The pilot project was launched on 23 May at the Jamaica Broilers Recreation Ground in Spring Village. You can read about it in a Jamaica Observer article published 22 May.
With assistance from Cornerstone Ministries,
a zone based around Old Harbour, a community near Spanish Town, was used
for the pilot project of the OSJ Community
Programme.
Each of the programme's five phases were tested
here to confirm that all the components work. The pilot was organised
by Major Neil Lewis, who formulated the whole strategy.
The pilot project will check, for example, that 60 teams can reach the 12,000 homes within the month allocated for Phase I. Response levels need to be monitored to see whether we need to visit each home more than once.
A lot of work has already been done in getting the churches mobilised—Old Harbour had no ministers' fraternal, which is our usual method of initial contact in the area. Therefore, OSJ brought together ministers from many denominations and shared with them the vision of the programme. The response from the ministers present was overwhelming—they immediately declared a 40-day chain-fast in the region. This was not part of our plan, but shows how God can use the programme as a catalyst for people to do the work of the Lord and bring their own creative response into the mix.
The ministers then proceeded to recruit as many churches as they could in the area—now some 27 churches are coming together for the first time. Starting with an all-night prayer meeting in a number of the churches, they then went throughout the zone praying for one week at a time in each area. This culminated in a 'Prayer Fair' in the Spring Village area (part of the Old Harbour zone) attended by some 3,000 church members. They started praying at 5pm and didn't finish until 11pm.
From there, we prepared for reconnaissance (Phase I) which started 26 May and the concert/crusade (Phase II) by training 120 prayer/evangelists. There were three levels of training for the reconnaissance phase, which have now been completed. Although OSJ has staged many concerts before, the pilot will check how the concert/crusade element of Phase II will be received and fit into the overall plan in a new community.
This will be followed by the teaching (Phase III) and consolidation (IV) phases.
The economic development phase (Phase V) is already progressing. For this, we applied for and received a grant from the British Builders' Linkages Challenge Fund of £500,000 (pounds sterling), to put up a factory for the manufacture of low-cost housing. Meetings have been held in Spring Village, drawing together church, business and other leaders, Christian and non-Christian alike, to determine how best to develop the community.
The project has been so well received that the nearby Spanish Town ministers' fraternal, which is very strong, is wishing that the pilot project was being run in their area! Also the May Pen area has called for training for intercession.