Guy’s Hill community welcomes 10,000 Men and Family Movement march

Residents of Guy’s Hill have praised the organisers of the 10,000 Men and Family Movement for expanding its footprint to the northern St Catherine community.

Businessman Lorne Hay said he hosted the gathering on his premises Sunday because he was impressed with the energy and vision of the coordinators.

“This brings a breath of fresh expectation to the community and I feel very proud to be a part of it,” Hay said.

“As one who knows the negative effect of criminality, which breeds from sin. This initiative is full of positive attributes. We need more.”

Scores of people flocked the Hay City Plaza which was transformed into a zone of praise and worship.

Former educator Lascelles Byfield, who was among the celebrants, said that the Church was taking its rightful place in community development.

“This is a positive action to bring the awareness to Guy’s Hill of how important love and peace is. I think it should be replicated islandwide, as when the Church speaks, it brings healing,” Byfield said.

Byfield, a teacher for 40 years, said divine intervention was required for societal change.

“It is important to let people live with a godly purpose in their hearts, which will arrest crime and violence, as it is a plague that must be tackled,” he said.

During the meeting, members of the clergy rallied those in attendance to support the reform of the nation by way of prayer and fasting.

Marvia Bennett, a bystander, called for parents to insist on their children attending church for the instilling of values such as honesty and integrity to insulate them from “negative forces”.

Founder of the movement, Dr Bishop Rowan Edwards, estimates that more than 75,000 gallons of blood have been spilt in Jamaica since Independence.

The march was first staged in Spanish Town 14 years ago.

The bishop believes that the Church has the power to rescue Jamaica from criminal gangs.

Edwards told the gathering that he was marked to die earlier but was saved through the intervention of his grandmother. He said that prayer broke the curse as he became a Christian in 1976, bringing with it generational blessings.

“In Jamaica, we are killing wantonly. Therefore, the more the Church must take over and tackle the evil like how David dealt with Goliath,” Edwards, who pastors Lighthouse Assembly, said.

“The Lord is using the Church to deal with the violence even on the schools that is haunting us.”