Baptist leader presses for action on poverty
Published:Friday | February 22, 2019 | 12:00 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Jamaica’s leaders have been urged to rescue the disenfranchised, particularly the poor and homeless, for the public good.
The call was made by the Reverend Karen Kirlew, president of the Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU), during her inaugural address as the union’s first female president at the opening service of the JBU’s 169th general assembly at the Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay on Wednesday evening.
“We are asking those in positions of leadership and power in this beloved nation of ours to lay aside pride, privilege and sense of entitlement so that proper relationships can be established with those who are cast aside and ostracised, the homeless, those on the streets and the corners, and those who try to eke out a living from meagre resources,” Kirlew said to rousing applause.
“Our human story is a story of isolators, but we need to reach the point in our story where we see the need for each other,” Kirlew continued. “This must no longer be the story of control and domination. There is a place at the table for all of us.”
Kirlew pointed to the ongoing political unrest and shortage of basic supplies in Venezuela and Haiti as examples of how people should attend to their neighbours’ needs.
“Think of the people of Venezuela suffering from political discontent, hyperinflation, and shortage of food and medicine. Think of the people of Haiti and those who are being deprived of food, water, and medical assistance, exacerbated by political unrest,” she said.
“Don’t be afraid to make ourselves vulnerable and available, because we are our brother’s and sister’s keepers and all partners must be served,” added Kirlew.
The JBU’s 169th general assembly is being held this year under the theme ‘Being God’s People in God’s World – Living in Partnership’, with a special focus on community partnership.