Warming Hearts With Ice

Wesley is a 40-year-old snow cone vendor in Trinidad and Tobago. Each day (except Saturday) he wakes up early to grind ice before leaving for work. Then he slowly pedals his cart through the quiet streets of Felicity to sell his icy fare. He’s been doing this since he was 13 years old.

But selling snow cones isn’t all Wesley does. He also ministers to people’s physical and spiritual needs.

“I have the best job in the world,” says Wesley. “It helps me meet people and present to them the love of Jesus.”

Felicity is a rural community surrounded by sugarcane and rice plantations. Even in this peaceful town are painful stories: children without much food, people afflicted by illness, and families struggling to stay together.

Wesley helps provide food, clothing, and other basic necessities for those in need. He also offers counseling to the families he meets. Once, Wesley spent two days handing out free snow cones to 400 children in the area.

He does all this to serve a greater purpose. “Sometimes people stop me on the street, and we pray right there,” says Wesley. “We enter their home; we read scriptures; and I give words of encouragement. Then I invite them to church.”

“He’s the best person at giving moral support,” says Wesley’s friend Nirmal. “We love him. . . . While some do nice things with strings attached, he does them without any.”

Wesley has earned the respect of the entire community. He offers physical and spiritual support to more than 30 families. Through this snow cone ministry, the local Adventist church has had many visitors.