Trinidad Mission!

By Rev. David Fox, Global Missions board member and pastor of Open Bible Christian Center in Massillon, Ohio

"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."



Romans 8:37, NKJV

In February 2023, I went on mission at Open Bible School of Global Leadership in Trinidad and Tobago. The motivation behind the trip was to get to know missionaries Mike and Pam Lumbard and to physically witness their ministry in action. In the future I hope to return with a team from the states. They received and treated me as a fellow missionary. The adventures of real missionary life started with an opportunity to drive in Trinidad!

I arrived very early in the morning, and Pastor Mike was at the airport waiting for me. This was a kind and sacrificial act on his part since he had just arrived home from his own mission trip to St. Vincent the morning prior. Throughout my stay Mike and Pam continued to be exceptionally hospitable.

During nine days in Trinidad, we ministered four times in a squatter community called Bayshore. We also ministered in a church comprised of Venezuelan immigrants and in a village church that Open Bible’s MOVE Ministries had built. Several activities at San Fernando Open Bible were on the agenda. We had a powerful time at their prayer service. In every one of the services there were indescribable power encounters with the Holy Spirit. Many were saved, healed, and touched in supernatural ways by God.

The most notable segment of ministry was in Bayshore. Bayshore Open Bible, pastored by Ansel and Gail Grant, is a small church in a difficult area. Bayshore is a high crime, drug infested squatter area. The area has such a bad reputation for violence that most of the national citizens of Trinidad refuse to go there. Nonetheless, the small but vibrant local Open Bible church has been a consistent light in the darkness. Typically, no one is allowed to own property in the community. The existence of a physical church building in the community is a miracle! 

Prior to holding open air services on the street, we prayer walked the narrow alleyway. Division and danger are strongholds within the community. Most residents are afraid to walk the street. However, as we passed by, many welcomed us for prayer and said they appreciated the ministry of the church in the community. During the two nights of open-air services, the power of God fell in incredible ways! There were salvations, healings, and deliverances. Those present felt God was supernaturally changing the culture of the community. Pastor Mike brought a bottle of anointing oil to anoint the street and claim it for Jesus. As he did, residents gathered on either side of the street. They chanted, “Keep going, Pastor!” They cried out to God for His anointing to change their community! Words fail to capture the way God moved in both gentle grace and power each night. 

I was honored beyond words that the Holy Spirit allowed me to play a part in bringing encouragement to the church as well as call home some of God’s lost sheep. However, the bigger work in Bayshore continues day after day. In the past years the church started a preschool, which continues to make an impact on families. Recently, sewing machines were donated to the church. The pastors hope to remodel and begin sewing classes in an old shed next door. In your prayers, please remember missionaries Mike and Pam Lumbard and Pastors Ansel and Gail Grant, as well as the Bayshore church and community. These servants of the Lord are fighting daily for the good fight of faith and will be rewarded by making an eternal difference.