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Dr. Enell Hall, Vice President of West
Indies Union Conference, delivering the message at St. Catherine
Convention 2009.
Central Jamaica
Conference held the first leg of its three annual conventions on
Sunday, January 25, 2009. Hundreds of church leaders within the
parish of St. Catherine turned out in droves awaiting a blessing
from the Lord. Dr. Enell Hall, Vice President and Ministerial
Secretary at the West Indies Union Conference of S.D.A. set the pace
for the day’s proceedings during the devotional segment where he
reminded the members of their need to get in line with the work of
the Master. He noted the importance of studying God’s words in such
a time as this and sharing the gospel with the world.
Pastor Levi Johnson, Secretary and Prayer and Conservation
Coordinator of the Conference then led the members into groups where
they would offer prayers to the Lord. These prayers were focused on
the Holy Spirit working in the lives of the believers, Reapers for
the Harvest, Honest Searchers for Truth and the New Believers within
the churches.
Reports were then given by Parish Coordinators and Pastors of St.
Catherine who were enveloped with the Holy Spirit as they urged the
brethren to play their part in this year’s Pentecost and More
initiative. The members were also encouraged to pray harder than
they have been doing as the harvest is ripe and as they go out in
the fields they should go in the name of Jesus.
President of Central Jamaica Conference, Pastor Everett Brown then
informed the brethren of the mighty works of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the church. The Conference surpassed its 2008 baptismal goal
with some 3,753 persons giving their lives to the Lord. He commended
the Pastors, Bible Workers and all the brethren who played a vital
role in evangelizing to these individuals and urged them to work
even harder in 2009. He also noted that as they are on the heels of
Pentecost and More for this year, the devil will present many
challenges but they should remember that this is a “Mission of Hope”
and with God all things are possible.
Pastors Rooswell Lobban and Romone Phoenix of the Tent City and
Watermount Circuit of Churches respectively, blazed the trail of
evangelizing as they led out in the remaining devotional exercises
for the day. Being filled with the Holy Spirit they urged the
brethren to keep close to Jesus as He is the only One who can make a
change in the lives of those with whom they will minister to. They
also admonished the members to live lives that are in accordance to
the Words of God because there is much work to be done in the life
of the church.
In sharing the gospel throughout the parish of St. Catherine, a
record-breaking $4,058,227.96 was harnessed in Harvest and
Ingathering for the year 2008. This was $1,825,516.96 (82%) more
than the initial goal ($2,233,011.00) which was set for the parish.
Several top ingatherers were blessed tremendously through this
endeavor and received gift certificates as just a small token of
appreciation for their participation in this aspect of the growth of
the church. Bro. Cordell Knight, a member of the Tent City S.D.A.
church was the top ingatherer for the parish of St. Catherine; he
collected $500,750.00 for the advancement of the mission.
As the love of Christ continues to fill the hearts and minds of
many, let us as disciples of our Heavenly Father give ourselves
continually to prayer and the studying of the Word, as we seek to
find the lost within our Conference.
-Article by Alethea Brown-Wellington
-Photo by Kemar T. J. Douglas
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