Front row (L to R): Chris, Cindy, Julie, Sarah T., Sarah M.,
Rachel, Jennifer, Matt (Jennifer's husband).
Back row (L to R): Brian (Sarah M.'s daddy), Austin (Cindy's son),
Darrell (Julie's Dad), Logan, Scott, Barry, Stephen.

Sarah and I arrived home from our trip at almost 11 pm on Monday July 24. I am having a difficult time finding a single word to answer the question "How was your trip?" Here are a few words that readily come to mind: wonderful, encouraging, heart-warming, exhausting.

I have two primary responsibilities when taking mission teams to Jamaica. The first is making all the arrangements for the team prior to the trip - contacting a church in Jamaica with which to work; arranging lodging, meals, and transportation; putting together a schedule that includes sightseeing activities, while at the same time making sure that the team has enough time to rest and recuperate; then establishing a budget for each team member based on those factors. That process consumes a greater amount of time as the date of travel nears.

The second responsibility is logistics while in Jamaica. I was not actively involved in the teaching portion of the VBS, as my main task each day was to provision food for the team, the children, and the church members who assisted us. On the final day of VBS we had 160 children, plus the 15 member team, plus 10 to 15 ladies and men who helped us in preparing and serving the meal. Sarah was my assistant and was a tremendous asset.

Here is a pictorial journal of the week from my perspective:

07/13, Friday - Flew from Columbia to Atlanta, then to Montego Bay. While in the Terminal E food court saw David Loftis, an MK from Jamaica, whom I had not seen in almost 20 years. He, Carol, and their 3 children were hosting a choir of 52 from Colonial Baptist Church (Cary NC), and were on the same flight into Montego Bay.

07/14, Saturday - Visited Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, and was delighted to see the staff. They loaned us 2 large coolers so that we could keep our water and soft drinks cold.


07/15, Sunday AM - Left Montego Bay at 8 am and drove to Rock Cliffe Baptist Church for the morning service. Had a wonderful time fellowshipping with the believers there.



The music in the 4 church services we attended was outstanding. None of the churches had pianos, and they sang a cappella. At Rock Cliffe there was an old man who played the banjo while sitting on the front pew. He tried to pick up the key that the choir started in and play along with them, but was no match for the voices of the congregation.

At Cataboo, Devene played an electric guitar. She is not a trained musician and plays by ear, but what an ear! The choir would start the song and she would find the key and join them.


After the service at Rock Cliffe the church ladies had prepared sandwiches for us. On Saturday we had purchased sandwich meat, bread, pickles, chips, and drinks for our Sunday lunch, but didn't use them. We were appreciative of the sacrifice the congregation made to provide us with lunch.

07/15, Sunday PM - Sarah and I went to Sellington Baptist Church, while the team stayed at the Ashton Great House, to recuperate from 2 long days of travel.



The church is also in the midst of a building project, working as the money becomes available. Another sweet time of fellowship, with no one checking their watch to see how long the preacher went. Sarah had taken a soundtrack to sing, and a young woman, Demesha, who led the worship, and who had a beautiful voice, sang along quietly with Sarah from her pew. I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if Sarah would give her the soundtrack, but did not voice that thought to Sarah. After the service I was thrilled to watch Sarah give her the soundtrack.

07/16, Monday - After taking the team to the church, Sarah and I, along with Pastor James, went to Black River to get lunch.

We had Juici patties on Monday and Friday;


PB & J sandwiches on Tuesday and Thursday;


and spiced bun with cheese on Wednesday.


Some elderly ladies from the church along with the pastor's wife Retinella, served the food and drink.


Many of the ladies when introduced to me, said “Your daddy used to be my pastor.” That was a special blessing of the trip.

