'Bigger and Better' Than Ever

10th Annual Best Dressed Fun in the Son, Jamaica's Premiere Gospel Festival, is 'Bigger and Better' Than Ever

KINGSTON, Jamaica, July 17, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Approximately 80,000 people flooded National Heroes Park - the largest open space in Kingston - on Saturday for the 10th annual Fun in the Son music festival. World evangelist Andrew Palau, singer Kirk Franklin, and a bevy of Jamaican artists set their sights on transforming the community through music, service, and the Good News of Jesus Christ. The festival was an official part of Jamaica's Year of Jubilee, celebrating 50 years of national independence.

Audience and organizers alike say this year marks a milestone in the festival's size and impact. "I was speechless," read a tweet from Franklin on Sunday. "They didn't come for me...they came to see the King!" Other performers included local favorites Junior Tucker, Goddy Goddy, Carlene Davis, DJ Nicholas, and Papa San, who closed the show with a dynamic and emotional performance.

Palau gave a potent, biblical message, sharing how he chose to follow Jesus at a similar event in Kingston in 1993. "What could you possibly be waiting for?" he asked as he invited the crowd to pray. "Don't wait one more day to respond to God." About 3,000 people made a decision to follow Jesus during the Fun in the Son campaign, including 1,164 who texted in their responses within 15 minutes of Palau's message.

"It was beautiful," said Ann-Marie Francis, who lives in Kingston. Francis also expressed a hope that the annual event would continue. "The community needs it. We need it bad...it can save a lot of souls."

While the one-day festival proved to be the centerpiece of the initiative, the Fun in the Son campaign began one week earlier with outreaches in prisons, schools, and inner-city neighborhoods.

On Wednesday evening, the Palau team led an outreach in the center of Trench Town, one of Kingston's most volatile neighborhoods. Extreme sports athletes, returning for their second year of performing at Fun in the Son, rode through Trench Town's streets, gathering children of all ages to the Ambassador Theater for an evening of music and a message of hope.

Festival organizers also took some of the music and extreme sports to two Jamaican prisons and shared the Good News of Jesus with about 2,500 inmates. Throughout the week, mission teams from Nebraska, Florida, and Oregon performed evangelistic outreaches and community service projects, such as painting classrooms and providing entertainment for children at local schools and orphanages.

Fun in the Son received extensive coverage by local media beginning weeks before the campaign. Palau and Chris Levy, president of local company and festival sponsor Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd., appeared on the country's top morning show, Smile Jamaica. The Jamaica Gleaner, one of the country's biggest newspapers, summarized the event with the headline, "Patrons Enjoy Bigger, Better 'Fun In The Son'."

Festival sponsors Best Dressed Chicken, its parent company Jamaica Broilers, and Glory Music have collaborated with local churches to host several evangelistic events across Jamaica, including the Luis Palau Crusade at which Andrew Palau accepted Jesus Christ. The full, gripping account of Andrew's raw journey to faith is told in his debut book, The Secret Life of a Fool, available now. For more information about Andrew Palau and his ministry, visit andrew.palau.org.

Christian Newswire

It's in the doing

I persuaded myself to go to the gym this evening and called my husband to tell him where I'd be. He told me to "have fun." I told him that was unlikely but once inside, the words came back to me. Well obviously the workout was not going to be fun but maybe I could find another source. People watching, now that's the ticket.

Now here comes a young lady everything matching beautifully, she strolls around the perimeter and finally settles daintily on a bike. Out comes the smart phone all the better to text you with. Up goes the hair, no down goes the hair. Up goes the hair, no down goes the hair. Oh, pedal, that's it very slowly ...  

Arrange the jacket, continue texting ... pedal, pedal, really, really slowly ...

Obviously, being at the gym is the same as a workout in the same way sitting in a garage makes one a car, or going to church makes one a Christian.

Doing matters. Jesus said the ones who do the will of the Father are blessed, they reap the benefits of the exercise.

If we believe these are indeed the last days, it's going to take a lot more than simply "showing up" at the right places (church and church related activities) in order to impact our world. It will take a lot more than simply asking the "WWJD" question. We will definitely need, at all cost to do what Jesus would. Forget being, cute, comfortable, and correct!  It's not about us being on parade but Christ displayed by the lives we live. Break a sweat!

A Childhood Treat Revisited

I love Florida and specifically, Miami. Why? It is almost the Caribbean and as a result, most of our native flora and fauna (lizards I can do without) thrive here. On Wednesday a co-worker asked if I cared for a breadfruit. "Yes," I quickly replied since the only place I have seen a "live" breadfruit is in Key West. Well, it turned out on Thursday morning the breadfruit was in fact a Jackfruit. The cloying, sticky-sweet scent, coiled out of the plastic bag as soon as I opened it.

Not wanting to have that particular brand of air-freshening all the way home I deposited it the back of my truck. (If you are not familiar with any of this, Wikipedia has beautiful pictures). Anyway to continue the story. The Jackfruit proved to be very ripe - a little too much so for my liking as a plain snack. So, Internet to the rescue. I typed in jackfruit recipes and Viola! Scads of recipes popped up including a Biryani that I must take a shot at as soon as I find a green Jackfruit.

