ensign grayson grayce 1958 jamaica

8/16/2019 Ensign Grayson Grayce 1958 Jamaica

1/36

March 1958

o

[

ENSIGNS RETURN TO JAMAICA

IN

LATE

APRIL

CINCINNATI Ohio

arch

3

1958

rayson and Mrs. Ensign

p l a n e d

t o b e

b a f e k I n J a p a i 4 a b y

t h e

l a t t e r j r r t o f

A p r i l a n d

wrote that their itinerary is completely filled until departure time.

Address on field is Box 20 Half Way Tree Samaica

Britiwh

West Indies


2/36

7/^ AW 28

t « 6

JAMAICAN

. . . a great and e f f e c t u a l door

I s opened

VOLUME H I ,

Number

1

t l

Lord's Day

Gathering

and Meeting

Place

GRAND

C YM N

REVISITED

What

a joy

i t

was to be

able

to

return to Grand Cayman and

this time

- w i t h

my a m i l y . Grayce Marie and

t h e

boys had heard s o much

about

t h e

i s l a n d

and

the loyal Christians that they

were

as p l e a s e d as I was wh en

we

ound

that

we could

r e t u i ' n

to

Jamaica via Grand

Cayman at

no

extra cost.

Thus

we

we r e

afforded

five

blessed

days

with

the

o l d

and

new Christians

i n

t h e church which

Bro. Tom

dam

and I established i n

October, 1954.

CH LLENGER

. nd there are many

adversaries..

July,

1958

ENSIGNS RETURN

In the

providence

of God the Ensigns

are

again at work i n

Jamaica

after a

lovely furlough.

T h e

boys are glad to

be

sleeping

i n the same beds each

night,

while Grayson and

Grayce Marie

ar e

happy

to

be working wit h Jamaican

saints,

sinners, and children.

The

sched

ule

i s

working smoothly wit h

a

full

quota

of work.

Plenty to

Do

Grayce

Ma r i e

has been busy

as

a

homemaker,

helping boys with school-

work,

sorting out and d i s t r i b u t i n g nine

months

of accumulated B.S.

l i t e r a t u r e ,

and

teaching

four

hours of English

each

week to t h e Seminary students. She and

Bro.

Pink

are planning

a

Holidays B.S.

i n

August.

As always

she has

book

keeping

work and financial records and

reports to complete for the past months.

In

May several

important changes

were made in the Seminai'y. Grayson

assumed

the

deanship with r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

f o r c o u r s e s , t e a c h e r s , s t u d e n t s , and

d i s

c i p l i n e . He worked out the curriculum

f o r

a

r e t u r n t o

a

f o u r - y e a r degree

and

a

schedule

for the

completion of

a l l th e

c o u r s e s .

Don Fream

and Grayson

are

teaching six hours.

Grayson

began

i n June t o produce

t h e r a d i o program e a c h week,

which

we

s t i l l c o n s i d e r

o f f i r s t

i m p o r t a n c e . We

are working

with Penwood Rd .

and El-

l e t s o n

Rd. c o n g r e g a t i o n s , v i s i t i n g c o u n

t r y c h u r c h e s ,

and

endeavoring

t o

com

p l e t e

t h e

Penwood

Rd.

m e e t i n g h o u s e .

We

a r n e s t l y

d e s i r e y o u r

p r a y e r s t o

attend our labors here.


3/36

PAGETW

J u l y ,

1958

IHE JAMAICAN CHALLENGER

Published

b y

E v a n g e l i s t and Mrs.

GRAYSON

HARTER

ENSIGN

Churches

of Christ in Jamaica

(Jamaica

Christian

Mission)

Box 20

Half-Way-Tree)

Kingston 10, Jamaica, W.I.

U.S.

a d d r e s s : River Pk. Church of Christ

833

30th

S t r e e t , South Bend

15,

Indiana

Associates

i n

the Jamaica C h r i s t i a n Trust, Ltd.

Donald Fream

Fred W intz

AMERICA

REVISITED

An Evaluation

And how d i d America and Americans

strike us after

an

a b s e nc e

of

o v e r

t h r e e

years? Perhaps you would

be

i n t e r e s t e d

in reading

s o m e

candid opinions we

f o r m e d

d u r i n g o u r

t h i r t y - e j g h t

weeks

touring the

eastern

part

of the

U.S.

We

felt that our a b s e n c e and our Jamaican

experience g av e u s a

nique

perspective.

Contemporary America

First of a l l , we were struck by th e

material

prosperity

of A m e r i c an s in

general

i n

sharp c o n t r a s t with the pov

e r t y

of

Jamaicans

i n g e n e r a l .

Every

where

it seemed that

t h e r e

were new

c a r s ,

n e w houses, TV

e t s , h i - f i phono

graphs,

n e w

f u r n i s h i n g s ,

and

l o t s of

ne w

equipment^Tn-^the^kitchen an(T laundry.

Many

f a m i l i e s

had

two or even t h r e e

cars.

Even

w i t h a r e c e s s i o n most

A m e r i c a n s

seemed

to b e

living

v e ry

h i g h .

Yet

i t s u r p r i s e d u s t o see h o w

many

Americans

we r e

going

i n

debt for

material

things, spending a l l

of

their

income,

and saving

very

l i t t l e . Thrift

was not

an

e v i d e n t virt ue.

Ev e r yw h e r e we

noted

the heavy-

footed

impressi on of

t e l e v i s i o n

on Amer

ican

t ho ug ht s

and

habits.

We istened

to

thoughtful Christians who w e r e

deeply concerned

over i t s affect o n

Christians, congregations, and

especially

children.

TV

i s

i n d e e d a po we r f u l

m e d i u m ,

b ut

f r o m

a

hristian

standpoint

i t s impact i s at

best

negative and at

worst, anti-Christian.

It seems to

me

s u p e r f i c i a l

r e l i g i o s i t y

was dominate.

Cuitism, interdenommationalism, and

believe anything ism ' s e e m e d popular

and

ilourisning.

ignorance of

God

s

oc

trine

and

a

.outing

of God's mo ral re

quirements w e r e

widespread.

H a l t i n g Church

Even i n t h e

c h u r c h o f

t h e Lord

we

f ound

many of

these same conditions. I

returned lo

America

almo st apologetic

for some of our Jamaican l e a d e r s and

congregations b ecaus e t h ey

w e r e f ar

from

the

N.T .

pattern,

b u t

t h e

more

I

travelled, t h e

less

I apologized. With ll

their

backwardness,

defects,

and d e f i c i

encies they c om p ar e d

favorably

wi t h

many American

congregations. In d e e d,

t h e congregations

in

Jamaica who had

h a d any

opportunity

and any

teaching

for

t h e

most p a r t exce e d e d the

better

American churches.

We

e r e

amaze d

at t he

poor,

s p i r i t

less singing in

many

ongregations.

The

worldliness. s hal lo wnes s,

and

careless

n e s s

of

many

c h u r c h members

a l m o s t

s h o c k e d

u s

after t h e h i g h e r standard of

conduct

usua lly

demanded

from Jamai

can Christians.

The general

ignorance

of

t h e

majority

of

c h ur c h members was

dismaying. W h i l e church

b u l l e t i n s

and

ch u rc h n e w s p ap e r s g a v e one the i m p r e s

sion of material and numerical success,

a number

of

congregations revealed

s h o d d y workmanship without scriptural

Some lea der s privately conceded t he

mushroom nature

of

t h e

growth

and th e

increasing d i f f i c u l t y of

dealing

wi t h half-

converted

congregations. S t i l l

t h e

ma

j o r i t y , e s p e c i a l l y

of preachers,

s e e m e d

content

to

ride the

wave

of the

cur

rent n u m b e r s racket and s h r u g off re

s p o n s i b i l i t y . P a u l precisely l a b e l l e d

t h e m

— for they

a l l

seek t h e i r

own,

not the

things

of Jesus C h r i s t . (Phil.

2:20) T h e

t h e m e

s ong s e e m s to b e , Get

yo u r s

w h i l e

y o u

can for after us

—

h e

d e l u g e .

The

Minority

Yet

h i l e many

c h ur c h e s

w e r e

f

u nd

d r i f t i n g i n t o m er e s o c i a l organizations

or

denominationally-minded

group ,

we

praised

God

for the notable, faithful

churches, preachers,

and Christians.

In


4/36

J M IC N

JUVENILES

A

RAINY DAY

(An r i g i n a l essay written

in school for

an exami n a t i o n by our ten-year>oId.)

One

day

i t rai ned f o r a week and

our

backyard was

just flooded

w i t h

w at er . We could n o t play very well

because

our garage

i s

n o t

v er y

big

a n d

t h a t i s also

our

storeroom. My

oom

i s

n o t too big because i t i s the maids

room

and my other

brothers

do n o t like us

to play in there.

