Month: September 2025

Early 1988

We had been working with Al Miller and Whole Life Ministries since we left Linstead and moved to Kingston in 1986. The Bible Training Centre was now Whole Life Ministries Bible Training Centre and it was flourishing. The teaching team consisted of Al Miller, Melrose Rattray, Pam Johnson on the Jamaican side, and Jim and Jean Stephens on the “missionary” side. We also had gifted ministers from around Kingston who volunteered to teach special topics, and occasionally, “hand-picked” visiting ministers from the US, Canada, and the UK who came in for one and two-week sessions on a subject of their special knowledge or giftedness. It was really working well! Coordinating the schedule for local teachers and visiting teachers sometimes got pretty interesting, but the product the students were receiving was amazing! And it wasn’t just academic information they were getting. Lives were being changed! Our motto was “It’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know!”

Then in late 1987, we were contacted by Pastor Gene Weaver from a small Kentucky town near Cincinnati OH. He led a fellowship of churches in his area who had become responsible for the care and feeding of a group of churches in St Elizabeth parish, about three hours drive west of us on Jamaica’s south coast. He asked us to be their representatives in overseeing and caring for the group of churches in St Elizabeth.

So Gene Weaver and a team from his churches came down to Jamaica and we accompanied them to the Black River area in St Elizabeth to have a few days of special services at the main church in Crawford, and visits to the towns and villages where the churches were located. When we met the pastors and their congregations, we felt an instant affinity and we saw the hand of God at work with them. We agreed to do it and that set in motion a whole new set of adventures!

The plan we developed was for Jean and me and sometimes another member of the Whole Life Ministries team to travel to the Black River area once each month for a day meeting with the pastors and leaders and an evening meeting at one of the churches that had electricity and could be accessed by car. It was about a three hour drive each way, so it meant an early start from Kingston for a 10 AM meeting at Crawford and then a long, late drive home after an evening meeting ending around 9 PM. Sometimes we stayed over in someone’s home or in a little motel on the outskirts of Black River. We brought a team from the churches in Ohio and Kentucky twice a year and had a week-long “convention” with classes and teaching during the day and services at the Crawford church in the evening. And some really great Jamaican food! Most of the families in the churches were subsistence farmers and fishermen. The meals were “sea and soil to table!”

I developed a good friendship with Dorrell Wright, the pastor of the church in Petersfield, in a village up in the hills above the coast. His church sat on a ridge and the village sort of spread out around it. There was no electricity at the church, and Pastor Wright’s and most of the members’ homes didn’t have electricity. A few had wells, all had rain barrels, and some got their water from one of the streams nearby that fed the Black River below. Dorrell Wright was a subsistence farmer who also had some skills in building, making rustic furniture, and fixing broken things. He made his living by the skill of his hands and the strength of his back. His salary from the church was mostly yams and vegetables and fruit and chickens. It was pretty basic!

There wasn’t really a road to or through Petersfield, more of a trail or track. A couple of times when the weather was dry I was able to get my car up to Pastor Wright’s home. On one of those occasions I remember standing under a mango tree in Pastor Wright’s yard having conversation and building friendship. I asked him how he came to be pastor of the Petersfield Church. The story he told me was unusual enough that I asked him some questions so I’d be sure I had it right and wouldn’t forget it!

A few years earlier, when he was a deacon in the church, the pastor became ill with the disease that eventually took his life. I’m not sure what the disease was, as it was never diagnosed by a doctor or treated medically. With prayer and faith, the pastor was able to carry on with some of the duties for a season and asked Dorrell to shoulder some responsibility as well. That involved visiting the members when they were sick, praying, and assisting in leading the services. And it involved a little preaching. Actually, because it wasn’t preaching the main sermon in a service it was called “exhorting”.

And then the pastor died, and there was no one to be the pastor. Dorrell had been doing a lot of taking care of people and helping and serving, and the people wanted him to be the pastor. He felt very unqualified for the position and responsibilities of the role, and Dorrell prayed and questioned and struggled with the “call”. This all took place in a fairly short period of time because there was no one else to turn to for direction and life was proceeding forward, a Sunday at a time with 6 busy days in between!

