HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n

“Mission must be pursued with urgency . . . The church is not the church without engagement in mission”

— Montego BayDeclaration

Beginning in the 1840s, Jamaican Baptists were instrumental in starting Baptist work in parts of Africa, such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria; in Central America, such as Panama, Costa Rica and Honduras; and Caribbean islands such as Haiti, Cuba, Grenada, and Turks and Caicos.

Nationally, Jamaican Baptists pioneered the creation of new communities and the settlement of former enslaved persons in the 1830s to the 1850s, the establishment of schools and the creation of health and other social services. Recognizing changing times and circumstances, there is now

a determination to “overcome the challenge to do mission in the current post-Christian generation” and “to be diligent and disciplined in our implementation of … mission throughout every facet of our union.”

Scenes from the Jamaica Baptist Union’s mission conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica

(Photos courtesy of the JBU)

16 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE