Jamaica

he United Brethren work in Jamaica began in 1944 when Rev. James O'Sullivan, headed to the Bahamas to begin a mission work for the United Brethren church, was shipwrecked in Jamaica. While waiting for instructions, he began to preach and realized that the opportunities in Jamaica were as great as they would be in the Bahamas. So he decided to stay there. It helps that O'Sullivan himself was Jamaican.

In 1946, the first church building was constructed. The conference was officially organized in 1951. By 1957, the conference had grown to 17 churches.

Jamaica Conference has been under national leadership since the beginning, except for the years 1964-1968, when missionary Jerry Datema served there as Conference Superintendent.

Today there are 26 churches and 2 preaching points in the Jamaican Conference. The Conference Headquarters is located in Kingston and there is a camp at Malvern. Rev. Winston Smith is the conference superintendent. The churches are divided into three districts.

In the spring of 2001, Jamaica celebrated its 50th anniversary as a conference.

Rev. Owen Gordon, a former pastor and superintendent, is now President of Jamaica Bible College, which has historically trained most of our ministers in Jamaica. He is an Endorsed Missionary with Global Ministries.