So Dorrell was standing in his yard, pretty near where we were standing under the mango tree talking, and he heard God say to him, “I’m calling you to lead this church, to shepherd these people, to feed this flock!” He thought about all his limitations and lack and began to make excuses for why he just couldn’t do it. And he heard God say to him again, “I’m calling you to lead this church, to shepherd these people, to feed this flock!” Dorrell said, “Lord, if you are really calling me to do this, to be the pastor of this church, then I’m asking you to take these three little stones lying on the ground here in front of me and move them together into a pile!” No sooner had he said it than the three little stones wobbled and danced and slid across the ground into a little pile at his feet! And that is how God called Dorrell Wright to be the pastor of the Petersfield Church! And I can’t argue with that!

When I think back to that day in the yard under the mango tree, I can’t help but think I was standing on holy ground. And I often miss the simplicity of faith that Gideon in the Book of Judges and Pastor Wright in the yard under the mango tree and Jim Stephens walking it out a day at a time were living, all of them in way over their heads! It’s not completely gone, though. As long as we’re moving through our days with the understanding that God is still God and we’re still dependent on him for the very breath we breathe, it’s still holy ground we’re standing on.

As I said, Dorrell Wright and I became good friends and it was always a joy to see him and his family and spend time with him. I loved visiting his church! I’ve got another Dorrell Wright story to tell you, two more in fact, but I’ll save those for next week! Thanks for reading my story!

As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you have a question or a comment simply reply to this email or if you’re reading on the blog, comment below.

 Grace to you today, Jim Stephens

1987 and 1988 were very busy years for us in Jamaica. We had kept the Bible Training Centre going after the Calvary Ministries team left. We were developing curricula and training material for Children’s Ministries and the course material for the Bible Training Centre teaching. Additionally, we had gotten to know a lot of missionaries across the island, many who were independents, not sponsored or sent out by an organization, and who had very little support, care, and fellowship. So we started hosting Fellowship Gatherings for the missionaries, first at our home in Kingston, then at the Bible Training Centre, then at Christ For The Nations in Montego Bay. We were able to bring in mature pastoral, prophetic, and teaching ministries for these occasions (by God’s grace and the generosity of the ministers we brought in!)

In late 1987, we were contacted by Pastor Gene Weaver from a small Kentucky town near Cincinnati OH. He represented a fellowship of churches in his area who had become responsible for the care and feeding of a group of churches in St Elizabeth parish, about three hours drive west of us on Jamaica’s south coast. He asked us to be their representatives in overseeing and caring for the group of churches in St Elizabeth. We agreed to do it and that set in motion a whole new set of adventures!

Then Hurricane Gilbert pounded away at the island for a few days in 1988. Hurricane Gilbert was the first major hurricane to directly hit Jamaica in over fifty years and there was huge damage all across the island. The jungle and agriculture and building construction and infrastructure hadn’t been tested by really severe weather for more than a generation, so the damage was devastating! Much of the island was without electricity for months. Even in Kingston, the capital city where we lived, it took six weeks for our power to come back! So, as you can see, there are some great stories in store!

We’re discovering some interesting things as we intentionally set ourselves to remember experiences and events in this season of our life. One of those things is the memory process itself!

When we began to try to remember and capture these stories, we thought it would be best to approach it in more or less chronological order. That’s a good way to do it, but we’re learning that’s not always how memory works. Memory is more often built of events and experiences than of calendars and schedules. Some things stand out in memory but it’s hard to remember when they happened and when they happened in relation to other events.

One of the first things we did is list some major events and occurrences, things we had actual dates for: When we left Oregon for Missouri and then on to Jamaica, when we moved from Linstead to Kingston, when the Bible Training Centre started, when the Hurricane hit Jamaica, when Melissa graduated from ICHS… that sort of thing. We put the most accurate dates we could on those events, then began to think of things that happened before or after or between the major mileposts. It’s surprising how many things we remember clearly but don’t remember just when they happened or how they fit with other events.

Jean and I spent time talking it over, again and again, telling each other the stories as we each remember them. We brought Stephanie and Melissa into the discussions to get their perspective on the things that happened. Each conversation allows another little piece of the story to surface. We each remember some events differently, so we have to talk it out and see which is correct or if each has a piece of the “true story”!

Photos can be very helpful to stir memories of people, places, and circumstances. Google Maps turns out to be both a friend and a foe! Forty years of growth and development changes the map and some things simply aren’t where we remembered them to be on the map! It’s an adventure!

