Just beyond the beaches and resorts of Montego Bay, Jamaica, people are struggling to maintain a basic living in the small rural town of Catadupa. Experience Mission has been bringing volunteer teams to Catadupa for the past 6 years, and Executive Director Chris Clum first visited the community about 15 years ago. EM staff member Josh Gray spent two summers in Catadupa while in college and is currently EM’s primary contact for Catadupa leaders. During their time in Jamaica, Clum and Gray began to see that lasting change in the community was not going to be achieved just by bringing mission teams. A more strategic approach was needed.

The Catadupa Community Development Committee (CCDC) was formed in 2008 consisting of a team of Catadupa residents, and it exists to confront the needs of the community. It focuses on improving the community in various areas including health, education, and business. The current priority of CCDC members is developing agriculture, but without any significant resources or even a functioning office, they have been able to make little tangible progress.

In the fall of 2009, Gray and Leroy Gordon, local pastor and CCDC president, began discussing the community vision for economic development through agriculture, and since then EM has been partnering with the CCDC to assist in raising funds. The CCDC members are driving the vision, and they possess an in depth knowledge of local agriculture, but EM has a network of connections with people and organizations from the US who have resources. EM is committed to leveraging its time and resources to assist the community of Catadupa, and the CCDC will continue with the necessary on the ground research and planning.

The CCDC’s strategy for agricultural development is all about collaboration. There are many capable farmers in the community, but they lack the knowledge and resources to market their products. Even if they find a market, such as a hotel in Montego Bay, they lack any means for transporting their crops, and in most cases do not produce a sufficient quantity for the hotels to take notice. The CCDC intends to unite local farmers so that they can together produce sufficient quantities, and then provide a mechanism for contracting with hotels and transporting products. The farmers will sell to the CCDC, and it will in turn fulfill its contracts and transport the products to Montego Bay. CCDC profits will be used to sustain the program, provide supplies for the farmers, and fund other community initiatives.

The goal is to create opportunity. Gordon states, “One of the things about farming is that if you’re gonna plant you need market, so the CDC, we come together as a group, and what we want to do is to create the kind of a vehicle or the opportunity where we can provide the market for the farmers, and identify the market so when they plant their product they know exactly where, who they’ll be selling it to, and the price they will be getting from that.” Gordon explains that many farmers only sell to an occasional friend or neighbor, so he hopes that they can plant on a larger scale. He states, “There are more persons who will go into farming if bringing their product from point A to point B and getting a high return was possible.”

It’s been a long road for the people of Catadupa. Originally settled by runaway slaves, Catadupa was traditionally a farming community, but in the late 1800s the island’s main railway was extended to Montego Bay, and the resulting railroad line passed right through the center of the town. It became a primary source of employment and provided a consistent influx of tourists who were ready to purchase handmade clothing and crafts from local artisans. The train became the life of the town, and it provided a much needed connection to the outside world for nearly a hundred years. This all changed in the early 1990’s when the train was unexpectedly shutdown. The town was devastated; its economy and way of life had been destroyed overnight.

Today, the train station is dilapidated, the railroad tracks are covered in weeds, and the only local businesses area are a few poorly stocked shops. Without a market for their products, farmers struggle just to maintain basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothing. Most people live a life of abject poverty. While EM and other NGO’s have accomplished many projects, these fail to address the root cause of the poverty in Catadupa. A grassroots movement that will provide economic opportunity may be the only hope for Catadupa. This is why the locally led agricultural program is so important.

Both EM staff and CCDC members agree that the first step is to build a community resource center. This will serve as a platform for community collaboration, and it will include a functioning modern office for the CCDC. Noel Atkinson, a member of the committee, sees the establishment of a resource center with agricultural development as the number one priority for the community. He explains, “The potential is there for development, but as I said the whole thing is to get the resource center working, and alongside of that, we want to encourage the farmers now to get back into farming so that, you know, we can have some economic activity in the area. That would improve the standard of living.” Atkinson is a retired farmer who lives in Catadupa, and he has years of civic and industrial experience with a US corporation.

EM hopes to raise $40,000 for the construction of the resource center, and $50,000 for the development of agriculture by spring of 2011.

Plan an upcoming mission trips to Mexico in 2011. Visit www.ExperienceMission.org

Many Waters Mission

As we were all gathered around the large dining room table at Many Waters Mission, a middle-aged Navajo woman stood at the end with a pained expression on her face, as she addressed the small crowd. Directly next to her sat a young man who perpetually stared down toward the ground with a disturbingly distant and lifeless expression. The woman pleaded with us that we pray for the young man who was her son, for most days he said scarcely a word and remained disengaged while maintaining this troubled countenance. She went on to explain that she did not want to believe in “the witchcraft,” but she feared that he was under a curse. She admitted that she had taken him to the medicine man, which was the traditional Navajo tactic to break a curse, and she was being pressured by her family to bring him to the Native American Church, which is a cult that uses a natural hallucinogenic drug called peyote as part of its ritual worship. With increasing poignancy, she communicated that she came to the mission because she did not know where else to turn, and she begged us to help her and pray for her son.

