1984
We moved to Jamaica in October of 1984 to serve as pastors of Bread of Life Church in Linstead, St Catherine, Jamaica. We were there at the invitation of Emile and Sophie Azan, Lebanese Jamaicans who owned and operated a business in Linstead and who had been radically converted to faith in Jesus a few years earlier.
Emile and Sophie were making preparation to start a church in Linstead. They had begun to gather people, acquired a property at a major intersection just on the north edge of town with a house and an old commercial-sized chicken coop, and were constructing a building for worship. The Azans specifically needed someone to get the church organized, to teach consistently and effectively the foundations of faith, living the Christian Life, and living in community with other believers. They needed someone to establish leadership development and training for the long run. And they needed someone whose intention was to get the church established, appoint leaders, and then get out of the way! It turns out that Jim and Jean Stephens were those missionaries!
The extended Azan family was influential in the area as business leaders, farmers, and in local government. When we arrived they accepted us into the family and while we worked to grow and develop ministry and relationships in Bread of Life Church and the Linstead community, we enjoyed a wonderful sense of inclusion (which was part of God’s good plan for us), wonderful Mediterranean/Jamaican food at the frequent family gatherings, and an opportunity for our influence to extend far beyond the boundaries of Linstead. And the amazing opportunity for our daughter Melissa to apply for and be accepted at Immaculate Conception High School in Kingston!
Elias Azan was the patriarch of the Azan family in Jamaica. He had arrived in Kingston on a ship from Lebanon as a young adventurer early in the 20th century and had soon built a thriving business traveling around the island selling household goods and supplies in the towns and villages. His hard work, good business practices, and the skills and wisdom of the wife he married soon made him an established business leader. He had sons and daughters who followed in his footsteps of hard work and good business.
His son Adib became a prosperous farmer in St Catherine with orchards, cattle, dairy, and chickens. Adib also owned “Azan’s Supercenter”, a local supermarket. Another son, Labeeb, began a haberdashery business in downtown Kingston and went on to own one of Jamaica’s leading furniture manufacturing and wholesale and retail furniture businesses. Elias’ daughter Sophie and her husband Emile established Azan’s Furniture Store in Linstead, and after their deep and transforming commitment to Christ, began paving the way for Bread of Life Ministries, which Jim and Jean Stephens had a role in developing.
When Elias Azan, who was well known in St Catherine Parish as “Dada”, was in his late 80’s, long after his wife had died, he moved into the home of his daughter Sophia and her husband Emile in Rose Hall, just outside Linstead. In our first months in Jamaica, I had many opportunities to sit with Dada and listen to stories about his travel adventures, his early days in Jamaica, his family, and about his faith. Dada had never learned to read and write, but his wife, his children, and his employees took care of all the literary stuff! The first Christmas we were in Jamaica, I wrote a poem for Dada for his Christmas Eve birthday. When the family heard it, they said they wanted the poem read at Dada’s funeral when the time came.
We handed the church leadership over to the Azans and their team in 1986 and moved to Kingston to work with Al Miller and Whole Life Ministries. (More stories about that to follow). On returning from a visit to the US, we got word that Sophie Azan was trying to contact us and Jean said, “Dada has died!” He had, and the funeral was the following week, and they did want the poem read at the funeral. In addition, they wanted me to read it!
The funeral was held in the large chapel at Dovecote Cemetery in the hills above Kingston. Prime Minister Edward Seaga sat on the front row right in the middle. P.J. Patterson, chairman of the opposition party sat at the end of the front row. Along all the walls of the chapel were bodyguards wearing black suits, sunglasses, and carrying automatic weapons. It was like a scene out of a movie! At the appointed time, I went to the lectern and read my little poem in my funny American accent. The smiles told me I had actually captured something of Dada’s life and character and influence!
After the service finished and the burial was completed we all went to the home of one of the Kingston Azans and had a “celebration of life” feast, with more of that amazing Mediterranean/Jamaican food. Actually, the whole experience was amazing! I had never been in the presence of so much military-grade firepower since Vietnam and neither Jean nor I had ever been in the presence of so many dignitaries and political figures.
Here’s the poem I wrote for Dada. Thought you might like to read it!
T’ANK GOD
‘So how are you today?’, I know I’ll hear…
‘T’ank God!’ His answer fills my heart with cheer.
And then I sit and listen as he speaks
Of times long past or things from just last week.
The story sometimes is a little long
With here and there a detail slightly wrong,
But listen! For the story’s more than words
And woven through there’s wisdom to be heard.
The wisdom isn’t from the books he’s read,
For reading’s not a skill he’s got, they said.
This wisdom’s from the pages of his life,
Faith wrote it there in times of joy and strife.
He’s written much, though not with pen and ink….
It’s in his sons, their hard work, how they think.
His industry and good sense is their creed,
The heart to help another in his need.
In love he writes a gospel very clear
Of faith and trust in God, Who’s always near.
Accept it or reject it, still it’s true…
The all-wise God he serves has hope for you.
While statesmen talk and politicians scheme,
And often men of vision only dream,
This man has planted hope and sown success
In daughters, sons, and many he has blessed.
The wife he cherished ever now is gone,
Yet in his constant memory she lives on.
Her strong hands serve and still her thoughtful grace
Is living in the daughters that she raised.
And though the passing years will take their toll,
The years that age his body bless his soul.
He labors still to help the ones he loves
Through strong prayers to his Father up above.
He may not ever have the world’s acclaim,
But now this tribute offered to his name…..
Of all the things our hearts could now express,
‘T’ank God for DaDa!’ really says it best.
DaDa……we love you!
For ‘DaDa’ – Elias K. Azan – 24 December 1984 – Linstead, Jamaica
As always, I’d love to hear from you! You can reply to this email or if you’re reading on the blog, I welcome your comments below.
Grace to you today, Jim Stephens