Christiana District of SDA churches strengthening community impact through outreach projects

CHRISTIANA, Manchester:

WITH A mandate of satisfying the needs of those it serves, not just spiritually, but against the backdrop of biblical principles, the Christiana District of Seventh-day Adventist Churches has undertaken projects geared at the empowerment the communities in which it operates.

Following their recently held crusade themed ‘There’s a better life evangelistic series and community empowerment programme’, the district of churches, under the leadership of Pastor Chavrone Clarke, partnered with the Devon Primary and Infant School to build a much-needed perimeter fence that will further ensure the safety of the students.

“We operate from a principle as a church that truly guides the way we do ministry. We see ministry as more than just preaching, praying, and healing, but also as a life-transforming opportunity that God has given His Church, and we cannot withdraw ourselves from the realities around us that people are in need. That is why we have impacted the school,” Clarke said.

With a ministerial success of over 100 souls won, Clarke said the church’s impact on the school allowed them to host the evangelistic series on the playfield.

“From a labour perspective, we have a lot of people (from the community and church) who work free of cost. For the most part, the men in the church with the skills have been coming out for the past four Sundays to work. In a very significant way, the church has eased the burden off the school in purchasing materials. So far, we have spent over $350,000, excluding the cost to feed the workers each week,” Clarke said.

The chain-link fencing is about 40 per cent completed, and project coordinator, Elder Clive Dunkley said it will take an estimated $400,000 more to complete the project.

“Approximately 350 feet of fencing is needed to make the school more secure. We sought assistance first within the church and then there are those persons from the community who indicated an interest. With the support of what the school was able to provide, to date, we have dug the foundation, cast close to half of the length, and raised about four block heights … .” Dunkley stated

According to Pastor Clarke, this is just one of the many projects the church district will undertake.

“We identify some needs and try to meet them through intuitions or individuals. During the evangelistic series, we had a health fair, with doctors and nurses giving free services to the community. We also had the Heart NSTA Trust come in and provide certification programmes in various areas.”

Additionally, Clarke said there is a consistent distribution of care packages among other initiatives that ensure that needs are met.

“In so many different ways, we are making inroads, and I don’t believe it is by accident that the crusade ended with 102 precious souls surrendering to Jesus. People respond to love, and people feel and know what true love is, and when they see that coming their way with sincerity, people are willing to follow Jesus.”

He added that the community service department at the Christiana church now provides hot meals every Tuesday for members of the community.

“We have established a feeding programme at the Robins Hall Church. On Sabbaths, we have lunch for the community, and we are trying to have that in all four churches in the district – Christiana, Robins Hall, Mizpah, and the Hibernia churches.”

As criminality continues to rise in the parish, Clarke added that with the right support, the church would be creating social-intervention programmes to mitigate the spur of violence.

“The central Jamaica Conference of SDA churches will be having a football league coming up soon, and we are hoping this can be a launching pad to have a sustained sporting programme for the youths of the church and the community who are not members of the church. We also want to have a programme for our women, maybe in netball.”

Clarke continued: “As a church, we need all the help we can get because the needs are great. If persons need to reach us they can call (876) 843-1380 or email us at christianasda@churches.centralja.org to lend assistance to the school fencing projects, among others. Donations can be made to Bank of Nova Scotia - Account # - 57711 – Branch Christiana, chequing account.

Clarke said he remained grateful for the persons who willingly continue to lend assistance to the church projects, for the furtherance of God’s work, the saving of souls and the empowerment of communities.