Greetings from Jamaica (Jan 16, 2014)

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Greetings from Jamaica!

This will be my last report from Old Harbour, Jamaica, as I will be leaving for the US early tomorrow (Friday) morning.

I decided to sleep in a few extra minutes this morning since I didn't have to teach today. So, I got up at 6 am, got a shower, prayed and read my Bible, then went down for breakfast. Wow! We had French toast this morning. It was very good. The young Jamaican couple from the church that cooked for us did a fantastic job!

This morning Dennis, Mary, Pastor Jerry, and I will be meeting with Locksley Todd to discuss the Pre-school project and the future planning and coordination needed to prepare a budget so that we can begin to apply for grants and begin to raise funds for the equipment and other items that we will need to open the school once the building is completed.

Before Locksley arrived, Dennis found some problems with a couple of things that the contractor did to the school building. They were not major problems, but they had to be corrected before we can proceed any further. Fortunately, they found them now and not later. (I think that Dennis will end up firing the contractor?) While waiting on Locksley, I packed up my suitcases, worked off a bunch of emails, and made some notes for a project that I'm working on.

Locksley showed up at around 9:30 am. I met with him primarily by myself for a couple of hours while Dennis and Jerry from time to had to leave to give instructions or check on the work teams. Mary also received a call from their daughter Krista during our meeting who had to be taken to the hospital ER this morning. It appears that she was having a problem with her legs going numb and having a severe pain in her groin. (I'm not sure they found out the cause, but at least they gave her some medications to ease the pain and released her to go home and later to see a specialist.) So, I mostly met with Locksley and we discussed several issues and came up with a plan and timeline to finalize the start-up budget and the initial operating budget.

In the afternoon, I continued working on my other project until around 3 pm when the work teams formed another "concrete bucket brigade" and started to pass buckets filled with concrete across the property to pour supports for a new gate they were building. We did this for about 2 hours or so and then finished for the day.

This afternoon was really nice. It was overcast and I would estimate it was around 75 degrees with a slight breeze. It really felt good but it probably means it will be a little cooler tonight. I might have to break out my poncho liner?

Tonight we had fried fish and pepper steak for dinner. I did eat a piece of fish (against my better judgment) and it was very good. However, it did have bones in it so I had to be very careful. After dinner, we had our devotions and Dennis briefed the two teams on their trip tomorrow to Ocho Rios.

Tomorrow morning, Dennis and Mary will be taking me to airport. We are planning to leave at 5:15 am. It will take us about an hour to get to Kingston, negotiate the traffic, and get to the airport. My plane doesn't leave until 9 am so I should have plenty of time.

I've had a really good time during this trip. It was really good to work with and get to know Curt Nordhielm and Dale Cornett from Boise Bible College and it was good to meet the people on the mission teams from the Meadowview and North Terrance Churches of Christ. It also was great to see the progress that they made on the school building! I have personally invested a lot of time planning, researching, and working on the plans for starting a pre-school and it is good to see the "dream" starting to become a reality.

I am slightly disappointed in the turn out for our seminar, but I think that I was able to "plant some seeds" in the minds of a few young pastors who want to learn to lead like Jesus and make disciples like He did. Only the Lord knows what will come out of our effort here. I often have to remind myself that God never told us that we have to be "successful". Instead, He tells us to be "faithful".

After I get home tomorrow afternoon, I do not have much time to recover, wash some clothes, repack and prepare for my next adventure – to Myanmar, which begins on Sunday morning when, Lord willing, we will climb on a plane at 6:15 am.

Thanks for your prayers! Also, please pray for Dennis and Mary who will be here in Jamaica until February 1^st. My next blog post will take place as we depart from the Lexington Bluegrass Airport on Sunday morning.

Blessings!

Fred

Fred R. Waggoner
 
Fred R. Waggoner
4221 Forsythe Drive
Lexington, KY 40514
Home: 859-223-7972
Cell: 859-312-5334
 
Soli Deo Gloria - "For God's glory alone".

 
 
 

Photos from Jamaica

Greeting's from Jamaica (Jan 15, 2014)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014.

Greetings from Jamaica!

I almost over slept this morning. I was so sound asleep that I didn't even hear my phone alarm go off. I had set it for 5 am, but I was so tired that I did not hear it until 5:30. So, I guess it just beeped for about 30 minutes. This morning the cold shower didn't work to wake me up. I finally got 3 cups of coffee down me before I started to feel good.

We had breakfast at 7 am. This morning we had ackee and salt fish (the Jamaican national meal). I did not partake. Instead, I ate fried plantains, fruit bread, watermelon, and pineapple. And, had lots of coffee!

