On Saturday, April 26, 2025, three busloads of a mix of excited, gloomy, and hopeful teens, young people, and children departed Tarrant Baptist Church for rural Manchester. The drive was safe and not extremely long, thanks to the fairly new highway. The journey was peaceful and scenic, with lovely views of the Jamaican countryside. Upon arrival in Manchester, we drove on long, narrow roads to what seemed to be a retreat facility — it was the beautiful New Beginnings Yah’s Way, which is operated by Pastors Nigel and Nicole Holness.
The purpose of the trip was to educate children and youths (including myself) on how to manage life in the great outdoors and sustain ourselves in the event of a natural disaster.
THE LAST MATCH IN THE BOX
We were greeted by the pleasant Pastor Nicole Holness, who introduced us to the rest of her team and offered us all a scrumptious mini-breakfast before turning us over to the care of her very excited husband. An affable but fierce drill master, Pastor Nigel challenged Brother Steve Clarke to start a fire using one matchstick!
I think many of us started praying immediately!
But Brother Steve seemed to have an ace up his sleeve, and without a sweat, he was able to start the fire quite easily, smiling as we applauded from the comfortable shade of our tents. That shielding, however, would soon be removed by the next activity, which was taking a lap around the property. Strictly voluntary, those who participated were eager to stretch their legs some more after the bus ride.
The champion of the run proved himself twice, winning two out of the three laps. Brother Gary Hooper tried his best in the race, but a ‘close and personal’ meeting between him and the red Manchester soil stopped him abruptly in his tracks. If this was a planned ice-breaker, it surely worked, especially after we realised that he was fine with no broken bones!
YELLOW HEART OR WHITE HEART?
With his energetic assistant, Brother Steve beside him, Drill Master Pastor Nigel gathered us to demonstrate how to roast breadfruit, using coal fire. He showed us how the heart or stem of the breadfruit must be rem
oved with a knife that is then used to puncture holes in the sides of the ‘fruit’ – this will let you know, too, if you have copped the much-beloved and preferred ‘yellow heart’ breadfruit.
He and Assistant Steve were pleased to proceed to the final step of placing “the trophy” on the open fire they had made earlier.
Then it was our turn.
Volunteer after volunteer, we marched up to take some breadfruit, and guided by Pastor Nigel’s watchful eye, we marked, removed the heart, and punched the holes without any injury or fingers lost.
AXE MEETS WOOD
Having proven that we could be careful with our hands, Pastor Nigel proceeded to explain and demonstrate how to use an axe properly, showing how it must be held at the base, which is the best pivot point.
Warning that when chopping a piece of wood, no one must be directly behind or in front of the chopper, he took a mighty swing at the log, which instantly inspired curiosity in the minds of the onlookers. Still, it was only a few volunteers who eventually stepped forward to carefully take a swing with the axe, each expending their best effort.
PEER ENCOURAGEMENT
Just before we launched into the high point of the day, the cook-off, youth cou
nsellor Gabrielle Wright spoke to us about how Jesus can straighten us out. Likening this process to ironing, she illustrated how Jesus irons out the wrinkles in our lives until we are better.
Musician Chloe Case hit the right notes as she warned us, just before the cook-off began, about pitfalls to look out for in music. In emphasising the importance of not being lukewarm, she stressed that there is only black and white in the spiritual world, no grey.
She implored us young people to avoid listening to secular music and to use discernment to analyse the content we consume, because everything in life is spiritual.
COUNTRY COOK-OFF
Although we had learned a lot all day, when we heard the sound of the word “cook”, we were suddenly revived and “off” like a rocket, because we were getting hungry!
Divided into three teams—yellow, green, and red, we worked hard preparing delectable Jamaican meals of dumplings, mackerel run-down, curry chicken, and a saucy ackee and saltfish. The competition was strong, and green team won in the “best food” category, followed by red and yellow in the rear.
It was very clear that the judges were enamoured with the mackerel rundown and the sweet, sweet ackee and saltfish.
Yellow team was bent on not being last in the overall placement for the day; they pulled out all the stops to switch places with red team and ended up in second place, with green team holding strong as the champions.
A SWEET FINALE
Delivering the finale to this wonderful day were Pastors Anika Shuttleworth and Nicole Holness. While imploring us to live holy lives, to trust in the Lord, and to avoid teenage vices like lust, running from God, disobedience, etcetera; they also reminded us of the importance of resisting the Mark of the Beast and knowing how to preserve ourselves and our families in a crisis situation.
Pastor Anika encouraged us as young people to embrace our God-given identities.
The day ended on a sweet note—literally—with delectable and sugary coconut drops made by the team as our farewell gift. They were placed on green banana leaves, which started giving me ideas of how to reduce dish-washing time back home!
Our time spent “grilling the past, healing the present” (our theme), turned out to be a day full of surprises, laughter, good food, and life lessons Yah’s Way!