On July 25, 1979, Jamie’s sixth "born-again" birthday, she was celebrating her new life in the Messiah by meditating on the Word of God in a beach chair on Ft. Lauderdale beach. She asked the Lord for a birthday gift, a way of serving Him that would reflect His great creativity and bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God. As she looked around at the sparkling pure white "lucina ( means light)" shells typical of Florida beaches, the Holy Spirit brought to mind the following scripture from the book of Ecclesiastes: "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days." Ecc.11:1. She had heard this verse set to music a week or so earlier, and she began to hum the tune. As she continued to contemplate the ever changing waters of the Atlantic, she thanked God for His Word which is the bread of life, and for Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah, the living bread sent down from Heaven to feed a world starving for the truth. She also thanked the Lord for seashells... which she has collected since she was a toddler. Then God spoke to her in a "still small voice": "Write scripture messages on the lucina shells and throw them out into the ocean."

Withn a few days, she found the right "tools" to use: "Sharpie" permanent markers and "Krylon" acrylic spray. She began making the message shells and, at her husband Neil’s suggestion, put their telephone number on the inside of the shells so that the people whom God wanted to speak to could contact them. Her prayer was then and still is now that the Lord would have people find the shells who need to hear about His Love and about Yeshua, the light of the world. Jamie doesn’t believe that any shell is found by accident. When she prayed about the number of shells she should "cast" per day, the Lord led her to Ecclesiastes 11:2 which reads: "... give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth."

On August 20, 1979, God led Jamie to resign from her Public School teaching position. She really didn’t know what He had planned for her husband and herself. They stepped out in faith and on August 22, 1979 when all the other teachers went back to prepare their classrooms for the new school year, Jamie went out on her "prayer raft" in the ocean, looked up into the beautiful blue sky and said: "Lord, have you really called me out of teaching to throw out seashells messages? Please reassure me that I’m doing Your will. If these seashells are really of You, and are indeed a ministry, have someone call today." A short while later as she walked up their driveway, Neil ran to meet her with: "Guess what? A woman just called from a motel. She found one of your shells." She never questioned God again about His seashell ministry. (P.S. About one month later their television ministry was born.)

Since that first telephone call, hundreds of people have been touched by the realization that God cares so much for them that He is even willing to reach out to them through a seashell, most always with the right word at the right time! It has been our experience that nearly everyone who takes the time to call the telephone number on the inside of the shell is "open" to hear about the Messiah Yeshua and His message of abundant Life. We have also found that most people keep their "message shell" in a place where they and others can see it. We are confident that God reaches out to those hearts who are hungry and seeking through these little shells and we praise Him that His Word will not return void.