Mother

does n o t like

for

us t o run i n

the

house because it

marks up the floors

so she

has

to

polish

them again.

Some

imes

we

get to

play

cricket

in the

garage with our ten n is

ball

but

t h a t

i s

n o t

ve r y oft en

because

we

can't

find

our

b a l l . Dady makes

us

do s chool work which we . o

not like

t o

do. So the r a i n is a trobile

maker

t o

us

a n d

also a help to our lettuce

gaordi n. (This ast word seems

o

have

been influenced i n spelling by

Mark's

French

lessons. GHE

i

Marlene and

Nathan

PRIORY

DAYS

Mark, athan, and -David are now t

tending The Priory School, a private

school o n Hope

Road

just

t w o miles

from bur house.

Nathan and David have

classes

from

8:00

until

12:30.

Then they

have

a supervised

class

while

w a i t i ng

for

Mark to get

out

at 1:00. At the

s ound of the b e l l ,

the

boys come

swarm

ing out of the building ready to go home

and

get some

lunch.

Different

This

sc hool i s

a s chool

with an ex

cellent scholastic

reputation in

Jamaica.

We

ike

i t n o t only from the standpoint

t h a t

the

boys

are

getting

f i r s t

class

teaching,

but

because i t i s coeducational

and more

on

the American o r d e r . Most

sc hool s

here

feature uniforms for the

children,

both boys a nd

g i r l s . P r i o r y

does

n o t . This we h i n k is much

more

dem o c r a t i c

and promotes individuality

and personality.

Also most

schools here

are either

boys'

schools or g i r l s schools.

We ike

the coeducational

system

better.

A urther

point

in i t s favor

i s

that

i t

i s n o t a denominationally

controlled-

school

like most here.

High Grade

The boys are

s h o w i n g

excellent

de

velopment in their wo rk.

All are

good

students. They usually have quite a i t

of

home

work

to

do.

The

subjects Mark

i s carrying may

be surprising

to y ou

when you realize he

i s t e n

years old —

Latin, French, mathematics,

English

grammar,

English literature, history,

geography,

a n d s c i e n c e .

We re pleased

w i t h

his love of

Fre nch,

math., a n d

English.

On his

mid-term

exams he

came 2nd

in English grammar,

ourth

in

English

literature in his class

of

n i n et een; and ou t o f 100 questions

in

Fr e n c h he got 87 right. This i s con

sidered a very

high

grade.

We include

an original compositio n

which Mark


5/36

P GE FOUR

July,

1958

HOME

AGAIN

IN

JAMAICA

Have any

of

y o u t r a v e l e d f o r n i n e

months

with

three

active boys no t

knowing j u s t where

you

would spend

the n i g h t fr om almost one n i g h t t o t h e

next?

If so, then y o u know the joy o u r

family i s experiencing i n becoming s e t

tled

in our

own

home

again.

House

Hunting

Upon

o u r return

to

Jamaica

we

were

q u i t e

s u r p r i s e d

t o

f i n d a

l i s t

of houses

for

rent

in

the GLE NER ads, for we

had thought

we

might find only one o r

two. As We began to investigate them,

imagine our

amazement when

we dis

covered

that rentals had

in c rease d

about

33%

during

o u r

short f url ou gh.

Even

old houses

were

renting f o r

the

same

p r i c e s as

new ones. High

r e n t a l s

im

mediately

decreased

o u r

number o f

se

l e c t i o n s . After searching

a r o u n d

f o r

about

three days, we

decided

to

take

the cheapest, althou gh adequ ate, one.

Most Jamaicans

bathe

and

wash

dishes

and clothing in cold water, so most

houses

we

l o o ked

at

were

not equipped

with hot-water

systems. Our

landlady

installed that for

us,

f o r

which we

are

most grateful.

Order

Out of Chaos

Since

this

was a new house, we

had

to

sc r u b plaster

and cement

from the

t i l e

floors

and

scrape

paint

and

plaster

from

l l i e

wind o ws. The

f i r s t few

d a y s

we had n o

way

t o c o o k ; so we

ate

sand

wiches.

c o l d cereals, etc. Until the hot-

water system

was

installed, we grate

f u l l y used an e l e c t r i c hot-water

heater

placed

in a

bucket

o f water.

Gradually,

however, we arranged

the

furniture in

i t s p r o p er place,

u n p a c k e d

crates and

cartons

which

had

been

stored

with

the

furniture in a Seminary r o o m , and pack

ed

away o u r

w o r n s u i t c a s e s .

Contented

Boys

Mark

i s

e s p e c i a l l y

t h r i l l e d

to have

his own i t t l e den.

Most houses

o f the

middle income

grou p have

a small

r o o m

for

the maid.

Since

we

have no maid,

Mark has taken

over

that

l i t t l e room

which

i s o f f a

hallway

to the

back

o f

the house. Sometimes in the

privacy

o f

his own

room

he

reads

to his heart s

content

while

his

brothers have to

go

to

sleep earlier.

In

the side

yard

the

boy s have made

a c r i c k e t p i t c h

f o r games with neigh

borhood

chil d ren.

Under the

tamarind

and sweet-sop trees they p ut up tents,

temporary houses, an

improvised su b

marine, o r whatever their interests

d e

mand.

They

are

quite

contented

to

be

back

in

Jamaica,

where

they can

p lay

o u t - o f - d o o r s most of

the

time,

and

to

have a

place

called

home.

Interruptions

Although

we have lived

here

two

months,

I

t i l l

d o not have a single c u r

tain u p.

More

important matters

have

demanded

my attention.

The

Seminary

o pened ,

and

I

was

scheduled

to

teach

English. Much

u se d

Bible S ch o o l l i t

erature from the States had accumulated

in

my

absence, and the preachers were

in-need - o f -new-supplies.-

Therefore

t-had-

to take several da ys o f f to work o n

sorting

that

and

arranging i t

f o r

dis

tribution. That work has not

been

com

p l e t e d , but

I

have been

able

to

prepare

and

distribute

many

packages. In

the

meantime

office

work

was accumu lating

and demanding

attention. Also,

we

start

ed women s meetings at Penwood; and

Bro. Pink

and

I are planning our Holi

da ys

Bible

S cho o l f o r August. Nothing

preventing,

those

curtains

will be up

sometime or other

b e f o r e

another fur

l o ugh. We

are getting settled

in

our

own

home, and

we

praise

G o d

for giving

u s

this

temporary

nhace o f

abode before

g o ing to o u r

eternal

home.


6/36

1.

Mt. View Ave. Church of Christ

in Kingston

dedicated

this

mod

ern house

of

worship on June 15,

1958. Solomon Levy i s

the

min

ister.

Approximate

cost 7,000.

This was entirely

a Jamaican

project.

2. At

Priory School Nathan and

. P ^ v j d

meet,

in

separate s i n g l e -

room buildings on the campus.

This building

i s

actually

David's

classroom.

3. This is

the main

building

of

The Priory School. Like most

private

schools

i t is a

converted

residence.

Mark s

classes are

held

here.

t

loan


7/36

THE

ENSIGNS

39 MONTHS IN REVIEW

Some of

you

may have

read

the

re

port

of

our

thirty-nine

months labor in

Jamaica for the Lord Christ as i t ap

peared in the

Restoration

Herald (Feb

ruary. 1958), but we felt that

others

would

not

have

seen i t .

This

is

a sum

marization

of

what God did with us

during

the

thirty-nine

months

in

Ja

maica.

Negative

As you would expect

there

have

been

disappointments, many discouragements,

and several heartaches

in the

work,

for

no

place

i s without them. They are not

the

work

of

God but come about

because

human beings f a i l a i l to have faith,

to

pray,

to

work in s c r i p t u r a l ways and

to

be true

to

Christ. Out of defeat and

disappointment

and c o n f l i c t , Christians

r i s e up with a greater sense

of

t h e i r

need of God

and

a more complete sub

mission to

God s w i l l . Thus negative

things even are turned

to

the glorv of

God.

Victories

i n

Teaching

The Lord has wonderfully b l e s s e d

and

used us.

and i n s p i t e of

the

un

pleasant and unfortunate aspects,

much

was accomplished. We~Set ourselves the

t a s k of t e a c h i n g

t h e

c h u r c h ,

e v a n g e l i z

ing the

country, e s t a b l i s h i n g new con

g r e g a t i o n s , and

e d u c a t i n g a

f r e e , q u l i

f i e d m i n i s t r y .

Grayson taught

722 c l a

room

hours

in

the

Jamaica

Bible

Semi

nary during

which

time a o t a l of about

twenty men were

in

the

classes.

