From Stan Bass: At the Regional Directors Conference in November, I had the pleasure of attending a social event at the home of evangelist Harold Jackson to which many students from the Caribbean had been invited. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there is a very fine representation of students from the Caribbean. From the English-speaking area alone there are two students from Antigua, two from Bahamas, two from Guyana (via the U.S.), two from Jamaica, two from St. Lucia, two from Trinidad and in addition there are two special students, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lowe of Barbados. Mr. Lowe is a local elder. In addition to these English-speaking students, there are students from the French and Spanish areas of the Caribbean, for whom English is a second language.
God has been granting encouraging growth to the English Caribbean churches. The need exists in the future for pillar members and potential employees in the Work. God seems to be providing a modest pool from which these needs can be met.
Earlier this month we held a mini-conference for Church pastors in the region. The agenda of the three-day conference dealt mainly with the just-concluded Feast and budget projections for the upcoming year.
Media figures for this month show a marked increase due mainly to excellent response in Trinidad. Overall we received a total of 1,821 television responses giving a cost per response of US$10.54. Trinidad contributed 1,624 responses from their two television stations. We also had 338 radio responses at a cost per response of US$26.91. Jamaica provided the majority with 252 responses.
God's Work in Trinidad has undergone exciting changes just recently. After years of trying, we were recently able to buy time on TTT-TV Channel 2/13. This occurred right after a visit by Mr. Stan Bass and BBDO representatives. The response has been overwhelming, with more than 1,200 in the first month alone. The new channel reaches all of Trinidad and Tobago and airs at the highly popular time of 9:00 a.m. Sunday. This development was closely followed by a move of the Trinidad office from its home of five years. The new facilities have ample office space on the ground floor and room upstairs for Bible studies, clubs, YOU meetings and choir practice. Its location in St. Augustine is ideally suited for the majority of the brethren and is easily accessible from all points in Trinidad. Office staff are able to work in quiet, well-designed areas for their various responsibilities. Perhaps one of the major advantages of the new office is its accessibility to phone lines. Instead of having just one line the Church now has three, all governed by a state-of-the-art computer phone system. Because of the system's "line-seeking" capabilities, responses to the program have been increased greatly. Some callers remarked that they had tried for months without success at our previous number. The dramatic difference was underscored on a recent Sunday morning when more than 150 calls were fielded in the two hours following the program. A total of 225 calls were received that Sunday. Previously, the office only received 400 calls in a month.
Mr. Clifton Charles and wife Pearl serve the church of more than 550. Mr. Charles is assisted by Mr. Lincoln Jailal and Mr. Mikey Mongul, a local church elder. In addition to the Port-of-Spain congregation, Mr. Charles is responsible for a church in Tobago and one in Grenada. Even though Trinidad is officially in a depression, the brethren are doing well and are not unduly plagued by unemployment.
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