It Started with a Shipwreck

Jerry F. Datema
Overseas Bishop, 1981-1993

Upon retiring as a bishop in 1993, Jerry F. Datema intended to return to the mission field where he had served in the 1960s, and which his heart had never left: Jamaica. But almost immediately upon leaving the bishopric, he learned that he had terminal cancer. He would not make another trip to Jamaica.

However, in the final year of his life, Bishop Datema devoted a great amount of time to writing a history of the United Brethren work in Jamaica. He completed much of the writing of "What God Hath Wrought" before his death; Dr. Paul R. Fetters then finished the work and prepared the book for publication.

"What God Hath Wrought" was published last spring. What follows is adapted from the first chapter of the book, which tells about the fascinating early days of the work in Jamaica.

Rev. Paul D. Ford founded an independent missionary work at Constant Spring, Jamaica, in the 1920s. However, his wife became seriously ill. They were forced to return to the States, and ended up attending the UB church in Strinestown, Pa. In 1933, Ford offered the Constant Spring work to the denomination, but the UB Mission board didn't feel ready to launch into Jamaica. Ford later returned to missionary work, this time in the Bahamas.

The Fords had brought to the States a young Jamaican named James B. O'Sullivan, who entered Huntington College. By the time he graduated in 1942, he had met the requirements for ordination in the United Brethren church.

O'Sullivan committed himself to begin mission work somewhere in the West Indies--Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Caymans, the Bahamas, or elsewhere.

The young Jamaican was among the speakers at a 1942 denominational missions convention in Adrian, Mich., which focused on "Jamaica and the West Indies." The delegates asked the Mission board to "select a needy and promising island or islands among the West Indies group for missionary purposes."

The idea went on the agenda when the Mission board met in 1943. They considered Jamaica. But as interesting and challenging as Jamaica appeared, the board chose to begin a new work in the Bahamas, 200 miles off the U. S. coast. They also appointed O'Sullivan as the person to open a new mission there.

Redirected by a Hurricane

On September 25, 1944, O'Sullivan headed south for Florida to book passage on a ship to Nassau, Bahamas. However, he ran into a number of obstacles. First, he lacked a special permit needed for the trip. He managed to obtain one...but then his route was changed. Instead of taking a steamer from Miami to Nassau, he would leave from Tampa. In Tampa, he learned that he couldn't take his car, which he had been counting on to get from preaching point to preaching point in the Bahamas. So he sold the car and repacked.

Finally, on October 10, O'Sullivan's ship, The Kirkson, left Tampa. The ship would stop in Jamaica to take on supplies. But soon after leaving Tampa, The Kirkson encountered a severe storm which was sweeping the Florida coast. The ship came within 25 miles of Grand Cayman Island before the weather forced the crew to return to the Isle of Pines, a large Cuban island just south of the main island.

A week later, at sea again, the ship ran into winds blowing 200 miles per hour, according to O'Sullivan. "By evening all anchors gave way, and we had the frightening experience of being locked in the grip of a terrific hurricane at night. The engine was running at full speed ahead, yet hardly making way against the wind."

At 2:30 a.m., The Kirkson ran aground on the Isle of Pines. No lives were lost, and the damage wasn't severe, the ship having struck a mud bottom. The captain was taken to Havana, where he made arrangements with the Cuban Navy to take some passengers on to the Bahamas. O'Sullivan and the other passengers were rescued by a schooner and taken to Jamaica.

In Kingston, Jamaica, O'Sullivan wrote back to Missions director George D. Fleming: "Thanks be to a merciful God for His goodness--at last I have arrived here! From the day I left Tampa until my arrival, a period of better than four weeks, we had bad weather. The hurricane itself was the most severe experienced in these waters for many a day....Most of my belongings were damaged. It is a good thing that my car was sold in Tampa, for I would not have been able to get it off the wrecked boat."

O'Sullivan's wife, Wilna, soon joined him in Jamaica, where he was staying with his sister and brother-in-law. While there, he discovered that the people in that area were eager to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. At the request of a woman who ran a day school, he began holding services in a government community hall in the settlement of Golden Springs. Before long, the O'Sullivans found themselves invited to other areas to conduct services.

After much consideration, O'Sullivan was given approval to begin UB work in Jamaica rather than in the Bahamas.