And here’s another thing we’ve discovered over the past few years as we’ve worked at building an origins story for ourselves, our kids, and our grandkids: Some information is simply irretrievable because there’s no one still living that has the answers we’re looking for! So don’t wait too long to find out stuff. If you have parents and siblings still living, initiate conversations, ask questions, listen to each other’s stories. Look through old photographs and find out who’s who and why they’re in the picture. Get started with the remembering process. Tell the stories as you remember them and they’ll develop as you go along. But don’t wait too long!

I’m convinced that Intentional Remembering should be one of our Spiritual Disciplines! I’ve written a recent GraceNotes devotional on this topic. You can find it here: https://www.resourceministries.org/devotionals/grace-notes/tell-the-story/

4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. 7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness. (Psalm 145:4,7 NLT)

I’ll be back next week with another story from our Jamaica years! As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you have a question or a comment simply reply to this email or if you’re reading on the blog, comment below.

 Grace to you today, Jim Stephens

 

Recently my friend Rod Kirk texted me and said, “Do you want to go fishing on Monday September 8? Loren Hamman will be going along too.” I eagerly replied, “Sure. I’d love to!” and it was set. So yesterday morning at 5:00 AM, Rod and Loren picked me up in Rod’s truck with the boat on the trailer and we headed south. It’s about an hour’s drive from Bend and it was still dark as we arrived at the lake and prepared to launch the boat. By the time the boat was in the water and the truck was parked, it was light enough to see the far shore of the lake.

The boat was in the water by 6:30 AM and we had lines in the water by 6:40 AM. The first fish bit on my line and was in the boat by 7:00 AM! It was a chilly morning on the lake, but the sun came over the mountains about 7:30 AM and it started to warm up a bit. By a little after 8:00 AM we had three fish in the boat. Then things slowed down but by about 10:30 AM we had three more fish. That’s six so far if you’re keeping track.

It was a pleasant morning and early afternoon and the time passed fairly quickly. We had periods of warm sunshine and chilly clouds, of breeze that made the lake choppy with little whitecaps, and calm that made the lake a mirror of the mountains that surrounded us.

As the hours passed, between calls of “Fish on!” and “Come on fish! Where are you?”, I talked with Loren about gardening and his machine shop and fabrication work and about a performance car he’s building, and with Rod about past fishing trips to the Washington Coast and about motorcycle rides together when we were a few years younger.

We had four lines in the water and as the day wore on it slowly began to dawn on me that every time a fish hit one of our lines, Rod or Loren called me over and let me bring the fish in. We’d caught at least one on each of our four lines and doubled on some of them. But I’d brought them all into the boat!

Anyhow, just about 2:00 PM (by this time we had nine fish total – seven Kokanee salmon and two trout), after quite a lull since the last “Fish on!”, Rod said, “I’m gonna call it!” So we started breaking the poles down and putting away the tackle and we headed across the lake to the boat launch ramp.

It was a nice drive back to Bend with lots more conversation. What a nice day of fishing with friends! We pulled up in front of my house at about 3:30 PM and Loren climbed up on the boat and said, “Bring me your cooler.” I went into the garage and brought out a small cooler and handed it up to him. He started putting my fish in the cooler. When he got my three fish in the cooler, he kept on putting fish in until all nine fish were in my cooler! That’s when it finally hit me!

I thought Rod and Loren had planned to go fishing today and had graciously invited me along! Suddenly I realized that the whole fishing trip had been for me! They had chosen to devote the whole day to taking me to the lake and letting me fish! That realization was a quite moment for me!

Then handshakes and hugs and a couple of slightly choked, “Thank you so much for today!” expressions of gratitude from me to two good guys, and they drove off. And I carried the cooler with nine fish into the house and proceeded to show off “my” catch of the day!

On Sunday, Melissa had said that if I got a lot of fish they’d love to have enough for a meal – four Blacketts, four fish. I messaged them and said I had four fish for them and if they’d send over a designated fish cleaner I’d give instructions on cleaning the fish. Grandson Jude was here in half an hour! It was a delight almost equal to the catching of the fish to teach Jude how to clean them. I did one while he watched. He did one while I watched. He did the other two completely on his own! Very cool!

Then I cleaned the other five fish and Jean prepared two nice Kokanee for our dinner.

