During the flurry of the holiday season, members of the Mount Sterling Church of the Nazarene in Mount Sterling, Ohio, USA, gather once a week -- not to discuss their families' wish lists, but to strategize what kinds of gifts they will bring to the people of Jamaica during their annual 12-day mission trip.
For the past seven years, this 415-member congregation has sent a team of about 20 to the island nation to serve the people there.
"Over the years, we've begun to gather both physicians and people with building and nursing skills to travel to our mission fields around the world," says Senior Pastor Rob Reynolds. "We build churches, homes, schools and hospitals to repair places and people who have been destroyed."
Because the teams have included one or two doctors each time, the church tries to meet specific health care needs. Many Jamaicans live without basic health services such as eye care and dental work. Once in Jamaica, the church team opens a clinic where doctors and dentists provide simple procedures such as removing cataracts.
"The average person in Jamaica does not have the money to be cared for, so we try to come alongside them in caring for their people," Reynolds explains.
The mission team works mostly in the city of Frome, Jamaica, where it operates out of the Dr. Paul Gamertsfelder Missions Center -- a service center the Church of the Nazarene denomination built there.
In addition to health care, the Mount Sterling team holds vacation Bible schools and revival services at local churches. Mount Sterling members and the Jamaicans form close bonds as they work and worship together.
"The Jamaicans are so welcoming, they call us Jamericans!" Reynolds exclaims. "They are hospitable and genuinely friendly."
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