Twelve Tribes raffle return ticket to the promised land - Rastafari organisation looks towards 50th anniversary celebration
Published:Tuesday | September 12, 2017 | 12:00 AMMel Cooke
Luciano sang his wish for a One Away Ticket and Dennis Brown sang about the glories of the promised land Damian Marley adding details of the vision for Africa in Land of Promise, his remake of the reggae track with Nas featuring Brown's voice.
Close to the end of the first verse, Marley deejays, "Ethiopia de capital fe de congression/A desso I belong a deh de King come from". And as the Twelve Tribes of Israel Rastafari organisation started a calendar of events leading up to the celebration of its 50th anniversary in February 2018, on Monday evening, it launched a raffle for which the main prize is a return ticket to Ethiopia and US$1,000.
Music was a part of the event at the Twelve Tribes' Hope Road, St Andrew, headquarters, as a group of students from the Haile Selassie High School played drums, first by themselves and then, at the end, to accompany everyone singing, Giving Giving. And in giving the initial greetings, Brother Melhoo Zedubun said the raffle's main prize of its Golden Jubilee 50th Anniversary Raffle, is a trip to "the Promised Land". Tickets were on sale at the launch and will be until February 24, 2018, the day before the draw, during the organisation's 50th-anniversary celebration.
There will be spot prizes on the night of the draw, including a vacation at a Jamaican resort.
STARTED WITH A VISION
Brother Ashes Issacher gave a synopsis of the Twelve Tribes of Israel's development, saying "it started with the vision of a prophet". That prophet is the late Vernon Carrington, the Prophet Gad, or Gadman. The history could be traced through physical movement of the Twelve Tribes headquarters, from the start at 7 Davis Lane in Trench Town to Dread Heights (Bedward Gardens), where "pressure was always there as a marginal space". The instability stopped with the purchase of 81-83 Hope Road, the permanent Jamaican headquarters. Having spread internationally, there are active chapters in 13 countries.
Brother Ashes also spoke about Prophet Gad's focus on sports and music, seeing the latter as "the best vehicle for extending the gospel to the ends of the earth".
Sister Bridgette Reuben Anderson gave the overview of the raffle, some of the proceeds of which will go to "commence a scholarship fund for one student, which will pay for first to fifth form at the Haile Selassie High School".
This scholarship will be in honour of Prophet Gad.
The launch was hosted by Sister Janet Asher.