What a great day! What great friends! For me, there’s a great distinction between, “Hey, we’re going fishing. Wanna go along?” and two guys who spent a whole day to take me out on the lake to fish. I’m very thankful!

I’ll be back next week with another story from our Jamaica years! See you then!

As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you have a question or a comment simply reply to this email or if you’re reading on the blog, comment below.

 Grace to you today, Jim Stephens

1987

I can still picture clearly one morning, leaning against the front of my little Ford Escort Station Wagon under a big mango tree outside my office at the Whole Life Ministries facility in Kingston, listening to Larry Bridge excitedly sharing with me a verse from 2 Samuel that he had “discovered” in his Bible Reading that morning: Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire? (2 Samuel 23:5)

It’s from a chapter that gives us the “Last Words of King David” and it’s a poem/song of gratitude and praise to God. Larry had read it earlier that morning and this verse was dancing in his brain and heart.

Larry was one of four of us who taught regularly at the Bible Training Centre. Larry’s teaching consisted mostly of Larry excitedly telling the students about his latest revelation of God’s goodness and grace. While these lessons probably didn’t go far in terms of a systematic study of the Christian religion, they were encouraging, inspiring, and faith building for the students and for the rest of the team. Larry had a signature saying that he mostly began and ended every conversation with… the phrase “Grace to You!” He was definitely a Grace Guy!

Larry and his wife Debi and kids left Jamaica when the rest of the Calvary Ministries team moved back to the US (see last week’s story, “Don’t Let The School Close!”). But we stayed in touch as well as we could. This was before emails and text messages, but we stayed in touch. Then three years later, in 1991 when we were traveling in the US to reconnect with supporters and inform everyone of our plans to move to the UK to begin East London Bible Training Centre we stopped and spent a day or two with Larry and Debi at their home in Boulder, CO.

When they returned to their home and church in Colorado, Larry had joined the church staff as Missions Director. He graciously gave us an opportunity in an evening service at the church (my first experience speaking in a “mega-church”!) to present our mission to the congregation. The church gave us a generous offering which helped with our expenses as we continued on to churches in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

I never saw Larry Bridge again after we drove out of their driveway that morning, but we kept in touch. Email came along and we corresponded fairly often. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack a few years later while boating on the lake near his home in Boulder. Friends sent me an audio cassette recording of his funeral service. He was loved very much! I’d really like to hear him once again say, “Grace to you, Jim!”

But actually, Larry still speaks to me from beyond the grave. The verse Larry shared with me under the mango tree that morning really struck me and stuck with me! I felt as if the Holy Spirit had inspired the words of David not only as he spoke them, and not only as they were recorded in the annals of David’s life, but personally to me that warm sunny morning in Kingston Jamaica. I wrote the verse on a slip of paper and kept it in my Bible. Every morning as I did my Through The Bible In A Year reading, I read that verse and thought about its application to my present life.

This began a new thing for me! Over the next few months when we faced challenges and obstacles and victories as we developed the Whole Life Ministries Bible Training Centre, the Children’s Ministries Resource Centre, and the National Prayer Letter we called Prayer Towers, I would “capture” verses that the Holy Spirit inspired to me from my daily reading and prayer and keep them in a list that I named “Verses for Daily Reading”. (Pretty catchy name, don’t you think?).

That list grew through the months and years in Jamaica, during the transition season between Jamaica and the UK, and during our years with the Bible Training Centres in London. It continued to grow as we began taking the course to Ghana and Uganda and beyond, through the transition season back to the US, and during the time we’ve been living and serving back here in the US.

Some of the verses were very specific to a situation we were facing. Some were specific to a season of life and ministry or to a transition we were facing. Some have served their purpose and life has moved on, but I’ve kept them around because they were precious gifts from God, given just when I needed them.

My “Verses for Daily Reading” list has grown to a list of thirty-one verses or short passages of Scripture, and each one has a story of how the Holy Spirit gave application of that ancient text to my present-day life. But it all started that morning thirty-eight years ago under the mango tree with Larry Bridge!

Some of the Verses for Daily Reading will show up in stories about the next four decades of our adventures and I’ll mention them when I tell you those stories. Thanks for reading my memories!

As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you have a question or a comment simply reply to this email or if you’re reading on the blog, comment below.

Grace to you today, Jim Stephens