Originally written by James Dinan of The Villages Daily Sun
Jerry Driggers is a fifth-generation Sumter County resident who found himself with more time on his hands a few years ago.
“I’m not retired completely, but I wanted to get out and help people in new ways,” he said. “Pastor Derrel Strickland of Oxford Assembly of God invited me to come with him to Alaska to assist the Inuit people there. After that trip, I started to get involved more with mission work.”
Over a 10-year period, Driggers went on mission trips with Evangel Temple Assembly of God in Jacksonville. In 2015, he went on his first mission trip to Cuba with that church.
“They had gone to Cuba before, and I got interested in going there,” he said. “I love the people there. They are enthusiastic about the work we do.”
Driggers recently returned home from his 10th Cuban mission trip, this time taking a group of 11 from Oxford Assembly of God. Driggers leads the church’s Omega Missions Team, which focuses on construction and cleanup projects both in the U.S. and around the world.
The group left for Cuba Sept. 23. At the same time, Hurricane Ian was threatening parts of the country with heavy rains and high winds.
“Thankfully, the mission team was on the extreme eastern side of Cuba doing work,” Strickland said. “The storm passed over the western side of the island, so team members were safe.”
But Ian did result in Cuba’s power grid going down for a time. Driggers and his team knew how to make it work.
“We’ve seen blackouts happen on the island from time to time, so I’ve learned how to handle situations like this,” he said.
The team’s biggest project was pouring concrete to create a floor for a church that was being built. Driggers said there were no mixing vehicles or similar machines in Cuba, so the concrete was made the old-fashioned way — by hand.
“It’s not easy, but there were no idle hands to be found when we were making the concrete,” he said with a laugh. “The people we were helping were also a huge help. In other locations, the mission team does almost all of the work. But in Cuba, residents want to help and we work hand-in-hand with them.”
Of those that went to Cuba, four had gone for the first time. Driggers said at least two have expressed interest in returning to the island next year.
“We are a church that supports dozens of missionaries, organizations and mission trips around the world,” Strickland said. “The nature of our movement, the nature of Christianity, is missions.”
Learn more about Oxford Assembly of God and its missions work by visiting oxfordag.org.
