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Address
delivered at the Youth Leadership Conference in St Lucia
on December 8
Mega
Mission ten
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Schools have become breeding grounds for established
gangs.
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There is an intergenerational alliance of evil.
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Hurt people hurt people.
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Some parents pass on the values of greed and brutality.
Next
year we will be celebrating ten years of Mega Mission. Mega
Mission is a revolutionary concept that was introduced in
1998 to develop ministries in the church and community based
on the spiritual gifts of the members of the Adventist Youth
organisations in the Caribbean.
We have to understand that we must engage in outreach activities
that touch the lives of people in the community. Consequently,
we must avoid evangelistic cosmetology.
People are hurting on a daily basis. Mothers are crying
as they see their sons and daughters bleeding and dying
on the streets of the nation.
One critical example is the savage murder of Rebekah Sugrim
from Flanagin Town, who was also a student of Tabaquite
Composite School. That funeral was an extremely sad event
where parents wept for their daughter who was bludgeoned
to death. Who will seek to reconstruct this shattered family?
Let us look at the carnage on the roads. One man has lost
his wife because of the driving of an uncontrollable youth.
When reporters asked the man how he planned to spend Christmas,
he stated that Christmas died with his wife.
There appears to be no end in sight to the bloodletting
and killing in the nation. Of course, closely linked to
the devastating array of tragic events is the phenomenon
called “overlapping addictions.” This is the scenario
where several addictions merge to produce a synergistic
impact.
For each of these issues, there may not be a light at the
end of the tunnel, but a carefully organised criminal syndicate
including the guns and the extra-judicial killings. Who
can Jesus count on to make a difference and touch lives?
Then we have the bizarre twist with generations of families
caught in the web of the narcotic, gun, prostitution and
gambling trades. Parents train their children and pass on
the values of greed and brutality to them, and when these
children become parents they engage in a similar process
with their children. Mega Mission was designed to respond
to this terrifying crisis.
In other words, three generations could co-exist and create
an intergenerational alliance, guarding turf as soldiers
and sailors are supposed to guard the nation. This presents
a Mt Everest obstacle that would require a high degree of
faith, fortitude and consistency to dismantle. Who will
accept the challenge?
We have to stop having events and engage in ministry. Look
at our secondary schools and you will hear about gambling,
drug dealing and promiscuity. In some schools there is not
one but two or three casinos. Because of the money generated,
those involved believe it is a waste of time to study diligently
to gain certificates because they have “arrived.”
Our schools have become breeding grounds for all kinds of
crime and violence and the major recruitment agency for
the established gangs in the community.
Of course, one cannot escape the fact that the prisons have
become academies of crime. In fact, some young offenders
are trained by the adult experts and then in true internship
styling, they are sent out to commit heinous acts and then
return to the prison for advanced training. Who will volunteer
to be part of the army of Jesus Christ to break the cycle
of abuse and violence?
But we must not forget that the interns receive orders via
cell phones and are monitored closely by their bosses who
are behind the prison walls. Some people feel that the murder
rate is escalating because of some wild beast and an unstructured
violent master. Hello, there is a method to this madness!
Let us not ignore the collapse of several families that
have provided fertile ground for the rhinocerotic beings
to flourish. Emotional, physical, psychological and sexual
abuse dominate the corners of several homes. Even the most
committed humanist will admit that the family unit is in
a crisis state. Some of the crises are triggered by infidelity.
While we talk about abuse, we dare not deny the splurge
and the scourge of sexually transmitted diseases. Apart
from the global horror of 40 million people being infected
with Aids, we have villages desecrated and millions orphaned
in Sub-Saharan Africa, with prematuring parenting tasks
hurled upon teenagers.
In addition to thousands who are buried daily and the feeble
grandparents having to take care of their grandchildren,
we have to cope with the fact that millions of youth are
being destroyed by this vicious virus.
But Aids is not the only sexually transmitted disease. Compounding
the tragedy is a vast array of other STDs, decorating and
challenging the global landscape, such as syphilis, gonorrhea,
the human papilloma virus and herpes.
While the world focuses on stigma and discrimination, the
condom is being promoted vigorously as the potent solution
to the storm of STDs destroying the lives of our most productive
youth.
It has been well said that hurt people, hurt people. In
this case, the first “hurt” is the adjective describing
people and the second hurt is the verb. We have a huge responsibility
to respond to the plethora of pain and cries that are emerging
from several homes. Mega Mission was designed to form support
groups to respond to the pain of thousands of families.
Prophecy must not be used as an excuse for inaction and
insensitivity. The devil’s agents engage in networking
and have a proficient structure to maximise destructive
strategies. As ambassadors for Jesus Christ, we must be
more diligent, passionate and consistent to advance the
cause of Jesus Christ.
The mission of Christ is clearly defined in Luke 4: 16-18:
“16.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and,
as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day, and stood up for to read.
17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet
Esaisas. And when he had opened the book, he found the place
where it was written.
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to
heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised.”
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