He

arranged

the

f i r s t

of a series of

four-day

Men s I n s t i t u t e s and altogether

five

out of the

ten

Institutes held.

majority of

the

leaders

of the church

was reached by these teaching programs.

Grayson

taught 86 hours

i n these

gath

erings

and 188 B i b l e s c h o o l or

s c r i p t u r a l

les s o n s in

the

churches.

Grayce Marie was

equally busy

with

thirty-nine

women s

c l a s s e s , 350 c l a s s e s

for c h i l d r e n , 89 hours

of Seminary

teaching, and 12 hours of teaching

i n

camp.

She

held the

f i r s t

Holidays Bible

School for the

church

i n

Jamaica,

and

altogether arranged and held five and

a

h a l f

weeks

of H.B.S. Grayce Marie fur

ther

a s s i s t e d

the churches

i n

t h e i r

teach

ing programs by

taking

a l l the used B.S.

l i t e r a t u r e

r e c e i v e d

i n Jamaica,

p u t t i n g

i t i n t o

t h e

r i g h t o r d e r , and d i s t r i b u t i n g

i t to the congregations.

This

i s

much

appreciated by them.

Victories

i n Building

Grayson

helped

f i n a n c i a l l y

and/or

physically on

the

construction

of

four

church b u i l d i n g s and on

t h e

Seminary

b u i l d i n g . He assumed e n t i r e

r e s p o n s i

b i l i t y

for purchasing

t h e

i ) r o p e r t y ~ f r o m

the

governrnent

for

the Penwood

Rd.

church b u i l d i n g and

e r e c t i n g t h e

house

of

worship

there.

The

75 x

30

foot

b u i l d i n g , almost

t w o - t h i r d s

c o m p l e t e d

now,

s

the

l a i - g e s t

meeting

h o u . s o

own

ed by

the Church of C h r i s t i n Jamaica.

(C ontinued on page

8 , column

2)


8/36

ELLETSON

RD.

CONTINUES

A

GRAND

TOUR

Our irst

Lord's

day v i s i t

in

Jamaica

was to

Elletson

Rd.

We

ound the

build

i n g

(rented from a Baptist

Trust) in

need of repair and painting, but t he

yard

was attractive

wi t h

flowers

an d

shrubs. As

we walked i n

among he c h i l

dren, young people, and elderly s a i n t s ,

we

elt like

we had

returned

t o

those

who love us for

what we

r e .

The mem

bers read

t o us a letter

of

welcome and

presented

Grayce Marie

w i t h

a

bouquet

of flowers.

Their

love deeply touched

us when we remembered

their

poverty.

True and Stedfast

During our

n ine-mon ths'

absence

B ro. Walker faithfully led the congre

gation. The church stood up well as an

independent, Jamaican congregation.

They

paid

t h e i r

b i l l s

and

p a r t i a l l y

paid

their

preacher.

Two young brothers,

Mo r r i s and Ligismund, have been assist

ing in

a

helpful

way.

An x c e l l e n t youth

meeting

i s

carried

on each

Lord's

day

evening.

I t

was

a

special joy

to

baptize

a

G2

year old man i nto Ch r i s t ,

the father o f

Sister Clarke,

our

f i r s t

convert on

Whitehall

Ave.

i n

1954.

Bro.

Daly

ran

a

rum

s h o p a l l

of his

l i f e ,

but now he has

shown

an

unusual

i n t e r e s t in becoming a

s t r o ng

C h x i s t i a n . ,

Thus

slowly

but amazingly the gospel

reaches one

and

then

another. Elletson

Rd.,

though

small,

s t i l l continues as a

voice crying

out

for

Christ in

the

wilder

n e s s

of

eastern

Kings ton.

Jamaica

i s

now

a

part

of the Fed

e r a t i o n

of the

West In d ie s

which

came

i n t o e x i s t e n c e

t h i s

year i n A p r i l . This

brings together

(?) at l e a s t

p o l i t i c a l l y

ove r three million

people

spread over

1,500

miles of sea.

Our

f i r s t furlough

i s

now history,

and as weevaluate i t we thank

God

for

a useful, refreshing, profitable,

and hap

py tour.

It was exciting and

s omet imes

wearing, especially

on Grayce

I \ I a r i e ,

who

was

trying

to

wash and

i ro n

f o r

a

family

of

five

living in an automobile.

The n i ne

months p a . s s e d swiftly, but

a

tired family was ready t o r e t u r n t o

Ja

maica in

April and

s e t t l e down in

on e

house

again.

For

n i ne

months

we

ne ve r

had

our

suitcases

completely unpacked.

Yet

we had

a l l learned

much, een

many

new and wonderful things, r enewed

old

f r i e n d s h i p s ,

s t r e n g t h e n ed

our

ties wi t h

our congregat i on s , and s p e n t some t i m e

w i t h members

of

our

family.

It was

worthwhile for us, and we hope for a l l

concerned.

More Than

Figures

During our two

hundred

and ixty-six

days away from Jamaica we

presented

our

r epor t ( s ee

summary

on p.

6)

i n

ninety-cwo

different

places, presented

the message. The

Challenge

of

Chr i s t

and Jamaica n i ne t ee n t ime s , gave s ev

eral o t h e r special messages t o churches

and

special

g r oup s ,

and

held

four

weeks

of

evangelistic mee t i n g s

with fourteen

added t o

the

church.

We travelled

t h rough twenty-five

states

and

a b i t of

Canada i n

putting on

about

25,000

miles.

We

isited f ou r Bible colleges, two

o f

them concerned with Negro

evangelism.

We

ost two

weeks

out of the thirty-

eight weeks w i t h illness. The Lord was

very good to us i n everything

and

provi

dentially cared f o r

us .

F i n a n c r v i l l y ,

we

were able to pay of f

t h e 1,000 loan we had secured on t he

Penwood Rd.

building, pay f o r

and keep

up the radio broadcast i n Jamaica,

help

some

congregations with

their building

construction,

and

support some

preach

ers

A

Big

Thank

You

Our deep gratitude

and

genuine

t han k s

go to

each of you and

each con

gregation who

received us, assisted us ,


9/36

Paul and

Wanza

Smith

f

K

- .

^

I

GR

CAYMAN REVISITED

(continued from

Page

1

dirty town h a l l . We

thanked

God for

the growth and perseverance of the o l d

er Christians whom we had known from

the beginning of the

work.

Those added

s i n c e my a t e s t

v i s i t

impressed us

with

their convictions and loyalty.

About

thirty

Christians

are

holding forth the

word of l i f e in

this

island of

8,000

souls.

It was

a joy to preach to them

again

~bn

"the Lord's day and Monday night.

Gospel Power

These Christians, who have

come

through

trial

and opposition a re well-

taught and

aggressive.

Just

recently

the

church

purchased

a well-located

s i t e

f o r

a house of

worship. The Christians

are bearing

witness,

and

the

whole

island i s

a s t i r under

the impact of N.T.

Christianity. Bro. Smith

publishes

a

weekly newsletter which

covers the

is

land with

a

powerful presentation of

gospel

truth.

Great things

have been

done

in

Gr.

Cayman

and, with the favor

of God, greater things are yet to come.

39 MONTHS N

REVIEW

(continued from page 6

Victories in

Evangelism

During the thirty-nine months Gra y-

son

arranged

and preached

28

weeks of

evangelistic meetings. He preached 528

sermons plus 85 sermons on

the radio.

This radio

ministry has been

perhaps

the

greatest single contribution made

toward

evangelizing Jamaica with the

gospel. Grayson began preaching

over

our

only radio station

in

January,

1956

to an estimated l i s i e n e r s h i p o i ^ - n - V j O u O

people. Every year we renewed

the

contract. Now Gra yson i s back on

the

air reaching an estimated 650,000

souls

each week.

This work

has been

of

in

estimable

value

to Christ and His

church.

Victories in New

Fields

The Lord

was pleased t o use

the

En

signs as instruments

in starting

four

new congregations a l l

of

which

have

proved

s u c c e s s f u l . Grand Cayman

church

was

tarted with

the Tom Adams n 1954

and

now

has over t h i r t y

members

and

t h e i r own

evangelist. Whitehall

Ave.

was

begun i n 1954, and

i t s

t h i r t y - s i x

members became

a part

of the Constant

Spring church which meets in

the

Semi

n a r y building. Then Elletson

Rd.

hurch

was ounded in 1955 with Brother

A. A.

Walker who s now

minister

- o f this con

gregation.

I n

1956 Penwood Rd. church

was started with

Nelville

Pink co-

l a b o r e r .

"He i s now the

m i n i s t e r

for t i i i s

congregation.