Anyway, last night the versatility of the the Jackfruit became evident as I carefully removed a light and airy, yellow gold cake from the oven. Yep - a Jackfruit cake. I kept the recipe as simple as it was written adding only a splash of rum and a teaspoon of grated nutmeg to the mix. My freezer has a small container of Jackfruit pods to make pancakes at a later time.

Oh, I must mention the large cherry-tomato-sized seeds of the Jackfruit. Boiled in slightly salted water for about an hour, one has the added delight of a slightly sweet, potato-textured or boiled-peanut type edible that can be mashed (if there is enough of them) and served as a side dish. Like the boiled peanuts however, its just more fun to shell and eat without wondering how much starch is being consumed. Talk about fun! 


Who can forget green Jackfruit pods added to soup, fat Jackfruit seeds popping as they roast in the hearth, and luscious barely-ripe Jackfruit pods shaken in a jar with a generously accompaniment of scotch bonnet peppers, salt and vinegar. I would be considerably less than honest if the stomach ache from eating too much of the ripe fruit was not mentioned. Ow! And does anyone remeber the thick, gooey, stretchy, gum that had the power to doom anything with which it came in contact? Awww, childhood. 


Thanks Margaret. The Jackfruit was really good..

Tea, anyone?

Tomorrow is the annual First Assembly of God Ladies Tea - Victorian this year. I figured I would post something on tea drinking. This information comes from various internet sites. Here goes.

It is believed that Chinese herbal tea was discovered by Emperor Shen Nung of China in 2737 BC.  Well although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the 3rd millennium BC in China, it was not until the mid 17th Century that the first tea appeared in England. Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in year 1840. During the 1880's upper class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o'clock.
Accordingly, as tea drinking blossomed in England, so too did it in the English colonies (i.e. Jamaica, India, the entire Caribbean, etc.)

A little superstition with your tea, perhaps? To stir tea in the pot is to stir up strife. Bubbles in your cup show that kisses are coming, but if you put in milk before the sugar . . . you risk losing your sweetheart. If a girl allows a man to pour out a second cup of tea for her she will succumb to his designs. (I have been unable to discover whether it works the other way around.) And of course there is the advance information given by a floating tea-leaf that a stranger is coming, the number of taps with one hand it takes to shake it off the back of the other hand showing how many days there are to wait. People who make tea with water which is not boiling must expect a lot of strangers.


By the way, if you are in the Florida City area you can still make the party tomorrow,2-4pm at the Goldcoaster clubhouse. Please call 305-992-0225 for directions or pick-up.

Talking About Perspective

Last weekend my husband and I had the extraordinary good fortune to connect with friends some of whom we had not seen in over thirty years! After the initial shock and awe abated we were made to see with startling clarity what God has accomplished over the years.

We met pastors who came to Christ under our ministry when we traveled the Island of Jamaica as evangelists. We talked with one lady who reminded my husband of a message he preached that changed her life - which he has long forgotten. The memories rolled on about Youth camps, Days of Fellowship, the whims and idiosyncrasies of old ministers now retired, and most of all the joy of being together again. In spite of distance we have managed to remain friends in Christ, something no amount of years can alter or tarnish.

We saw ourselves and remembered who who we are in Christ and rejoiced that the gifts and calling of God cannot be altered or negated.

If you are bombarded and doubting who you are, take a step back into a different environment. Connect with that part which is unmistakably you and use that as your compass. Do not let present negative circumstances define who you are. After all, one battle won or lost, is not the sum total of a war.

Laughter: the best possible medicine

Hi Folks! I just picked up a copy of my first book from the work pile (doing a second edition) and out fell this poem. Absolutely one of my favs. A little laugh is a lot of good medicine so LOL!

HOW TO BATHE A CAT (Google by same title)
===================
1. Thoroughly clean toilet.
2. Lift both lids and add shampoo.
3. Find and soothe cat as you carry him to bathroom.
4. In one swift move, place cat in toilet, close both lids and
stand on top, so cat cannot escape.
5. The cat will self agitate and produce ample suds.
(Ignore ruckus from inside toilet, cat is enjoying this)
6. Flush toilet 3 or 4 times. This provides power rinse, which
is quite effective.
7. Have someone open outside door, stand as far from toilet as
possible and quickly lift both lids.
8. Clean cat will rocket out of the toilet and outdoors,
where he will air dry.
Sincerely,
The Dog
PS. I happen to love cats - no matter what the poem suggests!

So much for working tonight - sleep well all.

Talk to God; He really listens - and answers.

Every faith practice some form of prayer for self and others. Why do you suppose this is such a universal fact? We are made to connect with the Creator and to hunger for the presence of the divine. Prayer then is not just talking or putting out a list of I wants, rather it is fellowship, spending time with, listening as God speaks to our spirit ...

Christians pray to Jesus and believe He is the only one who can answer prayer. This is by no means an abstract concept. Many individuals can provide evidence of supernatural intervention through prayer in the Name of Jesus. But why take my word for it? Try it and see what happens.

Many of my fellow Christ-followers know a number of people are depending on us to pray for them this week. Please, do not disappoint them. Let us take the time to be true intercessors. Set a time and a place for prayer. At First Assembly Florida City we meet on Monday nights 6pm at the church. You may come and pray with us and then continue at your convenience throughout the week. We see the world a whole lot better from out knees.

For further reading Google STEPP - Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer or read my book Nursing a Calling to Care chapter 9, available at www.Snowfallpress.com