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Living Christ-likeness in the world today is the demand of God for every Christian. Walking in the footsteps of Christ today by, going from comfort zone, taking risk, experiencing great cost and challenges, like Christ did, should be considered an experience of holiness. Being very Christ as the gospel of Luke chapter 4 says, “…the spirit of the Lord is upon me…to release the oppressed..,” is to provide hope for a people from whom hope is being robbed. This is the goal of the Jamaica Baptist Union Mission Agency (JBUMA) in Haiti.
November 16-24, 2009, marked yet another mission visit to our sisters and brothers in Haiti. This mission was a first for the JBU, as a Nutritionist, Trained Teachers, a Dentist, an Ophthalmologist, Construction Specialists, Medical Practitioners and others sought to provide a well needed intervention, as one of the ways in restoring hope.
The over six hours spent traversing hills and valleys, roads and tracks, river beds and hillsides, marsh land and dry land, did not deter these committed Jamaicans and Haitians from coming together to learn from each other in the communities of Kafab and Thomasset. The dawning of four new days was greeted by throngs of children, young people and adults eager to be registered and not to miss this chance of teaching their Jamaican friends, a lesson in patience, tolerance and how to ‘tun yu han mek fashion.’
Pastors, people, other professionals and interpreters with flashlights in hand, a language barrier to overcome and the willingness to be like Jesus, was an experience to cherish and never forget, that lasted from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. over four days. As the Nutritionist offered suggestions of a healthy lifestyle; the trained teachers prepared their charts; the Dentist sharpened his instruments; the ophthalmologist checked his batteries; the medical practitioners prepared their space and those in construction banged away, the lives of almost six thousand (6,000) Haitians of two communities and eighteen Jamaicans would never be the same.
The community of Thomasset (where our own Rev. Fritzner Dunois grew up) now has potable water. This is as a result of your generous contribution to the Mission Haiti Fund and the JBUMA Mission Fund. The almost four hundred children of the other communities now enjoy a balanced meal each school day. Eyesight was restored, physical health renewed and a people’s spirit revived, as a ray of hope glittered from in the distance.
Special thanks to those who funded the mission, and to the Mission team members (Dr. Phillip Mighty, Mr. Milton Walker, Miss Vanessa White, Mr. Gentle Wallace, Dr. Marjorie Brown-Tulloch, Miss Keisha Jarrett, Mrs. Hyacinth Smith, Mr. Richard Trellis, Mrs. Zephlin Taylor, Miss Karla Anderson, Miss Betty Higgins, Dr. Cindo Nicholson, Mrs. Daydrea Grey, Mrs. Olive James, Miss Millicent O’Connor, Dr. Julia Rowe-Porter).
JBUMA
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JBU in Haiti - A MISSION OF HOLINESS, A MISSION HOPE