Praise the Lord Everyone!
This summers’ Apostolic Crusaders Youth Corp missions trip to Jamaica was a great success! We created new friends, drew closer to God, and had a lot of fun. From the very beginning of the trip all the way to the end, the Lord kept his hand upon us. I am so thankful God allowed us to make this journey and for of His blessings he continually poured out while we were together.
The young people who attend this trip were outstanding and represented the Apostolic Crusaders in a very Godly way. They were also willing to adjust to the increased temperatures, hard wooden pews, cold water showers, bugs, and the even managed to stay in tune with God when we lost electricity during service! My wife and I are so thankful for the group the Lord brought together for this great mission to Jamaica. Going into this trip we prayed that God would send people who loved one another, strived for unity, and had a heart for missions. Thank you Lord for answering our prayer! Every Pastor who sent a young person please be assured that your young people represented their home churches with honesty and character. They were such a blessing to us. I hope they all returned home with and increased burden to do a great work for God.
Before I go any further I want to say thank you to a few individuals who made this trip the success that it was. I want to give a huge thanks to Dr. Joe Nelson. Without Dr. Nelson this years’ AYC World Mission would not have been possible. Thank you Dr. Nelson for the great sacrifice you made to be with us. Also, I want to say thank you to Bishop Ivan Evans who is the presiding Bishop over the International Apostolic Ministries of Jamaica. Bishop Evans and his staff, especially Sister Covaline, made our stay in Jamaica perfect. I am forever grateful for their outstanding hospitality and for their lasting friendship we made through this trip. Finally, I want to say thank you to our chaperones, Bro. Darrin May, Sis Julie May, and Evangelist Michael Maupin. Thank you for coming with a burden for young people and for missions.
Many of you reading this article may wonder what exactly goes on during an AYC mission’s trip; therefore, here is brief overview of our 6 day mission to the island of Jamaica.
On July 17th the first group of AYC missionaries arrived at 10:45 AM and the last group landed at 8:30 PM. Needless to say I spent quite a while at the airport. As people would arrive they were transported over to the Montego Bay church for some rest, fellowship, and KFC. Once all 37 of the AYC missionaries arrived we loaded up in four buses and drove two hours into the Jamaican mountains to Santa Cruz, which served as our base camp for the week. Upon our arrival into Santa Cruz at the Waterloo Apostolic Church we were greeted by a welcoming committee fit for royalty. At Midnight there were 100 Jamaican young people singing a welcoming song as we all exited our vehicles. At that point I knew that this was going to be a special week for our young people.
Bright and early July 18th we came back at the Waterloo church for traditional Jamaican breakfast, which was quite the experience for some. After breakfast we all gathered together in the sanctuary for worship and a lesson on Cultural Awareness by Dr. Nelson. Later that night we drove two hours to a youth service in Granger Hill, which we will always remember. As Dr. Nelson began to preach about the calling of God, you could feel the Lord’s presence sweeping in so strong. I truly believe God spoke and renewed callings to many of our young people. I hope and pray every young person who felt this call will answer and become everything God has called them to be.
On July 19th it was off to the YS waterfalls, after our Jamaican breakfast of course. We arrived to YS the same time Hurricane Dolly was passing over us, so it was raining like crazy. However, this did not slow us down at all. Many of the guys took advantage of the swing ropes and jumped right in the waterfall, while others sped through the rain forest on a zip line. Needless to say, the rain did not keep us from having a blast. After everyone ate and cleaned up we arrived back to Santa Cruz for a prayer meeting. What a powerful time!
Sunday July 20th was perhaps the greatest day of the trip. Our day started at 9:30 AM with Sunday school. Bro. Michael Maupin taught Sunday school to the adult class with only five minutes notice and did a fantastic job. Other AYC participants were blessed with the opportunity to speak, sing, play, and teach the children in children’s church. Around 11 we came together for the main service where the AYC choir sang and Dr. Nelson preached a great message about being sealed with a promise. Concluding the morning service, we had lunch and began to prepare for the next service. Beginning at 7:30ish, remember we are in Jamaica, people started entering the sanctuary for a time of worship and you could just feel the expectancy in the air. Bro. May and I gave a brief sermon and then worship began again, which did not cease until 12:30AM. The awesome spirit of praise and worship we experienced during the service is one that will not be easily forgotten. I believe we all left with a commitment to “step up” our worship once we returned home.
If I could explain what heaven would feel like I would have to say it would be very similar to what we experienced on Sunday night. Different cultures coming together to stand in awe of a living savior. I watched our young people from the United States and the young people of Jamaica come together as one to worship our one God who loves us no matter what color our skin is, how much money we do or do not have, or what country we live in. I wish all of our young people from the United States could have been there to experience such dynamic praise and worship.
Monday July 21 we took a tour of the Island Apostolic Churches throughout the island. At every stop we would hold a short prayer meeting to bless the churches and the pastors of each church. Some of the churches were located in the country, some in the city, and some on mountains but the one thing they had in common was the awesome presence of God we felt at each of them.
After a long day of riding we returned back to Santa Cruz for our last dinner together with the wonderful saints of Waterloo. Following dinner Bishop Smith invited us to the Myersville church for a going away party. What an awesome and entertaining time we had there.
On July 22nd we packed up and traveled back to Montego Bay to take hot showers, experience air conditioning, and eat American food. I have never seen people so excited to eat Burger King in all my life. Some of our AYC participants were literally running. The jerk chicken, pork, rice and beans were good but us Americans have to have our fast food fix from time to time. I think the staff at Burger King was a little scared.
Once we finished stuffing ourselves we went to see the beach and decided just to relax back at the hotel in Montego Bay. Around 9:30 we gathered back together for one last meal together.
My wife and I had such a wonderful time with everyone who attended this summers AYC missions trip. We are already looking forward to the upcoming AYC trips to the Apache reservation in December and to Cuba next summer. (For more info please visit the link for Foreign or Domestic Missions)
God bless you all and thank you again for the support you all have shown towards the Apostolic Crusaders of the ALJC and towards our Apostolic Youth Corp. Please join us on a future endeavor in Missions…. Ya Mon!
