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A Season of Harvest in Jamaica
(Posted 5-5-08)
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All for Jesus!

Psalm 115:1 says, "Not to us O LORD, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness."  To God be the glory for an incredible mission to Jamaica.  God used us to reach over 12,000 students with over 4,000 making decisions for Jesus Christ!  On Sunday morning, I spoke at the church we partnered with (Harvest Tabernacle) and after the service a leader came up to me and said, "Reid, because of you and your team... how God used you to impact our city for Christ... our church will never be the same.  Reid, I will never be the same."

Thank you for your prayers.  It is such a joy to partner with you to reach the youth of Jamaica for Jesus Christ!  Yes!  To the Lord alone belongs all glory, honor, and praise!  Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel!  Please pray for all the people who made decisions for Jesus Christ and for those that will be following up with them.

Colossians 3:17

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Praise the Lord; the team ministered to 12,418 people with
4,054 making decisions to follow Christ!

Thank you for praying with us for effective outreaches in schools and at Emancipation Park yesterday!

The team ministered in seven schools (eight were scheduled, but one school cancelled).  Then they ministered in the park.  As Reid proclaimed the Good News in the park, approximately 50 people raised their hands when asked if they had made a first-time decision to follow Christ.  That is remarkable, considering people were spread throughout the park, some sitting on benches and seeming to pay little attention to the Americans on stage.  But the Lord had captivated their hearts.

One young man came up to Brett while the team was packing up.  He told Brett that they were making history that day.  The young man told Brett that there had never been a band openly sharing the Good News at Emancipation Park; and he asked Brett when they planned to come back to Jamaica.

God is at work in a powerful way right now.  Please continue to pray with us today and tomorrow for the Best Dressed 50 Fest, where Luis Palau and Livin It will be sharing the Good News.  To learn more, visit the festival website: http://bestdressed50fest.org/.  Our team is volunteering at the festival today and will head home tomorrow morning.  Reid and Brett remain for one day so they can minister at Harvest Tabernacle Church again Sunday morning.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Please continue to pray as we look toward the finish line in Jamaica!

This morning, the team ministered in school and is enjoying some R & R this afternoon.  The chance for respite comes at the perfect time, since tomorrow (Friday) the team will minister in 8 schools, and then do an outreach at a park in the evening!   Please pray for stamina and endurance.   Yes, the team is full of young people, but “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall…” (Isaiah 40:30).

Brett, who is coordinating logistics for the team, followed the Lord’s leading and was able to arrange the park outreach just this week!  The Palau festival team members wrote to the Jamaican government for permission for our team to use the park, and permission was granted with no charge!!!  The venue is Emancipation Park in downtown Kingston and is one of Jamaica’s largest parks.  The team plans to set up in the amphitheatre with lights and sound.  They will minister music, drama, and the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Kingston.  Team members will also pass out flyers for the Luis Palau festival, which is Saturday and Sunday in Kingston.  (They have been distributing these flyers in the schools all week too.)

The locals have told Brett that Emancipation Park is typically very crowded on Friday nights, which is great news since this event isn’t publicized.  There will be lots of people milling around, so please pray that they are drawn by the Holy Spirit to come listen to the team and stay for the message.  Our team plans to be on stage from 5-7PM on Friday night (right now Jamaica shares the Central Standard Time).  Please pray that hearts are receptive to the message of Jesus Christ and that many choose to begin a life-long walk with Him.

Please pray for the team to finish strong!  Tomorrow (Friday) will include the most schools they’ve served at in one day and they have a huge opportunity at Emancipation Park in the evening.  The next day (Saturday) they’ll help with the Palau festival, and Sunday morning they board a plane for home. 

This has been such an exciting week of watching the Lord work in thousands of lives!  Thank you for praying with us and please continue in earnest for the lives of those in Jamaica who are still walking in darkness.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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AS OF 4-30-07, THE TEAM HAS MINISTERED TO 9,400 PEOPLE WITH 3,104 MAKING DECISIONS TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST!

From Jared Vogt, Morning Star Team leader:

This morning, we presented at Tarrant High School.  The school was incredibly receptive.  We engaged the students with a crowd breaker and music, then presented our drama, shared a testimony, and presented the Gospel.  Nothing has captured the attention of the students in a way that our drama has. 

Caleb Davis shared his testimony, and Hilary Larkins shared the Gospel for the first time!  Both did an incredible job.  I'm amazed that these students are seniors in high school, getting up in front of a high school full of people in a foreign country and speaking about the Name Above All Names!  Out of 1300 students present, 500 made a first-time decision for Jesus, and we estimate that about 300 made a decision to recommit their lives to Christ.  This second category is an incredible victory for Jesus.  So many students in these school systems live knowing "about Jesus" without ever surrendering their lives and connecting their head to their heart.  300 students said that today they wanted allow Jesus to effect the way they lived their daily lives in a way that they had not yet done – Praise the Lord!

