly Bay in Westmoreland. We tried to divide the toys into three sets to ensure that we would have enough for the three different communities we were going to minister in. We left Kingston with our overnight bags packed by faith, believing that before the end of the day, we would be able to find an AirBnb to spend the night after our initial plans fell through. Our first stop was at a school where the children from the school were gathered awaiting our arrival. We shared the gospel with them, following which a meal was served. While the children we eating we distributed gifts for the children. It was a joy to see the delight of their faces when they opened received their toys; some of them started playing with their gifts immediately. For the majority of them, this would be the only toy they would receive for Christmas...

Avy sharing the Word, supported by her children

She couldn't wait to open it up

The boys started playing with their football immediately

When we left there we headed to a second distribution point where we followed the same pattern: sharing the Word, giving a meal, distributing toys. What was different about this time is that, four days prior, the person who was supposed to be cooking the meal was no longer able to. How were we going to find someone willing to provide food for 100 persons a few days before Christmas? Avy mentioned the predicament to her friend living in the USA, who referred her to someone in Tobago, who knew someone in that exact community who would be capable of doing the job for us! We met them for the first time that day and it was as if we had known them forever. We bless God for the connections we have through the body of believers.

Receiving physical food after being nourished spiritually

While we were on the road, we were finally able to get in touch with someone in the area who had an Airbnb that had not been affected by hurricane Melissa. They even had internet and electricity, so we were able to connect with our loved ones. Apart from serving those in Jamaica, I thank God for the opportunity to minister to members of our team, and also to be ministered to by them, during the short time we had together. Our driver, Toby, was also a God-send. He navigated those country roads with no streetlights like a boss, narrowly avoiding hitting a cow when it stepped out of the bushes and into the road.

De whole crew

On Christmas morning, we headed to a church in Four Roads, St. Elizabeth. They had lost their roof and walls during the hurricane, but the pastor had tied all the pews together and covered them with tarpaulin so they were saved. Each team members was given an opportunity to share a word of encouragement to those gathered there. While the church members finished cooking, a couple of us ran away with some of the villagers to a nearby river where we were able to soak in the beauty of God's creation. When we were finished we went back to the church and spent the rest of the day eating and fellowshipping with them. After all the children who came out got toys, there were still enough toys left over to send to another community that wasn't on our plan to visit - God multiplied what we had so many were able to be blessed!

The Church gathered without a building

Enjoying the beauty in the midst
of loss

All smiles with their toys

That night, our bus driver drove for six hours to get all the team members to the different places where we would be staying. I thank God for keeping us safe on the roads, and for the opportunity to have a conversation with him about his relationship with God on the way back. God truly showed up for us big time during that mission trip, and I am grateful for all the persons He used along the way to be a blessing to us.

Boxing Day Breakfast lime at the Burkes