07/17, Tuesday - After VBS I took some of the team for a 3 hour scenic tour. The others were too exhausted. I think that summers in Columbia, SC are warmer than Jamaica. The difference here is that I go from a house with A/C to a car with A/C to an office with A/C. The only time I am away from A/C for any length of time is my 3 hour UPS shift from 4 am to 7 am. In Jamaica, our vans and our rooms had A/C, but we spent more time away from A/C, and the humidity tired the team quickly.

07/18, Wednesday - I started transporting children to the church before going for lunch. On Friday I had 41 children, plus myself and Deacon Coke.




I called my dad, and told him that I was a better man than he because I carried more children in my van than he had (the most he ever carried was 32). The vans were 15 passenger Toyota Hiace's, with 5 rows of 3 seats. The 5th row was removed to make room for luggage.


In the afternoon we took the Black River Safari cruise to see the flora & fauna and the crocodiles. Cornell was our pilot, and at the turn around point of the cruise he jumped into the river, followed by 2 of the teenage boys and Pastor Matt. One of the teenage girls jumped in next, followed by the other 2 teenage boys (who I'm sure didn't want to be outdone by a girl), and Pastor Barry. I, being mature, stayed in the boat. The crocodile that had come up to the boat earlier swam away because of all the commotion.



07/19, Thursday – The 4th day of VBS. Pastor Matt posted entries to his blog from the cyber cafe in Black River, and has more information about the VBS, along with pictures.


07/20, Friday - 160 children at VBS! On our way out of the Cataboo community we decided that it would be fun to jump off the bridge into the river.

Crocodiles, what crocodiles?




On the return trip to Montego Bay we stopped at Fairview Baptist Bible College, where camp was in session.


I was very pleased to see that the playing field has been leveled. This work was done by a group from Colonial Baptist Church (Cary NC) a few months ago.



07/21, Saturday - Visited Dunn's River Falls.


The north coast highway is complete from Rose Hall Great House to Ocho Rios, and is a pleasure to drive. The remaining portion to complete is from the airport heading east to Rose Hall.

There is a new resort property, The Palmyra, being built near Rose Hall.

07/22, Sunday - Returned to Cataboo for the morning service. I asked those who had heard my daddy preach, to stand.


07/23, Monday - Our flight was delayed leaving Montego Bay because the incoming flight was late, so we missed our connection in Atlanta. They have finished building the beautiful new east concourse, housing Gates 8 to 19, and waiting is “no problem, mon.”

In 1968, my father-in-law Ed Morrell, Jr., founded a mission organization – the Committee On Missionary Evangelism (COME). On the mission website there is a page devoted to COME's history. Here is a portion of that history:

While on a seven week tour of the West Indian stations for Baptist Mid-Missions the following incident occurred. "Please Minister, we want to hear Dr. Morrell preach just once more." The scene was Cataboo Baptist Church. The year was 1956. Little did that hinterland peasant-farmer in Jamaica realize that he had lit a fire in the bosom of a missionary evangelist that was not to be extinguished. Details surrounding the incident are too numerous to recount. But, God used a humble Baptist deacon to spark an agenda for world evangelization that has precipitated the salvation of thousands around the world in the past thirty years.

Rock Cliffe Baptist Church

The main road ran through the property owned by Baptist Mid-Missions (BMM). There were 2 houses on the right side of the road and a third house on the left. Jim and Edna Green (Uncle Jim and Aunt Edna to me, as is common on the mission field) lived in one house, my parents lived in the second, and three missionary ladies (the Aunties – Kaye, Helen, and Muriel) lived in the third house. An old garage was torn down to make room for the first church building, and later a piece of land was given to the church by BMM, and a cement block building built.

From my dad's memoirs:

At Rock Cliffe, there was a large Sunday School, a preaching service, young peoples’ work, and prayer meeting. Attendance on Sundays averaged close to 150, and soon grew to around 250, as souls were saved.

I did not know anything about building with concrete blocks, but Bob Clubine, another missionary from Canada, taught me that skill. Most of the blocks we used were homemade, with some being 8 inches wide at one end and 7 at the other. We had no power tools, so used handsaws to cut wood for framing and roof materials.

