JOEL Goes to Jamaica
Release No: 09-13
By Noel Hwande
Feb. 13— KINGSTON, Jamaica: For nearly 13 years, Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) in Latin America has been successfully reaching out to youth with the Gospel message through Project JOEL (translated as Youth with Free Spirits). Now, after ten months of planning, that youth outreach ministry has come to Jamaica.
Lutheran Hour Ministries-Jamaica recently completed the first Project JOEL training seminars at Mona High School in Kingston. The event was attended by 33 students (half of whom are not Christian) and by the end 13 students volunteered to serve as volunteers in the school and community.
Having these student volunteers is especially crucial in this early stage of implementing Project JOEL in because they will be trained to lead future seminars and engage their peers.
Mona High School is the first school in Jamaica to embrace this youth program, and represents months of LHM-Jamaica staff meeting and working with the school principal, staff, parents and teachers to get the necessary permissions and resources for the event. The goal, according to LHM-Jamaica director Obot Ite, is to take this program in to many other schools around Jamaica.
Project JOEL began in 1996 as an outreach program to provide Christian guidance to youth in Panama and help them make healthy choices in their lives. Since then, the program has enjoyed growth and success in Latin America and is being integrated into the outreach efforts of LHM ministry centers in other parts of the world.
"We trust God for what He alone shall accomplish in the lives of these young people participating in the project," said Ite. "Pray for God to bless these youth as they faithfully attend the seminar sessions."
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