Cooleys to Jamaica

Dear Ministry Partners,

Thank you so much for your prayers and we want you to know that they have really contributed to the acceleration of the work in Mandeville in the last month. Yesterday, the church voted unanimously to make Karl Smith the co-pastor of Grace Baptist Church alongside myself, we tore out all of the termite-infested wood floors this month, we’re now working on paperwork to restore the church’s registration with the government, and people in the church are stepping forward to involve themselves in the work. There is truly “light at the end of the tunnel”!

It has been a banner month! That said, I have a plea to make because I believe there might be a window open in Jamaica that would make possible our making a bigger impact in Jamaica than we’ve been able to make in some time as Independent Baptists. This facebook post, from the Jamaica Information Service, you see to the right, represents an opportunity that might well be short-lived, but real. The Prime Minister actually wants to partner with churches to establish schools.

I am not a school-builder, but if someone had the experience and the motivation to establish a Baptist School in Jamaica, we would most certainly get behind them in any way we could. Tammy and I have just a few years left on the field, but we are all about establishing something that will make a difference in Jamaica for generations to come.

Because a new major highway from Kingston to Mandeville is nearly complete, Mandeville is a growing city. Now is the time to start something in Mandeville.

As a veteran missionary, I can tell you that we, as Baptists, have missed opportunities that Charismatics, Adventists, and Catholics have used to virtually overtake cultures for generations. People do value legitimate education and having children in a Christian School classroom every day represents an opportunity for evangelism and discipleship like no other.

Further, when even the Prime Minister of a nation recognizes that the moral bottom has dropped out of his culture, so invites churches to do something about it, it’s time for Christians serious about reaching the world to step up.

We’re so grateful for your commitment to our ministry, and it’s our prayer that the Lord would motivate some of you become co-laborers with us in Jamaica!