The New Work Blossoms

By the summer of 1945, several mountain villages were being reached with the gospel, and Fleming received a glowing report from the O'Sullivans:

"Last Sunday we had one of the best services we've had. It was at one of the mountain districts. The journey was a hard, tedious one, but we felt repaid by the welcome and attendance. The round trip, a distance of 14 miles with streams to cross and hills to climb, was traveled on foot....To add to the weariness of the climb, it rained.

"At 4:00 p.m. people began to come. A garage was used for the service, which lasted from 4:30--8:00 p.m. Seventy-five people crowded into the place, and many were standing outside in the drizzling rain. At the close of the worship, a call was made and 28 responded by coming to the altar for prayer. This is a promising district with neither church building nor a church group working in the community."

By year's end, the O'Sullivans had visited and preached in many mountainous areas. The preaching met with great approval, and many people accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. The mission had no vehicle, so they traveled on foot or hired a vehicle. Many villages could only be reached by foot. The O'Sullivans only entered areas in which no other church group was working.

Dollars to Make a Difference

In December 1945, James sent a request for funds to the Board of Missions. He outlined various needs, including the need for church buildings, a vehicle, and Sunday school materials. He also asked for a married couple who could supervise several mission schools, plus help with music and evangelistic work.

The request for funds to build churches reached the heart of Dr. George Fleming. He became very burdened for the work in Jamaica, and saw the great opportunity for reaching many hearts with the gospel. Fleming published an appeal in the May 1946 issue of the denominational missions publication, The Missionary Monthly. "It is a glorious privilege to carry the precious Gospel of the Lord Jesus to needy hearts, but along with that blessed opportunity to serve others we face the cost in dollars and cents."

The plea was met with a good response. The actual amount received isn't known, but it was enough for O'Sullivan to report, "We have now received $525 toward the building fund."

Land at Golden Springs was purchased from a Mr. Carpenter--who, in fact, had once owned all of the land in the town before the government purchased much of it and resold it in lots to small farmers. Carpenter still retained a nice piece of land on the main road. He didn't want to sell it to the church, but agreed to lease it. But after a discussion with O'Sullivan, he decided to outright give it to the mission with this understanding: that a children's day school would be established in the community.

On that site was built the Carpenter's Memorial Church at Golden Springs.

The mission board decided, "One or two humble missionary homes, with two to four chapels, must be the number one objective." The Board contributed some money to get started, but told the United Brethren people that further expansion would depend on their generosity. "It is His work, but it is our responsibility. We are workers together with Him."

The Men's Brotherhood of Missions decided to buy the O'Sullivans a car, which arrived in Jamaica by August--a Buick in top condition.

Then, in October, the board appointed Rev. and Mrs. Roy Houghton to go to Jamaica to build at least two churches and one mission house. The Houghtons had previously served as UB missionaries in Sierra Leone.

Expanding and Building

By November 1946, the work began to expand with many more people accepting Christ and being baptized. O'Sullivan told about a baptismal service at Mt. Pleasant for six persons. "Present at this service, held at 7:00 in the morning, were well over 500 people. After the baptismal ceremony, we returned to the church for a short service. We also had an 11:00 service, as well as an afternoon and evening service, closing with Holy Communion. At each service there were around 300 in attendance....This place holds promise, and in expectation of our buildings, the people are already gathering stones and sand."

Houghton kept busy. He completed a new chapel at Golden Springs and built a temporary chapel at Mt. Prospect. His biggest project was a new mission house built on a crest overlooking Golden Springs. But when serious illness afflicted Houghton, he was forced to leave Jamaica.

A Visit from the General Secretary

Late in 1947, Dr. Fleming made his second trip to Jamaica.

Fleming seemed very impressed with the organization on the island and the people attending the United Brethren churches. "A grand welcome awaited us at each of the points visited, and none was more genuine and friendly than at Mt. Pleasant. Arriving at the church, singing was in progress. A custom I observed at all places is to start singing choruses as quickly as a handful of folks arrive at any given place of worship. These choruses are pitched by anyone, and all join in most lustily. This continues for from fifteen minutes to a half-hour."

Much to his surprise, Dr. Fleming was called upon to sing solos during all nine services he attended. Despite having performed solo only a few times in his life, Fleming lifted his voice in praise.

Fleming also wrote about his visit to the Mt. Zion church. "The car took us within a mile and a half of the meeting site. About eight in our party started the climb which, by the way, was up and down, but mostly up. Our guide took us up a rugged mountain path--and rugged it was!...I felt it should have been Mt. Rugged. Daniel Webster should have traveled that path before attempting to define that word 'rugged'....

