On May 17th, 2018, Mervin Budram – MD & Alida Sharp headed to Barbados for a two weeks ‘Love Better Outreach.” The outreach included performances at the Barbados Gospel Music Festival, Speaking at youth groups & local churches, Harp & Bowl worship sessions, multiple TV & Radio interviews as well as at a workshop on recovering from abuse.
The Barbados Gospel Music Festival 2018
Mervin Budram – MD and Alida had wonderful experiences sharing what Belize has to offer musically on the stage with many other great artists at the Barbados Gospel Fest 2018. Both these events were stepping stones for future relationships and friendships that they are building in the Caribbean. They first performed at the sunset concert. This free concert was geared towards allowing local Bajan artists, who wanted to pursue their dream of being gospel singers, to share their talent. Following the local talents, international artists are allowed to minister and share their songs and talents with the Bajan community.
MD and Alida got a second performance at the final event for the Barbados Gospel fest. The One Awesome Day event took place at the highest point in Barbados. There were many Bajans that made the journey to this event as well as many amazing artists that shared the stage. The attendance was between 2000-3000 people all with one heart and mind, and that was to glorify God.
Mix 96 Radio Station “Lounging in the Artist Corner with Neesha Woods”
They had the privilege to be on one of the top radio stations in Barbados with radio host and Gospel artist Neesha Woods. MD & Alida spoke about their experiences performing on the stage with so many other artists for the Gospel Fest. The entire team also got to share their experiences and speak on the “Love Better Outreach” events. The Love Better Outreach is geared towards shining a light on the issue of abuse and understanding its impacts and knowing what the church can do to be a solution in regards to this issue.
Love Better Panel Discussion
They went on to hold the first two sessions for the Love Better Outreach at Cave Hill Wesleyan Church. The topics that were introduced were Neglect and Emotional Abuse, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Abuse, and Disarming the Culture of Abuse in the Home. Each member took the time to explain the respective issues touching on the impacts and effects and ending with what can be done to combat the effects of abuse as well as how to prevent and stop abuse from happening. The sessions ended with the audience having the opportunity to ask questions or make statements.
TV interview
MD, Alida & the outreach team had the honor of being on the morning show, “Morning Barbados”, on Barbados’ main TV broadcasting station, CBC Barbados. We shared the “Love Better Campaign” and the importance of each topic.
Harp and Bowl Worship
The event took place at Cave Hill Wesleyan Church. We worshiped and welcomed the presence of God to move. Young and old were present and the atmosphere that was created by the sincere worship and praise was one that was greatly needed. Both young and old stepped out in faith and cried out to God from the depths of their heart. The ministry is one that is very important in understanding that we need to turn off entertainment and become intimate with God.
The Living Room Church
Before leaving, MD was given the opportunity to speak at The Living Room Church’s Saturday service. Here’s some notes from what he shared about THE STORM.
“One thing we can always count on is that STORMS will come. It doesn’t matter who we are, what place we are in life, we can count on the fact that storms will be there along our journey. So YES! God has called us to journey with Him. But having Jesus on the boat doesn’t exempt us from going through storms (Luke 8:22-25). However, having Jesus on the boat gives us access to the One who can calm the storms. So, why is going through storms a necessary part of your journey?
- The storm reveals what’s in your heart and God knows how important it is for us to know what is in our own heart (Deuteronomy 8:3). Do you get fearful? Angry? Impatient? Insecure? Do you start blaming others? Judging? Becoming critical? Do you grumble and complain? What rises up from your hearts when you hit a storm matters. God is much more interested in what’s going on in our hearts. When the issues of the heart surface, don’t stuff them down, release them to God and allow Him to work on them with you. He is a loving God.
- The storms present opportunities for you to run to Jesus; opportunities to get to know Him in new ways; for He is our firm foundation. The more we know Him, the more we trust His character. A life that is built on the Word of Jesus can rest assured that when the storms come and beat, your life will stand.
- The storms present opportunities to grow. As said earlier, we are on a journey which implies that there is a destination ahead of us. Often God uses the storms along the journey as character & faith builders. We are being equipped for what we will meet when we reach our destination (James 1:2-8). A good prayer to pray during the storm is ‘God what are you trying to teach me?’ and ‘Help me to learn it.’
Don’t lose heart when life’s storms come, instead find Jesus.”
The Living Room Youth Group
MD felt led by the Spirit of God to encourage the young people that it doesn’t matter where we come from, but it matters where we are going. You who had a great start, don’t get slack but cultivate properly that good start. You who did not have such a good start, it doesn’t have to end that way for you. We can end better and different than how we started.
We are extremely grateful to you for praying for us, for funding us and for believing in us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you! Barbados, thank you for having us; you took care of us, and we love you! Until we meet again.