After the assembly, two guys came up to me and said they wanted to share something with me that they had not told anyone yet.  In the drama, there is a part where the main role (Alex Beals) dramatizes cutting her wrists.  Showing this in the drama gave permission for these guys to embrace their hurts, and they told me that although they didn't understand why, they too had begun to cut themselves when they were upset.  I helped them understand why they were doing what they were doing: when life hurts badly, and young people have no control over the circumstances that bring them pain, they "cut" so that in some way they gain control of their pain.  The boys admitted to being abused, and to having detached dads that they desperately wanted to know.  Their fathers seemed to care nothing for them, as far as I could assess.  I was able to steer them to their Perfect Heavenly Father, who loves them personally, will never abandon them, and always wants them to know Him.  They committed themselves to begin letting pain and pressure draw them nearer to Jesus, instead of letting it push them away from them. 

My conversation with these two boys was an incredible example of how God is working through our assembly program to help the young people here to understand that Jesus' arms are and will always be open wide, waiting for them to run to Him.  And since this is an RSA trip... "All for Jesus...man!"

Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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All for Jesus!

The students here in Jamaica are hungry for hope.  Thank you for your prayers as God is truly answering them.  The schools are wide open for us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ; and oh, how open the students’ hearts are to the message!  I think of Ecclesiastes 12:1 "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth."

Praise God that already hundreds of young people have made decisions for Jesus Christ!  Thank you for your prayers and partnership in the Gospel!  To God be the glory!

In Jamaica reaching the youth...all for Jesus!

Reid
Colossians 3:17

Sunday evening, April 27, 2008

The team set up an impromptu outreach on Sunday night.  The band played on the street in front of Harvest Tabernacle Church and team members struck up conversation with passers-by. 

One young man who lingered and watched the band was Naseum.  He most likely lived on the streets, but would not say so for fear of being arrested.  Brett saw this young man and followed the Lord’s leading as he initiated conversation with him.  Brett was able to clearly explain the Gospel and asked Naseum if Jesus lived in his heart.  Naseum wasn’t sure, so Brett invited him to pray after him to receive Christ.  Naseum bowed his head and repeated after Brett – and he began his relationship with Christ right there on the street!  Praise the Lord!

Ricky is another young man who wandered by searching for hope.  Reid shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with Ricky and quoted John 3:16.  God touched Ricky's heart and he gave his life to the Lord!  Ricky was so amazed that God loved him and actually wanted a relationship with him!  Reid gave him a follow-up booklet that included the Gospel of John.  Reid said it was, “Pretty cool to follow up with Ricky right there on the streets of Jamaica!”

God is good!!!  All for Jesus!

Sunday morning, April 27, 2008
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All for Jesus!

God is opening doors and hearts here in Kingston, Jamaica.  After church today, a teenager named Jenna came up to talk with me.  She told me "Reid, I grew up going to church...I know about Jesus, but I am not saved."  I quoted Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love towards us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us."  I shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with Jenna.  I then asked her if she wanted to begin a personal relationship with Jesus.  Jenna, smiled and said, "Reid, I'm ready to be saved and begin a relationship with Jesus!"

Jenna prayed to receive Christ.  Please pray for Jenna and for all the students this week in the schools like Jenna, who are longing for the hope Jesus Christ alone offers!  Thank you for your prayers!  It is such a joy to see God moving in Jamaica for His glory!

All for Jesus,
Reid
Colossians 3:17

Saturday, April 26, 2008
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Reid, Brett, and Jessica (RSA staff members) arrived safely in Kingston, Jamaica yesterday morning after an unexpected overnight delay in Miami Thursday night.  Jared and Rocky arrived with a team of high school students from Morning Star Community Church today.

Tomorrow morning the team will minister at our partnering church, Harvest Tabernacle.  Pastor Boswell Raymond and his team organized Youth and Family Fest in 2007, at which Reid and a small RSA team ministered.  (Jared will speak tomorrow and Reid will speak at church next Sunday).  Then the team hopes to do some evangelism at a park in the afternoon.

Once Monday hits, our team has a non-stop schedule of sharing the Good News through speaking and drama in several schools each weekday.

Not only is the work our team doing important for the students who will hear the Good News, but it is also part of a greater impact that evangelistic partnership will have across the island.  This weekend (April 26-27) Andrew Palau is proclaiming the Good News at a festival in Mandeville and his father Luis will do the same at a festival in Kingston next weekend (May 3-4).  Livin It teams of skaters, BMX-ers, and freestyle motocross athletes are also in Jamaica now participating in the festivals of Luis, Andrew, and another evangelist in Montego Bay.

Please pray with us for the Lord to prepare the hearts of the students, teachers, and school staff to whom our team will minister. Pray also for the festivals in Mandeville, Kingston, and Montego Bay and for countless souls to be won to Christ across the island.  Pray for spiritual strongholds to be broken (Rastafarianism, spiritualism, apathy, hopelessness).  Pray for the light of Christ to penetrate the darkness.  Pray for those who have combined Christianity with other beliefs to truly live All for Jesus.  And pray however else the Lord leads. 

To learn more about the Palau festivals, go to: http://bestdressed50fest.org/

April 23, 2008 E-Connection