Other Work

In a d d i t i o n t o

t h e s e p r o j e c t s Gray

son

h e l d a

two-hour public discussron

w i t h

a

7 t h

Day

A d v e n t i s t

m i s s i o n a r y ,

helped organize the Jamaica Christian

T r u s t , L t d . , t o p r o t e c t c h u r c h p r o p e r t y ,

and t r a v e l l e d

2 , 7 0 0

m i l e s by

p l a n e

and

4 7 , 0 0 0 m i l e s by

c a r . With Grayce Mar ie

he produced

eighteen

i s s u e s

of t h e l o c a l

monthly paper and nine issues of the

C h a l l e n g e r . Grayson a l s o wrote 4 5

monthly

n e w s l e t t e r s

t o

y . o u

f o l k at home

as

well

as innumerable

personal

l e t t e r s .

With deep

t h a n k s g i v i n g

t o

God, t h e

Ensigns r e j o i c e

with you i n

God's ac

c o m p l i s h m e n t s . I t i s

t h e i r

e a r n e s t p r a y e r

that t h e s e

next

months

of

s e r v i c e s h a l l


10/36

VOLUME8

JUNE - JULY,

1958

NUMBER

Ml', and Mrs.

Hiram

Cassel

S t u d e n t s W o r k i n g

W i t h

Freams For Summer

Ml',

and

Mi's.

Hiram Cassell,

students

of

Midwest Christian

College,

Oklahoma

City, Okla., are

realizing

the dream they

had

before they married

of serving

Christ

i n a oreign f i e l d .

Mr.

and

Mrs

Cassell

(Marceline an d

Hiram)

ave

arrived

i n Jamaica and w i l l

spend

the summer working with th e

churches and the Christian service camps.

Marceline

i s a sophomore

at

the

present

time, and

Hiram

i s

a junior.

These

young people bring

t o

the s e r v i c e

of the

Lord a variety

o f talents. Mar

c e l i n e plays the

piano

and

sings both

a l t o

Donald Fream,

A. . A.

epburn, and

Fred

Hintz

w i t h new Gospel Car

G o s p e l C a r

A.R.A. Hepburn, minister of

the

York

Street Church of Christ i n Kingston, i s

now

the proud

(and

considerably

poorer)

owner

o f

a

now Hlllman car.

The car

was

not purchased

for

h i s own

pleasure,

but

for the work

of the Lord; however,

i t

al

ways gives

Bro. Hepburn a reat deal o f

pleasure

t o do

the work

of

the Lord,

and

trips

to v i s i t the

churches

become

real

joy rides i n the

f u l l e s t

sense

of

th e

word.

Bro. Hepburn's v i s i t s to the churches

provide a

real service in strengthening

and encouraging them,

o

to help h i m

in

this

work o f

evangelism,

we have co n

tributed toward his

gas

b i l l each month


11/36

PAGE

W

JUNE-JULY,

1958

The JAAAAICA CHRISTIAN

Published b y

MR AND MRS. DONALD FREAM

JAMAICA

CHRISTIAN

MISSION

Churches

of

Chr ist

ASSOCIATES:

Mr.

and Mrs. Grayson Ensign

Mr. and

Mrs. Fr e d Hintz

ADDRESS:

Box 10

-

Half Way Tree

Jamaica,

B.W.I.

Forwarding

A ddr ess:

Rt.

2,

Moore

Haven,

F l a .

TESTIMONY

On

h e

first Sunday

n

June, t h r e e men

w e r e ordaine d as deacons by

h e

Constant

Spring

Church b y f a s t i n g

laying

on of

hands,

and

prayer.

T h e s e w e r e

the

f i r s t

officers

to b e s o appointed by h e church.

A f t e r their

ordination,

t h e t hr ee men

w e r e

c a l l e d

u p o n to give a

ublic

t e s t i

mony. The

words

o f

one o f them were

particularly w o r t h noting.

Bro. Beckford i s not a

new

Christian.

He as b e en har d at work or t h e

Lord

ev e r since

h i s conversion

i n 1929, h o l d i n g

-Bible-School34n-his-own-yard—preaching

i n

t h e

streets and

villages,

his w e l l - w o r n

Bi b l e h i s constant companion. But ever,

i n a l l t ho se

years,

d i d

h e

ever "take

mem

b ers h i p" w i t h any of th e established

churches, f o r i n

a l l

o f them h e

f o u n d

t eachings

and practices contrary to th e

Word

of God.

He

was

annoyed by

h e

pr eacher s who wore "turn-back collars"

and

appropriate d h i g h -sound ing

t i t l e s

f or

themselves.

He ould never find i n h i s

New Testament where Christ ever d i d

anyth ing

like

that.

And

so,

ev en

t h o u g h h e

felt

alone i n

t h e w or l d ,

h e continued faithful to th e

truth

as

he saw t

l i t t l e

d r e a m i n g t hat

t h e r e

were

t h o u s a n d s

of o t h e r s

who

had

not bowed the

knee

t o

Baal .When

he

f i r s t

heard

some

real

New

Testament

pr eaching, h e recognized i t at once and

received i t gladly. For

h e

first

t ime

h e

felt h e

could whol e h earte d ly an d i n

g o o d

E n s i g n s R e t u r n T o J a m a i c a

After a f ur lo u g h

of

eight

mont h s

i n

the

States,

Mr.

nd Mrs.

Grays on E n s i g n

and

t h e ir

t h r e e

sons

have

r e t u rn e d t o

Jamaica,

and

are back

i n

harness

again.

Brother E n s i g n w i l l b e

teaching again

i n t h e

Seminary, serving

as

academic

dean, d o in g

evangelistic

work, and con

tinuing with his radio broadcasting pro

gram,

The Ch u rch e s of Christ Salute

You , h i c h h a s

b e e n

presented on th e

Island's

only

radio

station since

January

of

956.

He nd his family

are

l ooking we l l and

i n g o o d health.

H i l l s L e a v e On

F u r l o u g h

A

eek after t h e E n s i g n s r et urned to

Jamaica,

Harry and

A d e l e

Hill left

'for

t h e

State s f or

a

s h o r t f o u r - m o n t h

p e r

iod to g a i n s u p port

f o r

their work. The

Freams took them

to

t h e

airport and

saw them

saf e ly

o f f — a f t e r a last

min

u t e da s h back

to

t h e wait ing room f or

Harry's coat ju s t s e c on d s

b e f o r e

th e

plane

took

off.

T h e i r h e a d

teacher,

Bro. Fran

Hardy,

is carrying o n t h e sc h ool in their

ab -

swice-with

t h e

assistance--of-'one-^^f-the

Seminary students and

a yo un g

woman

from t h e C onstant S p r i n g

church.

M r s . l i c k

T o l y

T o J a m a i c a

The Lor d willing, Mrs. Pansy Click

will fly to Jamaica

t h e

last week in

July

to s erve as d e a n of women

or th e

t hr ee Christi an Service camps

o

b e

h e l d

for The Churches

o f C h r i s t"

be

g inning

t h e

27th of Ju ly

and continuing

t h r o u g h

A u g u s t .

Mr.

and Mrs. Dona l d

Fream

are

re s p ons i b l e f o r t h e

planning

and

management o f

t h e camps.

Mrs. lick

w ill b e

available

for teach

i n g

and to

assist

w i t h t h e

mus ic.

FREAMS ISIT BEECHERTOWN

Donal d an d

Maxine

Fream, accom


12/36

JUNE-JULY,

1958

P GE THREE

. V . B . S . G r o u p s

1

The

icture

above shows a part of the

teen-agers'

class

at D.V.B.S.

which

was

recently

hold.

The very'attractive- g l l

i n

the

c e n t e r

has

just recentl y be come

a

Christian.

She comes fro,m a .nice

family, and the

missionaries

are work

in g

hard

t o

reach the

parents.

The p i c t u r e below i s a

group

of

some

of

the smaller

children

in

o p e n i ng ex e r

c i s e s giving their

p l e d g e

to

the Chris

ti an flag. Shawn

Fream

i s

holding the

flag, whil e a i t t l e boy, to whom Shawn

always refers as

My

friend. Paul" i s

holding

the B i b l e . Classes

we r e taught

by Maxine

Fream

and A d e l e Hill

St e phan i e

Ann Fream

"Of

S u c h

I s

T h e

Kingdom"

L i t t l e

S t e phani e Ann

Fream

has r e

cently been

having

q uite a

bout

with

fate.

F i r s t

she

contracted

"pink

eye",

which p rov e d to be a v e r y stubborn

case,

a n d her l i t t l e e y es w e r e r e d a n d swollen

for q u i t e

some time. On top of that,

she ca ught a bad cold, a n d then she su f

fered a tumble, which l e f t a b r u is e

across on e

cheek

an d a big black and

bl ue bump

on

her

forehead.

