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As
Seventh-day Adventist Christians we have been admonished by Ellen G.
White, to ensure that the needs of our entire community are met with
the aid of the Holy Spirit. By so doing the Central Jamaica
Conference has undertaken a programme approximately three years ago
that seeks to reach out to the social, physical and educational
needs of the wider community.
This project has sought to assist students each year from the HEART
Trust – NTA, an entity that trains and certifies individuals
suitable to work across the nation, the Windsor School of Special
Education and the Spanish Town Skills Training Centre. These
students have been able to receive quality work experience in
preparation for evoking greater achievements in society and in their
livelihood.
The abilities of these students have ranged from those having
underdeveloped talents to those who are extremely willing to
promulgate fresh ideas and assistance within the departments of the
Conference. Through this avenue of outreach, it has been noted that
they have left not just being spiritually blessed but they have
honed additional skills that would assist in their further quest for
knowledge, as they seek to complete their climb on the educational
ladder of success.
Ellen White in her book Christian Leadership further admonishes us
to recognise the talents of those who are willing to work in the
line of Christ. “They should learn how to use men, and how to advise
them. If mistakes are made, they should not withdraw themselves,
thinking it easier to do the work themselves than to educate others.
Those who are learning should be patiently instructed, precept upon
precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Every
effort should be made, by precept and example, to teach them right
methods. p.57”
She further states that “such training will make the youth masters
and not slaves of labour. It will lighten the lot of the hard
toiler, and will ennoble even the humblest occupation…But those who
recognise science in the humblest work will see in it nobility and
beauty, and will take pleasure in performing it with faithfulness
and efficiency.” Education, p.222
It is quite evident that this means of outreach to the wider
community allows for the spreading of the gospel in a manner that is
able to provide spiritual, educational and financial assistance.
Practical work encourages close observation and independent thought.
Rightly performed, it tends to develop that practical wisdom which
we call common sense. It develops ability to plan and execute,
strengthens courage and perseverance, and calls for the exercise of
tact and skill.
The strengths of this Conference are those characteristics which are
found in being able to lend a helping hand to society and reaching
out to the needs of our community. These strengths will propel the
organization towards achieving its goals and the ultimate mission,
which is to proclaim the everlasting gospel as highlighted in the
Three Angels’ Message of Revelation 14, working through its many
agencies to impact communities in preparing for Christ’s imminent
return.
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