I learned to sketch out a building, and draw my sketches to scale. As I traveled on the island, I would frequently stop to examine buildings under construction and take careful notes.

Some of the church buildings were my own design from foundation up and along with the church members who gave of their time freely, we labored through to completion of each building. Occasionally I would help with only 1 phase of the building, sometimes installing only the windows.

Jim Green began the building project at Rock Cliffe, and completed the foundation. I laid the blocks, built the columns, buttresses, and front porch, then Bob Clubine had the roof put on.

When my parents went to Jamaica in 1952 they had no children, so my siblings and I were all born during the years they were at Rock Cliffe. The property was 1700 feet above sea level, with a breathtaking view of the valley below and the mountains beyond. Even now when I stand outside my house, and hear the wind blowing through the trees, I am reminded of Rock Cliffe. We went to Canada on furlough during the year that I was in first grade, and shortly after returning to Jamaica moved from Rock Cliffe to Anchovy, a few miles outside of Montego Bay.

Sellington Baptist Church


I have 2 memories of the church my dad built in the community of Sellington. The first is that it was there that I was introduced to cashew fruit. I must have been 8 or 9 years old and did not know that the cashew nut is actually the seed of the fruit.


The second memory is of great significance and took place, to the best of my memory, the last time I attended that church. I was 11 or 12 and Evangelist Ed Morrell, who would become my father-in-law, was preaching there. He was one of my favorite preachers, and I was excited to ride to the church with him and my dad.

My dad asked him: “What are you preaching this evening.”

His answer surprised me!

He said, “I do not know.”

Some years later I learned that he always had 2 sermons with him and would wait to see how the Lord would lead before deciding which of them he would preach.

Ed and Esther Morrell first came to Jamaica in 1956, and on that visit stayed with my folks at Rock Cliffe.


Over the next 42 years they made 27 mission trips to Jamaica. On September 14th, 1998, both of them went home to be with the Lord, just 9 days after returning from Jamaica.


After suffering a stroke in 1997, Mother’s greatest desire was to visit Jamaica one more time. Despite the protests of their children, Dad made arrangements for her care and they went to Jamaica to spend a few weeks and celebrate their 57th anniversary.

As a surprise, Gloria and Tim flew down to spend the last 4 days with them. Mom and Dad left Jamaica on Saturday, Gloria and Tim the following Monday. Dad suffered a heart attack Monday night and on Friday of that week Mother collapsed and was admitted to the same hospital, in an ICU room next to Dad’s. Mother passed away early Monday morning and Dad joined her in Glory 14 hours later.

These 2 churches, rich in our family’s history, are both pastored by Sylvester Green. During the years we lived at Anchovy, Pastor Green was a student at Fairview Baptist Bible College. He along with Lloyd Davis, another Fairview student, stayed with us on weekends to assist my dad in the work at Hillview Baptist Church in Montego Bay.

Lloyd later emigrated to the US and while living in Florida founded Trinity Baptist Church, whose members are primarily Caribbean immigrants. Some years ago I had the honor of preaching at a memorial service for Lloyd, to mark the first anniversary of his death from cancer. It meant a great deal to me, when after the service Lloyd’s widow Yvonne, told me that he would have been proud of his “little boy Brian.”

On July 15th I will have the privilege of preaching at Rock Cliffe in the morning and Sellington in the evening. It is a special treat for me to preach in churches that my dad either pastored or built, and is a constant reminder of the heritage both Gloria and I have.

after a Baptism
those dressed in white were the believers who were baptized

the crowd at the dedication service


front row, L to R
Jack McKillop (my dad)
Leander Robbin (Benton Street Baptist Church - Kitchener, ON)
Jim Green (missionary)
G. W. Smith (pioneer missionary with the work in Jamaica)


another view from a few years later