"Brother Brown carries on services there, traveling to and from Mt. Pleasant by horseback, some 16 miles round trip. The local school teacher had a small organ and gave us help in the music. Our two violinists were there, walking from their home eight miles away....

"The handful who gathered to begin singing soon grew and grew until close to 125 and easily more stood in a semi-circle. The service was fully two hours in length...all standing."

In early 1948, the church at Golden Springs was dedicated, and soon thereafter the chapel at Mt. Prospect was completed.

Branching into the Mandeville Area

During Fleming's visit in late 1947, O'Sullivan showed him the area around Mandeville as a possible new site for establishing United Brethren churches. The city, situated in mountains in the middle of the island about sixty miles from Kingston, represented a large step of faith for O'Sullivan.

With three churches already fairly established in the Kingston--St. Andrew area, O'Sullivan had a heart to preach the gospel throughout the rest of the island. The distance between Golden Springs and Mandeville was long, especially with the condition of the roads, but O'Sullivan felt that he had the energy and strength to take on the challenges of starting new preaching points so far away from the other churches. Fleming was impressed with the potential of the area, and soon a new United Brethren work had begun with Rev. W. S. Brodie serving as pastor.

The other churches flourished as well. Fleming made another appeal in The Missionary Monthly for funds to construct a church at Mt. Zion. By April 1948, $650 had been received.

The work in Jamaica continued to spread. The ministers and lay people had a great heart to win others to Christ. This was obvious from remarks by J. S. Brodie: "The Lord is blessing the work entrusted to my care here near Mandeville, and souls are finding the Lord. Last week I conducted a campaign at New Green, and many wept at the altar....Many could not find seats, and had to remain standing throughout the service."

A New Generation of Leaders

As the work grew, so did the number of Jamaican pastors hired by the United Brethren church to pastor the congregations. One such pastor was Rev. J. H. Smith, who came originally from the island of Cayman, a few hundred miles from Jamaica. The Smith family had come to Jamaica some years earlier and worked several years at Faith Home, an orphanage in Golden Springs owned and operated by O'Sullivan's mother. Smith felt the call to the pastorate, and applied with the United Brethren Church. He was assigned to the Golden Springs church.

Along with the growth of the established churches, some young people from these congregations were feeling the call to preach. Brodie reported on a series of evangelistic services at Mandeville: "The building was packed each night....Many laid their lives on the altar, and vowed to God to be true to Him and to His cause. Following these services...Rev. Stephens accepted five as quarterly conference preachers, and others were given license to serve as deacons and deaconesses."

As the decade ended, the founder of this work, Rev. James B. O'Sullivan, was in the States pastoring a church in the former White River Conference, while his wife, Wilna, served as superintendent of nurses at the hospital in Marion, Ind. They had requested an extended furlough, and it had been granted by the Mission board.

But the work they left behind remained strong and growing. By 1950, the mission was five years old. We now had established churches at Golden Springs, Mt. Pleasant, Mt. Prospect, and Mt. Zion in the Golden Springs area; and New Green, Middle Quarter, Craighead, and Hanbury in the Mandeville area (the Mt. Prospect and Mt. Zion churches would be totally destroyed by a hurricane in 1951).

These churches had a combined weekly attendance of 595, with Sunday school averaging 302. During the previous year, 134 persons had been converted and 40 persons had been baptized. A number were now being called into fulltime Christian service.

Just five years earlier, this island had lost out, with a different island being chosen as the site for new United Brethren mission work. But now, Jamaica had a growing group of believers.

Jamaica--an island selected not by man, but by God.

By 1950, the work in Jamaica had grown to the point that the Board of Missions decided to organize it as a conference. It was named West Indies Annual Conference. That name remained until 1972, when it was changed to Jamaica Conference during the process of incorporating the conference to receive official government recognition. Reports from 1952 showed a total of 13 churches, and in 1955, services were being conducted in 21 locations.

Rev. James O'Sullivan continued serving as conference superintendent until 1964, when he announced his retirement. His replacement as superintendent was Rev. Jerry F. Datema, who had spent the past seven years in Sierra Leone.

Datema served as superintendent for four years, but sensed God calling him back to Sierra Leone. He felt it wasn't necessary to send another missionary as superintendent--that among the Jamaican pastors were capable, experienced men who could fill that role. So the field was nationalized in 1968, with the Jamaicans electing one of their own, Rev. A. N. Braithwaite, as superintendent.

As for Rev. James O'Sullivan--he retired in the States, but continued making trips to Jamaica. He now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he remains active in Christian service.