Mission Jamaica

The 2009 Mission Trip has recently returned! Click here for video highlights from this awesome trip.

A Vacation with a Purpose

Join St. Andrew staff and members as we travel to Jamaica February 6−13, 2010. We will be serving in the Montego Bay area at Westhaven Children's Home, providing construction and child care; as well as to St. John's Medical Clinic, providing free medical and dental care to people in the community. Approximate cost: $2000/person all inclusive. Contact Lori Goble at 952−934−6546 or Pastor Roger Schindel at 952−829−4091 for more details.

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St. Andrew in Eden Prairie has been taking enthusiastic missionaries to Jamaica since 2000, and each year there are some returning travelers and some who are first-timers. For the first 2 years, we served in Kingston and had our vacation time in Montego Bay. Since then, we spend the entire week in Montego Bay where there are several mission sites. We have had a great mix of those who serve on the medical team, those who do construction and maintenance projects, those who teach, and those who provide care and assistance for children.

It has proven to be an experience that is quite memorable and rewarding. It's healthy to broaden one's perspective in life to see how the majority of the world's population lives. We have been blessed, and it's a joy to be able to share some of those blessings with others. It's also true to say that by taking the initiative to go on a mission trip, we receive much more than we give. The relationships established between the Jamaican people and the missionaries and the bonds within the missionary teams are invaluable.

If you'd like to learn more about participating in Mission Jamaica, please feel free to call the church at 952-937-2776.

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In 2006, 18 people from St. Andrew traveled to Jamaica, 10 who had traveled with us before and 8 new people. It's always great to have a mixture of repeaters and first-timers, that blend of familiarity and anticipation for a brand new experience. Three of our team members served at the medical clinic with missionaries from other Twin Cities churches. One of our team members served on a Habitat for Humanity team, also with missionaries from other churches. The rest of us went to Westhaven Children's Home and the Boys' Place of Safety where we worked on construction projects and a fish farm under development and helped care for and spend time with the children.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the trip is serving with and getting to know others from our congregation and from other churches. There's a bond that forms having experienced this intentional dip into another culture in a Christian community together. And when we return to the Twin Cities, to our regular jobs and families and lives, we return having made new friends, extended family. It's not that we see or talk to each other every day or every week. But we know we have a connection with these fellow travelers on this faith journey, and we know we've experienced something unique and holy together.

So to Bob & Heather & Tyler, Cindy Renee, Dave, Deb, Gerald, Gordon & Virginia, Jim & Cindy, Kris, Paul, Sheryl, Sonja, Steve & Sue: Thank you all for a great trip! You have blessed me more than you know by sharing your gifts, a few tears and a whole lot of laughs. I hope we'll share the Mission Jamaica experience together again!

by Lori Goble, St. Andrew staff member and Mission Jamaica missionary

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Forty-two people from three churches and two states boarded a plane in Minneapolis for a destination of Montego Bay, Jamaica on January 15th. The temperature in Minnesota was 17 below that morning, and arriving in Montego Bay, we were delighted with 83 above! Our greatest anticipation however was not sun and warmth but the prospect of the work ahead, under the auspices of Mission Jamaica. We arrived with medical supplies, two doctors, and a host of nurses to volunteer at a clinic at St. John's for the needy and with other volunteers to assist the Westhaven Children's Home staff with over eighty disabled children ranging in age from three to twenty-seven. There was construction to attend to and damage from the hurricane to address. The Boys' Place of Safety (a temporary boys' shelter) also needed hands and heart. Denny Kiel, the director of Mission Jamaica, had the vision to begin work on a fish farm that will provide support for the Place of Safety; and he's considering the possibility of a butterfly farm as a tourist attraction for financial benefits. Though both homes are under the jurisdiction of the Jamaican Ministry of Health, much remains to be done. We were granted the opportunity to take part, and each participant felt we were the recipients of a holy gift that few see. We learned much!