Whatever was going on with the boy, there was no doubt that something was very wrong. The mother showed us a picture of him a couple of years ago, and we saw a normal engaged expression in his face, and looking at the person that sat before us it was as if all the life and the spark were gone. Lynn, one of the founders of the Mission, sat down next to the boy and took his hand, but he jerked away as if human touch was painful. Eventually, he let her grab his hand, and she prayed for him, and he talked a little, so the mother was somewhat encouraged.

Conversation ensued after the time of prayer was finished, and the mother again discussed her concern about witchcraft and evil spiritual forces. At this point, an older Navajo woman who until then had remained silent began to speak. She said the witchcraft is real, and she warned that if you don’t have Jesus in your heart it will not stop pursuing you, and it will find you. After she had spoken a few more words of advice to the younger woman, she then began to share her testimony.

Her name was Marie, and she had met Jesus when she was a young girl. She explained how she and her family had lived in a hogan in a desert canyon. Her father was a harsh man who often mistreated her, and one night to escape she wandered out in the desert alone. She stopped at the edge of the canyon, and in the darkness she saw a beam of light that appeared to come from something like a flashlight. As she began to follow the light, she was startled to find that when she reached the end of the canyon the light did not go straight, but it actually wrapped around the rock! She continued to follow this light, and it eventually led her to the home of some missionaries. Marie then told us about how they invited her in and began to tell her about Jesus, and she was moved by the Holy Spirit and believed. She prayed with the missionaries, and submitted her life to Christ.

She then recounted that she returned to the hogan excited about her new found hope, and she walked in to find her mother washing dishes. I was suddenly moved as this quiet, dignified older woman sitting before us recalled that she approached her mother and said, “I found truth, and his name is Jesus.” Her mother immediately scolded her and said that that is the “white man’s religion,” and she should never speak of it again. She told her that if her father found out he be very angry. Nonetheless, Marie refused to conceal her faith, but this was at price for her father indeed was angry and mistreated her.

As she continued growing up, both her father and her brother would beat her on occasion, and they were especially infuriated by her Christianity. Marie told us about how she continued to seek the Lord, and she would walk to church whenever she had a chance. However, she began to share with us that one day as she was sitting in church her father made a surprise appearance. He walked into the church building, grabbed her and threw her out onto the ground. He then took her Bible threw it back in the church and drug her away. It was heartbreaking to watch as this girl who was now an old woman sitting before us began to fight back tears. She told us of other experiences where she was forced to flee from her father or brother, but as she concluded she affirmed that she was still is serving the Lord, and she strives to do his will each day.

I stood for a moment reflecting on Marie’s testimony, and I glanced over at the mother and son standing there broken and hurting, and I felt keenly aware of the spiritual battle that rages on the Reservation. I was struck by the circumstances, pressures, and spiritual attack that so many of the Navajo Christians face. In Marie’s case, she was actually persecuted and shunned by her family for her faith. It is through the testimony of people like Marie that we catch glimpses of the presence of God in this world, and I left encouraged to trust God with my life, for the same God who sustained a young Navajo girl through such intense hardship is also my Father, and he sustains me.

Later that day, I had the opportunity to drive to the church near to where Marie grew up and meet her son who is now a pastor. In the brief time that I was able to chat with him, I was encouraged by his heart for his community and the world. He has actually travelled internationally, and he desires to lead members of his community to become involved in missions. Our hope is to recruit teams to come and serve alongside this church, and as we prepare for these mission trips, it is my prayer that the teams may build relationships in the community and be encouraged just as I have been by the testimony of their Navajo brothers and sisters.

- Josh G.

Mexico Mission Trips
Diane Andrews of Bellview Community Church has built her ministry out of encouraging women. She has spoken to women in churches throughout Colorado, the United States and the world. Not too long ago, she presented a message to missionary women in Thailand and most recently she decided to continue to share her message – a special talk on Psalm 23 – with the women of Iglesia Cristiana Vida, the church of Ruiz, Mexico.

When Diane first proposed to do something for the women in the community, we were very excited. Occasionally groups will decide to reach out to the women – especially those that are most visible during the trip, such as the cooking staff – and they are always very appreciative of the special attention.

When Wednesday morning at 10:00 arrived, however, our attempts were almost stopped by an abnormal daytime storm that raged throughout the morning. As rivers of water ran down the road in front of the church, we knew that most efforts to come to the gathering would be thwarted. We sent Jim out in a car, however, and after traversing the muddy streets he came back with one woman; he had found her walking in the rain, and she explained that since she had decided to miss work to come to the sermon, no storm would stop her. Not too long after, another car pulled up and out piled more women.

All in all, there were five in attendance for Diane’s message. It was one of the smallest crowds that Diane has spoken for, but her ministry was no less effective. Diane explained that she really wanted to make the women feel loved so besides simply giving her talk, she bought beads to make bracelets that went along with her message. Each color of the bracelet symbolized a different section of the Psalm. The women mediated on the Psalm and joined together in fellowship and prayer, each leaving feeling as though they had truly been blessed by the experience.

Plan an upcoming Mexico mission trip. Visit www.ExperienceMission.org