She

looked

as i f she had

b e e n the

loser in a

p r i z e

f i ght .

These

unfortunate

i n c i d e n t s

have ai l

e d

t o dampen he r ch eerf ul s p i r i t an d

enth usiasm. To her, t h e

whole

wo r l d ,

e v e n with a l l i t s

mishaps,

i s a wonder


13/36

P GEFOUR

JUNE-JULY,

1958

AMONG

THE CHURCHES

400

TTEND

B PTISM LSERVICE

400 people

gathered to

witness a bap

tismal service held

by

members of

the

Dunkeld

church.

Three were

baptized

into

Christ

and two were received

into

fellowship.

The

church

now has 36

members. As one

member

stated, A

real

work is going on; the

dear

Lord

i s

in

Dunkeld

mightily.

TWENTY

B PTIZED TNEWHOPE

Twenty

were baptized and

six added

by fellowship

recently at New Hope

church. The church held

a

month s evan

g e l i s t i c campaign.

Young

men were the

preachers for the

f i r s t

week;

elders fo r

the second; deacons for the t h i r d ;

and

the minister and other

workers

for the

r e s t

of

the

month. Attendance

averaged

200 to 300

for night

services.

C MPERDOWNHOLDS R LLY

An

a l l - d a y

r a l l y

was h e l d by

the

Camperdown

Church

of

Christ on June

1st

with a

ine

attendance.

Donald

Fream delivered a sermon on

What

is the

Church of

Christ? and

Fred Hintz

spoke on The World's

Greatest

Need . Services were contin-

ued throughout the week conducted by

Bro. intz.

MERRYL ND

S MERRY

Everything

i s

going well

with

the

church at Merryland. Church attendance

f o r m o r n i n g

s e r v i c e s h a s

g o n e a s

h i g h

as 136;

for n i g h t

s e l - v i c e s ,

1 8 9 ,

and

for

prayer

meetings, 86.

There

are

50

c h i l d r e n e n r o l l e d i n Bible

s c h o o l .

SUTTON CHURCH PROGRESSING

The church

i s moving

forward at Sut-

t o n . R e g u l a r

s e r v i c e s

a r e b e i n g

h e l d ,

and

s o u l s a r e b e i n g won

t o

C h r i s t . They

s t a r t e d w i t h a

membership

o f f o u r ,

and

now have

twenty-two.

YORK

treet

holds

R LLY

A t h r e e - w e e k s ' r a l l y

and

e v a n g e l i s t i c

meeting was held by the York Street

BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The church at Diamond

i s

doing a

good work. Services

are being h e l d

regularly,

and

souls

are

being saved.

They now have

42 members.

They are

in process of gathering material

for

a

building.

FREDHINTZHOLDSC MP IGN

Special evangelistic

campaigns were

h e l d

at

both Mt. Pleasant and fechmond

Park by Fred Hintz.

This

was in addi

tion to

v i s i t i n g

and assisting with num

erous other country churches. B r o .

Hintz i s searching for

a

church l o c a t i o n

in Mandeville.

CONST NTSPRINGORD INS

DE CONS

Three men

were

ordained as

deacons

on Sunday, June 1st.

The church

has

purchased

a piano,

which i s now

in

use.

Donald

Fream

i s

showing

colored

s l i d e s

on the

life of

Christ each

mid-week

seiwice.

h r i s t i a n S e r v i c e

C a m p s

The f i i ' S t C h i ' i s t i a n service camp

in

the

history of

the

churches of Christ

in

Jamaica

was

held

in

August

of

1956

with—thirty-six

youngsters - from twelve

different congregations scattered out

through four parishes, attending the

camp for a week of

teaching. Of

the

t h i r t y - s i x campers

a t t e n d i n g ,

twenty-

one

were

already Christians. Ten others

were

b a p t i z e d during camp,

e a v i n g

only

five who had

not accepted

Christ.

In August of 1957, n i n e t y - t h r e e

young

people

from eighteen congrega

t i o n s

attended the junior

and

senior

weeks of camp,

and twenty-eight of

them

were baptized

during

the

s e s s i o n s .

This year i t

i s planned to

hold

two

junior

camps in

order to

take

care

of

the

increase

in enrollment which

i s ex

pected.

Shawn

C e l e b r a t e s S i x t h

B l r S h d a y


14/36

JUNE-JULY, 1958 PAGE IVE

V./

THE

HiGSLERS

AND THE

PROPHETESS

.

.By Maxine

Fream

Going

to

market in Jamaica

often

turns

out to be more of

an

adventure

than a

routine chore. Bustling with

colorful charactei's and

endless

activ

i t i e s ,

from s t r e e t

fighting to street

preaching, the

market

has a g i e a t deal

to

o f f e r

besides

food—that i s , i f you

are nterested.

HIGGLERSSPRE DW RES

The particular market I o r d i n a r i l y

patronize is just a half-mile

from ou r

home. It long ago outgrew the

zinc-

roofed

shelter

which

the

government

built

for

the purpose,

and

covers an

area,

at l e a s t ,

ten

times as large. The

higglers, as the venders

are

c a l l e d ,

spread

t h e i r

wares

out

on

the

ground

wherever they can f i n d room;

and

i n

making

your

way among them, you

mus t walk very carefully l e s t you upset

soimeone's eggs

or lose your balance and

nearly to

her ankles, were

i n

the tradi

tional peasant style. Hanging from

a

strap

around

her shoulder

was

a car

penter's

square. In one hand, she

held

a stick and a

tattered Bible,

with the

cover and a few

pages

missing;

in

the

other hand, she carried a

small

bell,

which

she

tinkled

as she walked to at

tract

attention.

I t

attracted

mine.

REPENT REPENT

Repent, repent, she admonished,

in

a

little-old-woman's voice.

"The

Word

of God says

to you,

'Repent'

before i t

i s

toe

late,

The,reaction of the

higglers

was var

i e d . Some

ignored

her, some smiled, and

som^' listened

quietly.

"Murderers, adulterers, thieves, hat

e r s of

parents,

God will

judge

you "

When she had passed on, some

of

the

women raised eyebrows

at

one another

and laughed. Another

woman,

with

a

large l oaded

basket on

her

head,

paused

long

enough to

reproach

her fellows.

"Don't

laugh after her.

Yes,

she i s

a funny-looking

l i t t l e

woman,

u t John

the Baptist was dressed in

camel's

hair.

And what she says is ti-ue.

Quoting scripture

passages

fluent

ly, the l i t t l e prophete.ss moved

on, and

I .

followed

discreetly,

arr anging conven

iently

to

make my

purchases

frarn

those higglers who w e i e

c l o s e

enough

to

he r

vicinity

for

me to overhear

what

she

was

saying.

"Yu never

have any time

for

the

Lord,

she accused one

group. Seventh

day,

e i p - h l h

day,

i t makes no difference

—yu don'

keep any

of

'em. The

only

God

yu serve

i s

yu

belly.

ZE L WITHOUTKNOWLEDGE

I

waited until

she

had paused

long

enough for me

to

speak

to

her without

interrupting, and

then

I approached.

"Good morning,

I . s a i d

kindly. Tell

me. do you

attend services

anywhere?

"Oh, yes, she

assured

me. I

v i s i t

all of them."

In her ensuing narrative

I

leanied

that she

had

been

baptized several

times i n compliance

with

varying

re

quirements of different

c h i p - c h o s ;

that


15/36

PAGESIX

JUNE-JULY, 1958

//

THE

GOSPELIMPACT

A

ew-

church paper

has recently

made

its

debut

to

the brethren

i n

the

States— The Gospel Impact , the joint

effort

of five

faithful

preachers: Ron-

aid Fisher,

John Kinner, Sherman Nich-

o T s , -

W«ndall Parman,

and Kenneth

Washburn.

Printed

newspaper

style, and con

taining

such pertinent articles as How

the

Word

of God

i s Made

Void,

and

Is

One

Church

As

Good

As

Another?

the

Impact

is filling

a definite need.

JAMACIANS

TO GET

IMPACT

Since we

thought

i t could

be used

to

the benefit of

Christ and

the Church i n

Jamaica,

we have subscribed

t o

the pa

per for twenty-six of our

Jamaican

preachers

and workers. They w i l l

re

ceive the

paper

once

a

month for

a

year.

We

t i l l continue

the

monthly

publi

cation

of

a

l o c a l

Jamaica Christi an ,

containing

news of

Jamaica churches,

as

well

as doctrinal

a r t i c l e s .

