In the church in Montego Bay, one of six of our family of churches on the island of Jamaica, there were only three teens who had been baptized into Christ as of the beginning of April 2019. Eight teens were studying the Bible as they contemplated making Jesus their Lord. The theme for our family of churches in Jamaica for 2019 is ‘Gen 2 Gen’, which means generation to generation and we have placed extra emphasis on reaching out to our youth and meeting their needs. Special events, outings and lessons tailored with our youth in mind have been scheduled throughout the year and we have even started a School Feeding Program at one of our inner city schools. One such event was a Fun Day in mid-April which saw 33 teens and preteens attending as well as some of the parents. We played games like basketball, football, volleyball, and dominoes and had an Easter egg hunt.
We also went into a river to enjoy the refreshing waters. The kids had a blast and the event was a roaring success as many of the invited teens came to church the next day for our Easter Sunday service. One of our teens, Jasmine, saw three schoolmates, along with five of their siblings and one parent attending the Fun Day. Even more encouraging is that her three schoolmates are among those who are presently studying the Bible and want to become Christians! God is truly blessing our efforts to reach the next generation as three teenagers have since been added to our number, essentially doubling our teen ministry in one month. On May 6th 15 year-old Jordan Clarke was baptized into Christ. His parents Mark and Sophie had moved back to Jamaica six months earlier and God has truly rewarded them for giving their hearts to his people. Adrianna Williams who is 14 years old was baptized on May 12th. Not an eye was dry at her baptism as we reflected on how proud her mom, Christine, who suddenly passed away last year, would have been to see her daughter baptized into Christ. Adrianna and her sister Britney are being raised by her father Jason, who is a faithful disciple of Christ. And on May 23rd Lathorna Ricketts at age 16 was baptized into Christ. Lathorna was one of the classmates of Jasmine who was a guest at the Fun Day. Several other teens are presently studying the bible, so please be praying for our teen ministry and church as a whole as we continue to strive to raise up the next generation of disciples of Jesus in Montego Bay.