After breakfast we set up for the last day of teaching. As with the other two days, some that came on the first two days did not return for the third. But, some that came the first day came back the third and final day and one person showed up for the first time on the third day. Oh, well? There were at least 9 leaders/pastors that came every day and I feel that they got something that will help them.

We got started at 9:15 am with Pastor Jerry leading our time of singing and worship. When he turned it over to me it was 9:30 am. After Tuesday's session, I was still almost an hour behind schedule. So, I cut out some things and reduced some activities a few minutes here and there and things worked out. I only went over about 15 minutes and I was able to fully cover the most important points and allow for some good group discussion on them.

I also was able to talk with them about the four-stage/phase leader development process that Luke and I have used in Uganda, Liberia, and Ghana. I showed them how it works and how if they will commit to it and follow through, they can exponentially grow the number of leaders in their churches. Then, I offered to come back to Jamaica and start this same process with them, but only if they will make a long-term commitment and be willing to follow through. We will see what happens? There are five younger pastors that seem to be "chomping" at the bit and are excited to begin. So, we will see what the Lord works out.

In the afternoon, Dale Cornett completed his teaching on Biblical eldership. After he was finished, Dennis and Pastor Jerry brought Dale, Curt, and I upfront to thank us and present us with a nice gift – a very nice Jamaican necktie. Then, the work teams from the two churches came in and joined us as we gathered around these leaders, laid our hands on them, and then prayed for them, their churches, and for Jamaica. It was a very touching experience and I really believe that these leaders were lifted up and encouraged by it.

We then put away all of our stuff, cleaned up the sanctuary, and reset the chairs for the evening service. Once that was over, I went to my room and changed clothes. When I came downstairs, I saw that the work teams had started a bucket chain-gang and were passing buckets filled with concrete from one side of the property to the next and they were short a few people, so I joined in and passed concrete filled buckets for about 2 hours.

For dinner this evening, we had jerk chicken and chicken foot soup. These are two traditional dishes that Jamaica is famous for. I can say one thing for sure; the food has been great this week! I would say it's the best that I've ever had here and this makes my fifth or sixth time.

At 7 pm we went to the church's Wednesday evening service. They did something very special tonight for us. We started out by singing several praise and worship songs for about 15 minutes or so. Then, Pastor Jerry brought up a group of about 15 church members (mostly women) up to the front of the sanctuary. These folks then sang and danced to several Jamaican songs that they had learned at church camp and vacation Bible school when they were growing up. The songs and dancing was great. We all laughed and clapped and had a great time. You could especially see that they also enjoyed "performing" for us. What a very special night!

As we finished the service, Pastor Jerry presented the leaders of the two construction teams with a special gift to take back to their churches and thanked them for all that they had done to help complete the school building. Later, during the devotions, Dennis and Mary presented Dale, Curt, and I with a Jamaican coffee mug and some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Tomorrow, Dale and Curt leave for the airport at 5 am to catch their plane that will take them back to Boise, Idaho. I have one more day here and will be meeting with Dennis, Jerry, and Locksley Todd (who is a local Jamaican that is on our mission board there) to talk about the school and our progress on getting the start up and operational budget put together.

Thanks again for your prayers. One more post tomorrow evening and Lord willing I will be on my way back to Kentucky.

Blessings!

Fred

Fred R. Waggoner
 
Fred R. Waggoner
4221 Forsythe Drive
Lexington, KY 40514
Home: 859-223-7972
Cell: 859-312-5334
 
Soli Deo Gloria - "For God's glory alone".

 
 
 

Greetings from Jamaica (Jan 14, 2014)

Good day in Jamaica. Very warm but lots got accomplished today.

Blessings!

Fred

Greetings from Jamaica (Jan 13, 2014)

Monday, January 13, 2014

Greetings from Jamaica!

This morning I was up at 5 am. I showered, read my Bible and prayed, and went downstairs to get some coffee at about 6:45 am. We ate breakfast at 7 am and started sitting up for the seminar at 7:30. I could not believe it, but as we walked to the sanctuary to open it up we were met by a man who said, "I have some tables for you". He was the guy with the round tables that was supposed to be delivered on Sunday and we were sure glad to see him. Thank you Lord for working out the small details.

It took us a little while to set up. Jerry did not arrive until almost 8 am and Dennis was really busy getting the construction teams organized for the day's work. So, Curt, Dale and I had to "wing it" and do our best to find things, hook up and turn on the speaker system, projector, etc. But, it all worked out and we were ready by 9 am, which is the time the first person arrived.

The leadership seminar was not well attended. 23 people had registered and paid in advance and another 10 or so had told Jerry that they would pay at the door but were coming. Only 11 showed up. I don't quite understand if you paid for something why would you not show up to it? Maybe they'll show up tomorrow? Who knows?