Five

hun

dred

copies

are

mimeographed

and sent

out

e a c i i

month. For

a

year

we

t r i e d

having t h e paper

p r i n t e d l o c a l l y , but

the

s e r v i c e

was

so slow that

the

n e w s

was

s t a l e b y _ t ] i c

time jve

c o u l d

get

i t

o u t , s o

w e

f i n a l l y gave up

i n d i s g u s t

and

went back t o i i n i m e o g r a p h i n g .

MINISTRY BY PRINTED WORD

The

m i n i s t r y

of

t h e

p r i n t e d

word

i s

f u r t h e r

c o n t i n u e d

by t h e

d i s t r i b u t i o n

of

t r a c t s . Thousands of t r a c t s c o v e r i n g a t

l e a s t , f o r t y d i f f e r e n t s u b j e c t s have b e e n

o b t a i n e d

and

a r e b e i n g g i v e n

wide

d i s

t r i b u t i o n .

P r e s e n t

s u p p l i e s of s e v e r a l of

the r a c t s have been e xhausted

and

have

had

to be

re-ordered.

These are tracts dealing with

the

Christian life— How

Worldly

Can I

Be. and

S t i l l

Be

a

C h r i s t i a n

and Belong

to

the

Church? ,

tracts

treating

w i t h

f a l s e

teaching— The

Rock, The

Keys,

Peter, and The Pope, and Seven

Rea

sons Why I

Am

Not a Seventh-Day

Adventist; as well as t r a c t s dealing

with the Church,

Baptism, and the

Lord's

Supper.

All of

them are printed a t t r a c t i v e l y ,

many n c o l o r ,

on

good paper, and are

easy

to read.

Churches,

Bible schools,

and Bible

classes In

the States

could render a real

service by

contributing

toward this mi n

istry. Many

souls have

been won t o

Christ

through

the use of the right kind

of religious

tracts.

HIGGLERS

AND

PROPHETESS

(Continued from page 5)

ferent from those

who

seem to want to

do only as l i t t l e as p o s s i b l e .

OBJECT

LESSON

The

odd paraphei-nalia she

wore,

I

learned, was

the

object lesson for each

sermon. The carpenter's square? The

c i t y i n

heaven

i s

four-square,

which

indicates ~ perfection, so we m ' u - g j oe

made p e r f e c t t o e n t e r . T h e strap?

John

t h e Baptist

was g i r t

about w i t h

a l e a t h e r

g i r d l e .

The s t i c k ? An

angel

took a rod and measured t h e c i t y , thus

will God measure our lives.

Yes,

I

bear her witness that

she

had

a

zeal

for God,

though not

according

to

knowledge. There i s a great

need

i n Ja

maica f o r t h e s i m p l e

and

s t r a i g h t f o r

ward New Testament doctrine i n a l l i t s

unsullied c l a r i t y .

THE JAMAICA CHRISTIAN

(Non-Profit O r g a n i z a t i o n )

Moore

Haven, F l a .

Harold McFarland

Box

963

SEC. 34.66 P. L.

&

.

U.

S.

POSTAGE

P I

Moore

Haven,

l a .

PERMIT

NO.

7


16/36

> o

(„

(, f b A o

KOTES

OF

KEWS FROM JAiaiGA

G-rayson

E n s i J P g l i

sent

word that

a n

August

let

Emancipation

Day

all-Island r ally held

at the Penwoo d Roa d

housPof worship wad

attended

eople. The rally was

planned

by Fred Hintz and a

committee

of

Jamaican

brethren.

T h e radio

s t a t i o n

estimates that B r o t h e r E n s l g i / s Friday a f t e r n o o n

broadcast

is

now heard

by

nearly 650,000 listeners. When the new

term

of Jamaica Bible Seminary opened in September, Mrs. Ensign* and

Brothers

Fream, Hintz,

and

Ensign began teaching

duties.

Brother

Ensign serves as dean of

the

Seminary

which

is a g a f i i n on a four-year

curriculum leading to a BSL degree.

September 15-18 a Christian lien's Institute will be held at

Jamaica Bible

Seminary.

The four-day

program

is in charge of Brother

Ensign.

Don

Fream will

teach a

course on How to

Improve

the Lodal

Church;

Fred

Hints

will present

Use

of

Instruments

< i f

Music

in

Worship Services

and Tests

of Fellowship;

Brother

Ensign's course

will

be

Missionary

Principles

and

policies of the New Testament and

Their Use by EHangelists in Jamaica,

According

to Brother Ensign, antl-instrument

brethren

from

Texas

are working among

the loyal churches

in

Jamaica

seeking to

buy

preachers and

obtain

control

of

properties. He wrote We invite the

prayers of.ChristjaiH in this critical situation.

Address^on

field

is

Box

20,

Half

Way Tree, Kingston

10,

Jamaica, West Indies.


17/36


18/36


19/36


20/36


21/36

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 958

Page Five

NEWS

IN

PICTURES

Don

Pieam

fits some new

glass

in the

windows of

the Beecher-

town church building. Work

on t h i s

building

has gone

slowly,

but i t w i l l b e

a

nice

structure

when

finished.

It is y et

in nee d of

floor,

doors, a n d paint. Three

young men

from

the

church

were in

camp

n d

two you n g

l a d i e s

House of worship for the

New

Hope Christians.

Intended

to b e

entirely adequate for the congregation

when

be gu n , i t i s

now unable

to hold

a l l the crowds. gracious Christian

friend

from

the

Mid-West

donated over

1,500 to

erect the chapel,

which i s of

cement block, reinforced with steel to

withsta nd both hurrica ne

and

earth-

V

r-


22/36

Page Six

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER.

958

Salvation Army New H o p e C h u r c h . . .

Worker

Baptized

An e l d e r l y , g r a y - h a i r e d ma n,

w ho

has w orked f a i t h f u l l y

for

the

Salvation

Army

for

t w e n t y - s i x y e a r s , completed

his

o b e d i e n c e

t o the Lord in Christian

baptism

l a s t

month, a n d

p l a c e d h i s

membership wit h the church

of

C h r i s t in

C o n s t a n t Spring. He had bee n

a t t e n d i n g

s e r v i c e s

regularly

for

w e eks a n d

e n

gaged i n s e v e r a l p r i v a t e d i s c u s s i o n s o f

d octrinal

ma t t ers w i t h Br o. Pream. The

conviction gr e w

o n

him

that

in

baptism

he

h a d b e e n

n egl e cting a

definite

com

mand

o f

Christ,

and

he finally came

t o

the decision

t o

put i t

off

m

o n < e r .

He

was

bap ti zed on a Thursday night

after Bible

s t u d y

class.

The

C o n s t a n t S p ri n g

church

has

ha d

s e v e n other

additions

by

baptism

in t he

p a s t two mon ths.

Mr. and

Mrs.

Harry Hill have re

t u r n e d

t o Jamaica

a f t er

a short

f o ur-

m o n th

tour in

the

States

t o

r a i s e

support

for their work.

They

p er a t e a Christian

Day School

i n

Half-Wa^y-Tree with

some

60 students.

J am a i c a i s no l o n g er a p art

o f t he

British West Indies. S i n c e the West

Indian Federation this

year,

the

w or d

British has

been d rop p e d, a n d

the

c o r

rect name

now is simp l y

The

West

Indies ...

o longer B. W. . , but

T. W.

.

(Co n t i n u e d

from

p a g e 1)

churches

were

running

a

c l o s e

race

u n t i l

the New

Hope

Church

c o n d u c t e d a

month's successful evangelistic cam

paign

a n d

gained seventeen a d d i t i o n s .

Th e Co nst a n t Spring

Church,

a s the

l o s e r s , w er e

i n v i t e d

to attend the New

Hope Church and present

a

program.

Members

hired a truck for

transporta

t i o n ,

a n d w e n t over for a n afternoon a n d

evening

of

f e l l o w s h i p ,

preaching,

a n d

singing.

When nothing w h e r e o n t o l e a n re

m a i n s .

When

strongholds

crumble t o dust;

When

nothing

i s

sure bu t

that

God

s t i l l

reigns.

That

is

just the

t im e

t o

trust.

When y o u

are

jarred

by

a aul ty n o t e

in

others, make

sure

i t

i s n o t

the

re

sponse

o f

a

tring vibratin g within y o ur

self. —Redwood

Hurricanes E l l a a n d Ge r d a

passed

c l o s e

e n o u gh t o Jamaic a t o provide a

real threat t o the island,

b u t o n l y

rains

a n d squally weather w er e f e l t .

'Thanks

giving

t o

God-for

delinerance

fwam-p os-

sible

disaster was offered

in many

churches.

Write

injuries

in dust;

write kind

nesses in marble.

