The Messenger

The 2011 Cruise with a cause was a tremendous success. On the morning of Monday, May 30th 3090 soldiers of Christ began to make their way on board the cruise ship Carnival Destiny. The ship was rightly named as most certainly there was a spirit of unity, expectation, and intention on board. Knowing the hopes and desires of the nation of Jamaica, I felt as though we had been called to war.

As we pulled away from port, meetings and coaching began. The PraiseFest staff began preparing the way and the battlefield two years ago. I remember when, Matthew Dunaway founder of PraiseFest, first began discussing it with me. Having gone to the Bahamas previously he felt that God was leading him to Jamaica. Boy was He ever! In watching the progression of things & events from the beginning in people, pastors, the government of Jamaica, and numerous levels of participation, it's been an amazing journey and now a great testimony for Matthew and the staff of PraiseFest Ministries. They are a great testimony of the don't quit attitude. God gave Matthew a vision and he refused to listen to the nay-sayers and allow the difficulties of the logistics to halt him. Matthew listened to the call of God and walked head strong into the fire on nothing but faith. What an inspiration! Thank you to the staff of PraiseFest who stepped out on faith and quit their jobs to work strictly on this missionary journey.

The Carnival Destiny in Montego Bay

Upon deporting, there were numerous conferences, concerts, and coaching sessions available for all to attend. Really just too many for me to list here. The God gifted assembly of talent upon this ship was amazing. People the likes of Josh McDowell, John Hagee, Bishop Paul and Deborah Morton, David and Tamela Mann, Casting Crowns, Johnny Hunt, The Crabb Family, Hezekiah Walker, Mathew Hagee, Joe & Linda Johnson, Martin Houston, Frank Shelton, John Gray, and on, and on. I counted it a great honor to be listed among them as a speaker on the ship. These incredible people and more saw the great need and came out to support it in a major way.

We arrived in port and on Wednesday, we began readying ourselves to go to schools, prisons, and campuses around the nation to share our testimonies of what God had done in our lives. Others, went into the streets and met with people one on one. Our group of 10 boarded bus #31 and began our 45 minute ride to the Salt Marsh Primary School.

It was a modest little school of 215 students from the 1st - the 6th grade. Upon our arrival we were informed we didn't have much time that they were getting ready to have lunch.

The principal immediately called for assembly and the children began to excitedly line up outside. Charlotte Chaney of Tucson, Arizona was assigned to our group to lead worship for us and did an excellent job. The kids loved her and really got involved in the song she lead by joining her in singing, clapping, and jumping with her.

Afterwards, I had the opportunity to share my personal testimony of coming to know Jesus. It was a stellar moment for me, in that I was able to include things that they could relate to from my own childhood, stuff that I hadn't discussed in years. God moved in a great way and of the 215 students 191 of them responded and made a decision to ask Christ into their lives. The other 24 student's said they new Christ as their savior and Lord and gathered around me to pray for those that were then meeting with our counselors. After our counseling was complete and we had a chance to talk with every student it was lunch time and recess time. This gave us an excellent opportunity to get to know the children better and to tour the school.

Alyssa Middlebrooks one of our teen counselors
joining in the fun.

I was aware that Jamaica was considered a third world nation. I must confess I was not prepared for it to be as far behind U.S. development because it is such a heavily traveled tourist stop. These children are thriving and happy living without many of the amenities that we in the U.S. feel we cannot live without. God bless them! In some ways I hope that progress comes, but that much of it won't. I say this, because while we live in a nation that feels to have a classroom without air conditioning, new blackboards, projectors, the finest books, and everything else is akin to abuse, these children are happy and well. What they need is not things. They need our prayer and support to avoid the temptations of revolution, war, stealing, violence, drugs, and pagan religion that is so prevalent in the culture.

Presently, there is a government in place in Jamaica that wants to show the world what can happen when a nation totally gives itself over to Jesus Christ. Join us in prayer that they will do it. I can tell you from first hand experience and the conversations I've had with various people, they have a plan in place. Their hope is that by 2030, Jamaica will no longer be considered a third world nation. They teach respect for each other at an early age. Their national motto says, "Out of many, one people." Unity, is their strength and their persistent and open dependence upon Christ is their assurance that they will succeed.

On Wednesday night we had a crusade which involved powerful speakers and music. Together this culminated into a 3300 decisions for Christ that night. The nation of Jamaica truly felt the impact of a mighty God. By Thursday afternoon, we were leaving port headed back to the port of Miami. Later that night Matthew Dunaway and dozens of others took the stage to announce the results of our combined efforts. All totaled between all the schools, prisons, campuses visited, and the crusade we had over 21,000 hand written recordings of personal decisions for Christ and put out over 60,000 tracks! Here is a link to the announcement click here.

Again, hats off to PraiseFest Ministries for the obedience and continued efforts. It was our great pleasure to be a small part of this mission. Thank you to those who accompanied me and served on our team. Jim & Linda Jones, Alyssa, Nora, Anita, and Cris. You were great company on the trip and your valiant efforts contributed greatly to the success of our mission. There is still much to be done in Jamaica. Please, pray for this government and nation, as they set a new standard in national Christian leadership and obedience. Below are a few pics of some old friends and some new, enjoy.