Our Mission
Our Story
Acts Mission International was founded by Pastor Winston Watson, a native-born Jamaican who was raised in New York. As a child, he had many encounters with the Lord. Knowing that he was called to ministry, he left his high-profile IT job on Wall Street to attend Bible college. Once, after being unsuccessful at booking travel to Europe, he decided to visit his birthplace instead. When the plane touched down on the island, he heard the Lord say, “Welcome home.”
A few years later, Christ Alive Church (which would become known as Acts Church Jamaica) was established. It began in Montego Bay in 2007, then moved to Kingston, and lastly has settled in St. Mary. The mission began as mainly youth-focused. Pastor Watson became a spiritual (and natural) father figure to many children and young adults. At one time, he counted over 100 youth that had lived with him at some season of life, being taught life skills and spiritual / ministry training.
Acts was a transient house church until 2016. That was when missionaries from the U.S. partnered with the organization to help raise funds for a permanent church home, discipleship center, and mission house in Galina. In 2018, Acts Mission had their first missionary team from the U.S. come to the island. Since that time, the mission has continued to grow in international support and impact.
Our Mission:
Doing the First Works of the Gospel
through four main areas of focus:
Young Single Moms Enterprise
We are expectant for how God will use this new mission initiative. We have been fortunate to connect with the Tracy Street community (an area of young single mothers) and to supply them with diapers and other newborn needs. This relationship has grown and locked arms with the “Strong Women Ministry”. A vision meeting was held and from it was birthed the “Young Single Moms Enterprise”. The purpose of this effort is to train these precious moms in a skill that will provide for their children and eventually see the mother return to school. 85% of babies born in this area are to single mothers and 70% of those are teenagers.
If this is a cause that you are passionate about, you can help us make a huge impact in our community with a monthly donation of $50. At this time, we are purchasing basic needs for the moms and babies and start-up materials for skill training. Your donations will help us care for the babies of these young moms as we minister to their needs – physically, academically, and spiritually.
Sustainability / Agriculture Effort
This is an area of the mission in Jamaica that has just recently started to “take root”. Now that the mission has its own property, we have been working diligently to clear the brush behind the building and make use of the land itself.
Sustainable living has many benefits for us. First, it provides funds through the sale of small livestock (rabbits, brown and white doves, pigeons, and free range chickens) to finance our mission. Rabbits are a delicacy in Jamaica and can sell for $20USD/lb or more!
Next, it provides a food source in an area where food can be expensive. Here are some of the plants being grown – bananas, melons, sweet peppers, Jamaican pumpkin, papaya, Jamaican apples, June plums, avocado, soursop, mangoes, noni, hot scotch bonnet peppers, bok choy, cherries, ackee, almonds and sage.
Lastly, it teaches our young people responsibility and a trade.
The mission is looking forward to growing in this area and with your monthly partnership of $25, you can help us remain “fruitful” in our back yard.
Acts Mission Kidz Klub
Our Children’s Ministry is thriving! Every Sunday morning, children are waking up early to walk to our church, eat a good meal, hear the Word of God, and be trained for ministry. We believe the Kingdom belongs to them, so the mission takes every opportunity to encourage our little ones in the Lord and to make them an active part of what He is doing.
We are outgrowing our ministry space and look forward to when the new sanctuary is complete. For $25/month, you can help us continue this part of our mission with excellence. Your partnership will help us continue to purchase foods, class supplies, and pay for other fellowship opportunities (such as parties and excursions) for these beautiful children.
Acts House Church Initiative
When we casted vision for the next season of ministry in July 2021, we felt the Lord stir us to return to the “First Works of the Gospel”. This had been the original motto for Acts Church Jamaica, and that’s where we have returned. Jamaicans are known for their hospitality and are open to receiving the gospel message. While our regular services continue at the Mission House, our ministry leaders are taking small teams into people’s homes to minister to them.
If you feel led to partner with us in this effort, you can make a huge impact with a monthly donation of $100 or more. This will help us supply our teams with basic needs to bless the families that they visit. This donation will also help us complete the construction of the worship center at the main Mission House.