At Westhaven Children's Home, there were four cottages holding the disabled children and each needed hands to bathe and dress the children, feed them, move them from bed to wheelchairs in order to take them out for a walk or just to sit in the sunshine. One is taken aback to see the row of beds, the bodies twisted by errant limbs, the smiles on the faces hungry for a walk, a hug or help. A surprise also: the cleanliness of the cottages and children who generate enough laundry each day to wash clothes, sheets, and towels for eight hours. Mrs. Williams, the woman in charge of cottage four, was a remarkable woman, as were the staff she directed; and we felt in awe of the ministry the women perform.

The clinic drew a large crowd each day; each person was registered, seen by a doctor and given medication, if appropriate. Children and the aged came, grateful for the attention; one elderly woman repeated over and over again, "God is so sweet. He is so sweet. the answer to all our questions". As she walked away, I said a silent prayer of thanks for the holy moment; I could see Christ in her eyes.

Obviously, I could go on at length because all our moments were so full - it's difficult to select just a few. I would recommend a mission trip such as this to everyone who desires to see faith in action, faith in the eyes of God's people and hearts full of and for Him.

written by Aina Essig first-time Mission Jamaica missionary

For Dave and me, this was our fifth trip with Mission Jamaica and St. Andrew. It was our third time at Westhaven Children's Home where Dave has been working construction on a new cottage for the residents, and I've been privileged to spend time with the children and staff. I'll always remember the very first training session we had with Denny Kiel, the director of Mission Jamaica, when he said that Mission Jamaica is a mission of service and relationship. We serve as Christ would serve, and we're in relationship with others as Christ would love them. That said it all for me. We don't go to Jamaica to show them how things should be done or to teach them the American way or to do everything for them. We go to serve along side them and to be a brother and sister in Christ.

Dave works construction with our fellow missionaries (It took me a long time to be able to call myself a missionary.) and with the Jamaican men who are there to help. I love to spend time with the kids, feeding those who can't feed themselves and helping to bathe and dress them. They love the attention - just giving and receiving a hug, walking the grounds with them, singing with them - such simple acts that take so little from me but are so appreciated by them. The women who care for the children have a difficult job for little pay, but many of them are there because it's their calling. Many of them have a gift for working with and loving these children who need so much. It's a pleasure to listen to their stories of their own Christian faith.

This year, our missionary team had a few people who served at the Boys Place of Safety, a combination temporary juvenile delinquent facility and orphanage. Some prepared a tank for a tilapia fish farm, some read bible stories to the boys, and some served in the wood shop. There are a lot of opportunities to serve at the Place of Safety, and we'll continue to offer that as an option. In 2006, we'll also offer a Habitat for Humanity project and will continue to offer free medical service at St. John's clinic.

One of the great things about Mission Jamaica is that almost anyone can serve. Whether we realize it or not, whether we name them or not, we've all been given gifts. Call them skills or talents or experience or gifts - it doesn't matter. Yes, we need people with a medical background for the clinic. Yes, we need strong able bodies for the construction. God can also use those who can do simple mending or sewing, do basic maintenance, share a bible story, or paint a building; those who like to give and receive hugs, read to a child, do laundry or sweep a floor, sing with children (You don't even have to be good!), talk to and listen to others. Maybe you have a creative flair and could do a wall mural or art projects with the kids. Mission Jamaica is a mission of service and relationship. and presence. Sometimes our presence is all that's required to show someone we care. I don't know where I heard or read this, but God doesn't just call the gifted. He gifts those He calls.

Although each trip has been unique for Dave and me, the common thread is that each trip has been so rewarding and so much fun! We've formed some close friendships with those with whom we've served; and the memories and the experiences we've shared with each other and with the other missionaries are priceless. The cliché is true: when we serve, we receive so much more than we give! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to travel to a beautiful island in the middle of a Minnesota winter and let "this little light of mine" shine.

written by Lori Goble St. Andrew staff member and Mission Jamaica missionary

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