1952 - Jack and Doris McKillop arrive in Jamaica

From my dad's memoirs.

It was July 14, 1952 that we loaded the largest airplane that we had ever seen in our lives, a Trans Canada Airline North Star. It even had four motors! And it held 44 passengers! We sat in the tail section, supposing that was the safest place. All aboard with its brakes on the four huge props were screaming, and the plane vibrating like a huge bird eager for flight. It would be ten hours before touch down, counting a one-hour layover in Tampa.

I slept much of the way from Tampa to Kingston. Awakened in time to keep looking for any sign of our little island. Then suddenly I saw little lights glimmering here and there in an ocean of darkness. I bowed my head and prayed, "Dear Lord, make me a little light in that ocean of sin and darkness. Knowing the layout of the airport and runway, I picked out the runway as we circled for landing. It was 9:30 P.M. Peering into the darkness I saw the harbor coming toward us rapidly. Then the touch down, it seemed barely on the end of the runway.

Jim Green, the missionary that we were to relieve for his first furlough, was there to meet us. Edna, Jim's wife, had gone home prior to this for medical reasons. Their first child, a little girl, had been born up in the hills without the help of a doctor, and lived about 15 hours. They called her Lucy. Now Edna was several months pregnant with their second child, and decided since it was furlough time, she would go home early for the birth in Ontario.