We kept waiting for more to show up and when they didn't, we finally got started at 9:30 am. Pastor Jerry led us in several worship songs until about 9:45. Then, both he and Dennis spoke and welcomed everyone. So, I did not get started with the Encounter session until after 10 am. So, I was about an hour behind from the start.

On a good note, the ones who did show up told me that they really learned a lot from the session and are eager to come back tomorrow. I was able to get through the introduction portion of the Encounter and about half way through the Heart section before I had to stop at noon for lunch.

After lunch Curt Nordhielm presented a session on the Image of God and the leadership roles of men and women. It was a great session and he did a great job presenting the material. We did have a woman pastor in the audience and Curt did a good job laying out the Bible basis for his talk and at the same time recognizing that in some places where men don't or won't step up, women have to assume lead roles in the church.

The biggest issue we had today was the noise and distractions from all the construction that was going on. It was very hard to hear (for both me and the participants) and it was very hard for me to stay focused. It was definitely not a good thing to schedule both the seminar and the start of a construction project at the same church at the same time. Lesson learned.

Tomorrow, I'm going to do my best to start the session at 9 am. We will see how many show up? My plan is to start, with or without everyone there. I have an hour to make up and I've reviewed my notes to pick several places where I can shorten an activity or two. So, hopefully we will get close to being back on schedule. I do not want to have to cut the Habits short on the final day. I have come to the conclusion that besides the Heart section, the Habits of a Servant leader is the second most important topic that we cover during the Encounter.

Overall, I think the Pastors who did attend are getting something that they can take back to their churches and will also help them be better leaders and shepherds of their flock. As for the construction, it sure looks like these guys got a lot done today on the school building.

Thanks in advance for your prayers. Lord willing, I'll post again tomorrow evening. Our internet this evening is not working very well and I was unable to access it for over two hours. But, just before I was about to give up, I tried to get on it one more time before going to bed and it worked!

Blessings!

Fred

 

Fred R. Waggoner
 
Fred R. Waggoner
4221 Forsythe Drive
Lexington, KY 40514
Home: 859-223-7972
Cell: 859-312-5334
 
Soli Deo Gloria - "For God's glory alone".

 
 
 

Hope this one works?

Greetings from Jamaica (Jan 12, 2014)

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Greetings from Jamaica!

I slept pretty well last night, even though it was about 80 degrees when we went to sleep. But, it really cooled down and I actually got cold enough to wake up and turn the fan off. My alarm went off at 6 am and I got up and went to take a shower. Everyone else was fast asleep. Of course, there was no hot water and so I took a cold shower. It was pretty cold at first but I got used to it and it was actually OK. A few times the cold water took my breath away.

After I showered and shaved, I went downstairs to make some coffee. Needless to say, I made it a "little" strong. Oh, well? After a few minutes, most of the "older" guys started to wander down stairs to drink some coffee and wait for breakfast.

Church services today were very good. As expected, it started a half hour late. The singing was wonderful and Pastor Jerry gave a great sermon. We started at 10:30 am and it was over at a few minutes past noon. Not bad by Jamaican standards!

Lunch was at KFC in Old Harbour. After that, we came back to the church and did some prep work to get ready for tomorrow's seminar, ie., checked out the audio/visual equipment, microphones, etc. I also took about 2 hours to review my lesson notes again. Dennis took several of the team members who had never been to Old Harbour and showed them around the city, to include the really poor area that is close to the church. They got to see "real" poverty. It was an eye opening experience for them.

At 6 pm we attended the Sunday evening service here at the church. Wow!! What singing! I posted a video clip for you to see just a small part of one of the songs that we sang. Following the song service, Curt Nordhielm preached on the Great Commission. He did a great job and made some points that I had not thought of before.

After the evening service, we ate dinner and then met with Pastor Jerry to make final coordination for tomorrow's seminar. As luck would have it, the company that was supposed to deliver the round tables this afternoon, failed to show. So, we just may have to use rectangle ones that we have here at the church.

We ended the day with Dennis and Mary holding a team meeting to tell everyone all the do's and do not's and to get tomorrow's construction plans all worked out. We had a time of sharing and then we prayed and are now getting ready for bed. I'm probably the only one up right now.

We'll, that's the report for Sunday. All in all, it was a very good day. I pray that tomorrow will be even a better one and that the right people come to our leadership seminar and that the audio/visual and other support items work as planned.

Thanks for your prayers. Lord willing, I will post again tomorrow evening.

Blessings!

Fred

Fred R. Waggoner
 
Fred R. Waggoner
4221 Forsythe Drive
Lexington, KY 40514
Home: 859-223-7972
Cell: 859-312-5334
 
Soli Deo Gloria - "For God's glory alone".