To d ar e is great. To

b e ar

i s

greater.

Bravery

we share w ith

brutes,

fortitude

with s a i n t s .

THE JAMAICA

CHRISTIAN

(Non-Profit Organiz ation)

Moore Haven, l a .

SEC. 34.66 p.

L. .

U.

S. POSTAGE

PAID

Moore

H a v e n, F l a .

PERMIT

NO.

7


23/36

̂

JAMAICAN

V

CHRISTIAN

Volume8

Nov.

Dec., 1958

Number

eîEETINGS

ITj

irv

Stephanie

Ann James

Shawn

eslie Vee and Vanita Lou Fream

cr

h e r e

i s s o m e t h i n g i n t h e s i g h t o f a s m a l l c h i l d , k n e e l i n g i n s i m p l e

f a i t h

and

i n n o c e n c e ,

t o

say

i t s

rhyming

prayer,

t h a t

t o u c h e s t h e h e a r t

s t r i n g s

and

g i v e s them a t u g ;

r e c a l l i n g

t h e Import

o f

J e s u s words: Ver

i l y I say

u n t o

y o u , e x c e p t

ye t u r n , and

become as l i t t l e c h i l d r e n ,

ye

s h a l l


24/36

Page Two

NOV EC., 958

The JAMAICA

CHRISTIAN

Published

b y

MR.

AND

MRS. DONALD FREAM

JAMAICA

CHRISTIAN MISSION

Churches

of

Christ

ASSOCIATES:

Mr. and Mrs.

Grayson Ensign

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hintz

ADDRESS:

Box

10 Half

Way

Tree

Jamaica, T.W.I.

Forwarding Address:

R t . 2, Moore Haven,

F l a .

BIRTH PANGS

On the o u t s k i r t s of a small town in

the

center

o f

Jamaica,

a

l i t t l

group

o f

p e o p l e g a t h e r e d

around

a

buxom Mother

in die center

of

a

thatched booth. In

the

l i g h t o f a f i v e - p r o n g e d k e r o s e n e lamp,

smoke

curled

up

from seven burning

can

d l e s ,

arranged

i n

t h e form o f a c r o s s on

the

t a b l e .

The Mother leaned

forward

over the

t a b l e . Her eyes were

c l o s e d ,

and

her

g r o t e s q u e shadow d a r t e d t o and

f r o

across

the

walls of

the

booth

as she

sway

ed,

g e n t l y and f i r m l y , l i k e a mother hen

s e t t l i n g h e r s e l f over her brood. The small

ass em b lage swayed with he- — ome-

swaying f a r ,

some b a r e l y

nodding — u t

a l l in time

and

in

the

same direction.

I t was

an

old English hymn that held

them t o g e t h e r , sung

with

a hypnotic

rhythm that h e l d a l l

i n

the

booth

i n

i t s

s p e l l .

Suddenly, the Mother stopped

her

swaying

and

s i n g i n g ,

as

her eyes opened

t o

s t a r e

at

the f i g u r e o f

a

a l l ,

bony,

b i g -

footed man standing i n the doorway. Here

was

a

stranger, an

outsider, wearing a

shabby coat and carrying a

small

s a t c h e l

i n h i s hand.

Gradually,

t h e hymn

ground

to a a l t , as one by

one

each of the mem

bers

of

the congregation stopped

singing

and turned to behold the man in the

door

way. The night was t o o dark, and th e

lamp

t o o

dim,

t o reveal the

man c l e a r l y .

Another new

b u i l d i n g

goes u p

at

Goshen.

Your

g i f t s arc

helping

on t h i s .

p o c o m a n i a

g r o u p o n t h e ou t s kir t s

o f

L i n -

s t e a d . A mixture of African

voodooism,

Catholicism,

and holy r o l l e r revivalism,

t h e pocomanias

a r e one o f

t h e h a r d e s t

g r o u p s

t o

t e a c h

i n

Jamaica.

They

a r e

u s u a l l y very a n x i o u s t o attach themselves

t o

a Body t h u s g a i n i n g t h e

o f f i c i a l

p r e s t i g e

o f

a

denomination

and

a measure

o f

insurance

against p o l i c e

i n t e r f e r e n c e

with

t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s .

However,

though i t

takes

many

years,

some pocomania wor

s h i p p e r s have b e e n

c o n v e r t e d

t o Ne w

Testament

Christianity.

CONFLICT

Knowing a l l

t h i s ,

Brother Lindo began

t o

teach the

small group as he v i s i t e d

th em once

or twice

a

month.

Some of t h e

members

consented

t o

the

new d o c t r i n e ,

and were b a p t i z e d soon. The Mother

h e r s e l f ,

although f l a t t e r e d by the appear

ance and

v i s i t s

of

this preacher, began

t o

grow

s k e p t i c a l

about

l o s i n g

her

p o s i

t i o n as mother and leader of the f l o c k . I t

was

soon

apparent t h a t she h e r s e l f would

not

change.

Brother

Lindo had

b a p t i z e d


25/36

NOV

DEC.

958

Page Three

OPEN THINE

HAND

I f there

be

among

you a

poor

man

of

one

of

thy

brethren

w i t h i n

any

o f

t i i y

gates

in thy land

which

the

Lord thy

God

g i v e t h

t h e e ,

thou s h a l t

not

harden t l i i n e heart

nor

shut

thine

hand from thy poor brother:

but thou shalt open t h i n e hand wide unto

him

and s h a l t surely lend

him

s u f f i c i e n t

for

h i s need i n

that

which

he

wanteth.

Beware

that there b e

not

a

thought

in thy wicked heart. and

t i i i n e

eye

be

e v i l

against thy poor

b r o t h e r ,

and

thou

g i v c b t him

n o u g i i t ; and

he ciy u n t o t h e

L o i d

a g a i n s t t h e e ,

and i t

be

s i n

u n t o t h e e .

Thou s h a l t surely give

him.

and

t l i i n e

heart

s h a l l

not

be

grieved when

t h o u g i v e s t

unto

l i i m :

because that

for t h i s thing

the

Lord thy God s h a l t b l e s s

t l i e e

i n a l l t h y


26/36

Page Four

NOV

DEC., 958

C a l l i n g Doctor

Fream

The

s i t u a t i o n

i s

t e n s e .

A

young

man

from

the

audience has

staggered

t o

the

front

holding

h i s

side

i n

evident

pain,

a nd

m o a ning s o f t l y . "D o c t o r " Fream s equal

to the

occasion.

Producing a smal l case,

he

extract s stethoscope, injection needle,

p ocket

l i g h t ,

and other impressive a p p a

ratus,

and p roceeds to

give

the "patient"

a thorough check-up.

"Here

so.

D o c t o r , "

the

"patient"

cries,

pointing to a region n e a r

his

right

shoulder

blade.

"Here so. D o c t o r

e r e

so.

D o c t o r "

he

exclaims

again, grabbing at his

l e f t

l o w e r

ribs as

the

pain

seems to jump.

The

audience

s i t s forward expectant

ly,

some

doubtful,

some amused.

One

t

t l e child, sympathizing, bursts into

tears.

WORST FEARS

After

the examination,

t h e

"patient"

l i s t e n s , round-eyed and s t r a i g h t - f a c e d ,

as

the

"doctor" t e l l s

him

he must have a

b l o o d t r a n s f u s i o n .

A

few

simple

expla

n a t i o n s are

made:

the "patient" slowly

nods his head in a g r e e m e n t . A c o t i s

produced

and he

i s put t o

bed.

A b o t t l e of

dar k

red

f l u i d i s

suspended

from

a

stand

beside

him

and

a

rubber t ube a t t a ched to

the

b o t t l e

and then

t o

h i s

a r m .

Slowly,

then,

the—fluid

drops- l o we r and l o w e r in

the

b o t t l e .

The

bandage

around

the

arm

i s s t a i n e d s l i g h t l y

red.

The

"patient"

turns

away h i s head and

c l o s e s

h i s

eyes.

TRANSFORMATION

"Doctor"

Fream then

discards

his

white

c o a t ,

p i c k s up h i s B i b l e ,

steps

be

hind the

p u l p i t and becomes i n r e a l i t y ,

Preacher F r e a m , with

a

h e a r t - s e a r c h i n g

message o n the atoning blood o f Christ.

The sermon

reaches

i t s dramatic c l ose

j u s t

as the

l a s t

drop o f

l i q u i d

drains f r o m

the

upturned bottle. Preacher Fream

t akes his

seat ,

and

the

loca l

minister

rises

to

give

th e

invitation t o

those

outside

o f Christ to a c c e p t Him as their

Savior.

