My name is Doug, I’m 64 years old. I’ve been vision impaired for the 3 years due to diabetes. I went on vacation to Jamaica in April 2017 and heard about the Open Bible Church and was very compelled to visit.
“ I was unable to visit the church because there was no road leading to the church and it was impossible to climb the rocky hill. I decided in my heart that I must go to visit this church.
Saturday night it started to rain right into Sunday Morning which hindered me from going to church. I was very disappointed not being able to go. Later that day I was talking to my Elder about the situation and the disappointment that I felt. And he posed this question to me “why don’t you build a road” That made a lot of sense and I wondered “why didn’t I think of that before?” I discussed it with my Pastor which also was surprisinly pleased about the idea.
It was during this time that I decided to form a nonprofit foundation called Merciful Foundation International. In June 2017, I donated $10,000 to the Foundation to start Phase 1 of building the road. By August 2017 the road was complete enough, and by that time I was able to walk up the road freely. I was still not able to get into the church due to the steps being dilapated and a ramp was needed. The next Phase was to build a ramp. Following that, internal restoration and rebuilding of the church began.
Through the Merciful Foundation additional donations was received for the next phase of restoring and rebuilding the church.
During my visit to Jamaica I learned from my interaction with the community that there is much more services that are needed to help such as 1. Education: there are many people both young and old that do not have basic education. There are parents that have children where only 1 child can go to school per day because they have to share their school uniform, there is a need for Sr. and Jr school for young children as well as adults that don’t know how to read or write. 2. Employment: there is a need to help the community to grow their own fruits and vegetables, 3. Agriculture: help start a pig farm; this would enable someone to raise their own pigs, goats, cows to sell to the local markets enabling families to have money to buy basic necessities. 3. Mental, spiritually and physical health: Free Medical clinic is in great need in the community this would enable anyone that cannot travel long distance to the doctor and are unable to pay for the medical services.
You can be a part of this great restoration of this lost and forgotten community with your donation.
God Bless you and Thank you in Advance for your support.