REGION BACKGROUND

The Caribbean region consists of 28 nations but has over 700 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. The region is exceptionally diverse in history, culture, and language as most islands were colonized at some stage in history. Certain islands are still regarded as territories belonging to Western nations like France, the Netherlands and the USA. Throughout history, many people from places like India and West Africa were brought to the islands as slaves or skilled workers. These immigrants brought their own cultures and with them came religions like Hinduism, Islam, African religions, and many cults.  In some ways, the Caribbean is well evangelized, but in other ways, there are many dark forces at work from the region’s deep and mixed history. Some of the languages spoken here are English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Creole. Mainline denominations like Methodist, Wesleyan, Lutheran, Baptist, and Anglican are well established in the Caribbean. Pentecostal churches have also multiplied in some nations.  Also, Catholics make up from 10-60% of the population in some nations of the Caribbean.

REGION WORK

Our focus in the region is to motivate local believers to take the gospel to their own people and the rest of the world.  In some Caribbean countries, there are sparks of revival and a growing number of believers with a sincere heart for missions.  Countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana have annual, region-wide mission conferences that center on world evangelization.  Live School has been established in Cuba, Guyana, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and others.

We are also in the process of researching Guyana’s 802 villages to discover which communities have churches and which do not. Once this research is complete, we plan to mobilize existing churches to adopt villages that still need churches.

The work in the region is mostly driven by volunteers in the US, people with daytime jobs who give of their free time to establish Live Schools. Our team taught them to train facilitators and then took them to the field for first-hand experience. Today, there is a team of volunteers who have qualified the majority of the Live School facilitators in the region. In many cases, they also help fund the training and the Live School units.  Our goal is to establish Live School on every island nation of the Caribbean and to see hundreds of believers go from these nations to take the gospel to the rest of the world. Some of the islands are already sending missionaries, but we believe that the region has even more significant potential!

REGION STATS

Live Schools have been set up in seven Caribbean nations, comprising a total of 375 schools. These schools collectively train 2,843 students. Remarkably, nearly one-third of these students have already graduated. Additionally, a survey conducted among 80 Live Schools in Cuba revealed that, on average, each school plants one church.

Eddie and Leré Robinson

Eddie and Leré Robinson have served at World Mission Centre for the last 29 years. The couple met while Eddie was leading Maringo Mission, a mission base on the south coast of South Africa where the focus was to reach farm workers. Leré’s father, Frans, was one of the farmers who allowed Eddie and his co-worker, Amon, to minister to his workers.  After getting engaged, Eddie and Leré moved to Pretoria where they served with World Mission Centre during Love Southern Africa, GCOWE, and Project Focus. They were part of rolling Live School out in Southern Africa but were then asked to move to the States to start the USA office. Their three beautiful daughters were born in Pretoria, South Africa and now live and go to school in the USA. Today, Eddie is responsible for the North Africa and Caribbean regions. Leré now runs a business that changes many lives through teaching personal health and wellness.