This scene has been enacted many

times

i n recent

weeks i n churches through

RAGS

and

POOCHIE

Those

tw o

characters

up there ar e

Bible

School

puppets. When

the H i l l s r e

t u r n ed from

the

S t a t e s

to

c o n tinue their

work with t h e C h r i s t i a n Day School,

they

brought

back the puppets as g i f t s

for

t h e

Fream children.

Mrs. Fream

saw

in

them

a

way to l e n d

an added interest t o t he

B i b l e s c h o o l ,

and

began

w r i t i n g some

s c r i p t s o f d i a l o g u e , then

having two

of the

Seminary s t u d e n t s

m a k e t a p e r e c o r d i n g s .

In

t h i s way, . s h e can jnanipulate

t h e _ p u { h _ _

pets

from behind a curtain

while authentic

v o i c e s

i n Jamaican d i a l e c t do t h e speak

ing.

Each week,

"Rags

and

Poochie"

to

gether

with

t h e i r

f r i e n d ,

"George the

Dragon,"

romp

i n

t o

B i b l e

school

and

l e a r n how

God wants people

t o l i v e .

The

adults

en joy them

as much a s the

c h i l

dren

SORREL

S o r r e l

i s

a

small

plant

c o m m o n l y

grown i n Jamaica

that

blooms e s p e c i a l l y

i n D e c e m b e r

and enjoys

great

p o p u l a r i t y

at Christmas

time. I t s dark

red

petals ar e


27/36

NOV

DEC., 958

Page ive

J o u r n e y

To Camperdown

By Maxine

Fream

Flooding rains had

closed

many oads,

washed

away

homes, and marooned

whole

communities; and s t i l l

the rain

fell.

We had

no

assurance that there w oul d

be

anyone

out

f o r s e r v i c e t h a t

Sunday

n i g h t as we headed toward

Camperdown,

a small, remote d i s t r i c t i n the i n t e r i o r ;

but t h e m i n i s t e r had

sent

f o r my usband

t o help s e t t l e some i f f i c u l t i e s , and he had

decided t o make

the t r i p

anyway.

I

ac

companied

him,

with our

two

younger

children.

Our

usual

route through

a

narrow

gorge

beside

a

river

had

been

closed

a l l

week by

high

water,

and not

knowing

for

certain i f

i t

had been re-opened to

t r a f f i c ,

we

took

the longer but surer route

over

the h i l l s .

The

main

roads are all marked with

m i l e - p o s t s

— small white cement

p o s t s

two

to

three

feet high

set beside

the road

t o mark each mile

—

n d i c a t i n g t h e d i s

tance

to

the

largest

town.

They

re

h e l p f u l

for d i s t a n c e ,

but

not f o r d r i v i n g time. A

s i g n may read

57

mi. t o Kingston

but

i f ^uld take at least three hours of

d r i v i n g over

t o r t u o u s , winding roads t o

reach

there.

DESTINATION

A f t e r stopping once t o help

a man

who

had run a wheel o f f t h e road

w h i l e

t r y i n g

t o p a s s

us a l o n g a narrow

s t r e t c h , we

came without f u r t h e r i n c i d e n t t o Camper

down, long after

darkness

had f a l l e n . I t

was t i l l raining,

but

a

ight in

the church

building, and the strains of a

familiar

hymn

o l d us

that

some had

come ut,

at

l e a s t . A hurried

dash

through the

rain,

and

we

were

i n s i d e .

Fifteen

faces,

hardly

d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e

i n the

deep

shadows, turn

ed as one

man

to welcome us. On the

platform, two f l i c k e r i n g kerosene

lamps

were struggling to hold

back the

darkness

that

pressed

in from a l l sides.

tarried

to

v i s i t , waiting with the others

for the

rain to

slacken.

Finally,

one

woman,

athering

courage, stoutly main

tained over

the

protests of her friends

that i t wasn't raining s o hard now,

and

she was oing home.

She

put on her

coat

(a man's wool suit coat), pointing out

that

i t was heavy and would keep o f f the rain.

Her l i g h t was

the

common flash-light

of the

h i l l s — op-bottle containing kero

sene, with a

wad of newspaper t i g h t l y

wedged

in the

neck

for

a

ick.

Her

rude

torch a l i g h t , she

gaily

waved

arewell,

and

set off up

the mountainside.

Those

who were

going

down the

road

our way rode with

us

in

the car as

f ar

as

they could. Assured by everal that the

road

through the gorge

was

now open,

we

decided to take the shorter

way

home.

TH

LAT BRIDGE

Once in the gorge,

and hearing

the

flooded Rio

Cobre

raging s o

close to

o ur

r i g h t ,

we

began to

have misgivings.

Less

than

a

week

before,

two c ar s

had

been

trapped on

t h i s

same

road b y

the rapidly

r i s i n g water, the drivers forced to leave

their

vehicles

and seek

safety in

a cave

up t h e h i l l s i d e . There

they

had

watched,

h e l p l e s s ,

as

t h e i r

cars

were swept

away n

the flood. I t

was three

d a y s

before

the

men were rescued, and the river receeded.

Now, s the

rain

continued, the

water

was

beginning

to lap over

the

road ag ain

and

swirl

menacingly

about the car

wheels.

However,

the

l i g h t s

of

a car coming from

the o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n reassured us, and

we

hurried on. There were

several

deep

places

that

had

to

b e

negotiated slowly,

but at last

we reached the

Flat Bridge,

which cros sed the

river

bare inches above

the

raging torrent, and passed

safely

over

to

higher

ground. We

were

not surprised

to learn the

following day

that the

road

had been closed again.

VAUDEVILLE?

Driving

b a c k

through

one

of the

towns,

we passed

some

pocomania

head-wrap

pers, beating their drums and whooping

i t up

in

a l i v e l y street meeting

for

a


28/36

Page Six

NOV DEC., 958

...

lowed, but i t came

o an

a b o r t i v e

end.

SCANDAL

Sin

reared i t s ugly head, and he scan

dal

of

fornication besmirched

the work of

the new

e v a n g e l i s t ,

ruining

his

opportun

i t y t o

witness and i n f l u e n c e for good. The

building authorities

of

the

parish sent

w o r d

diat the

structure

p u t

up in the

member's yard

was

nauthorized

and

must

be

taken

down at

once .

Wi th o u t

either

leadership

or a place to

mee t ,

the co n

gregation

was scattered —

some w e n t to

England

—

nd

the

work

lapsed.

ANOTHERCHANCE

Not u n t i l

t h i s year,

when Donald

Fream

consulted with

A.R.A.

Hepburn,

min is t e r

of the York

S t r e e t Church

of

Christ

in

Kingston,

and he

agreed

t o

look

over

the

p o s s i b i l i t i e s , was

anything

done

t oward establishing a real

church in Lin-

stead. Bro. Fream

and

Bro. Hepburn

visited w it h

two

Christian brothers in Lin-

stead, who

promised t h e i r

help and co

operation

i f they

could have a f a i t h f u l

leadership

and some financial assistance

toward

a

b u i l d i n g . After

much

planning

and

praying,

Bro.

Hep b u r n

consented

to

take the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . I see

nothing

i n

Linstead

b u t har d w ork ,

he confided

to

-Brother Fream, * b u t r

with

that

work, and

God's help, i t can be

done.

Over

the

past

t w o months,

the

small

group of

s i x members have

been meeting

once again. Bro. Hepburn,

with sheer

determination,

and the help

of

God, has

persuaded

as

many

more

of the

former

members to

return

to the flock.

A Bible

school of 25

i s being t a u g h t . Plans have

been

completed f o r a church b u i l d i n g , 30

b y M

e e t ,

o f

cement nog.

This

time, the

p l a n s were

drawn

c o r r e c t l y and approved

b y

t h e

p a r i s h

c o u n c i l .

The

few

members

of the

Linstead

church have sacrificed

and given deeply

o f

t h e i r need,

and

have

raised $28 toward the foundation. The

York Street congregation has given even

more, and the

s t a r t

has

been

made.

Then

what? We have agreed to help

a l l we can, with what funds are forth

coming, t o get u p a framework and a

r o o f .

I

see

nothing

i n

Linstead

b u t hard

work . ut

with

God's

help

i t

can b e

done.

A

new

day

i s

dawning.

I t e m s

o f

I n t e r e s t

^

Hfin'r-HiH nr^nt

th r e e weeks

in t he

h o s p i t a l d i m i n g October and November

with

virus

pneumonia. He

i s

at

home

now, and

much

improved.

«

« «

A Chinese groceryman,

Edgar Yap,

converted to

Christianity

two

years

ago

by a faith

only

group, b egan

searching

out ail the missiona

ensign grayson grayce 1958 jamaica

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