Cecelia Campbell Livingston
Children from across Jamaica are expected to gather at the Emancipation Park for a rally on May 28 to reflect upon the National Anthem and to commit to honouring God as the country commemorates Child’s Month.
The event is being hosted by Hands Across Jamaica for Righteous in association with Sunday School in the Park and like-minded Christian institutions. The national children’s rally, which will mark the 70th anniversary of Child’s month, will be held between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. for children under the age of 18.
Chairman of Hands Across Jamaica for Righteousness, Lt. Col. (ret’d) Oral Khan, sharing insight on the event, said every Jamaican sings the anthem ‘Eternal Father’ but ponders how many actually pause to think on who ‘He’ is.
“The event is important for the children of Jamaica to know that “Eternal Father” is the God of Jamaica [and] He is the One we pray to through Jesus, His Son.”
Lt. Khan said that in the 70th child’s month, they would want the children to declare to the world that the Eternal Father is the God of Jamaica” and to affirm their covenant with Him to the next generation.
Expounding on the reason for Sunday School in the Park, Lt. Khan said it is a collaborative effort between the Webster Memorial United Church (WMUC), Jamaica Child Evangelism Fellowship, and Metro World Child International. The idea for it came towards the end of the COVID-19 lockdown, when only ten people were allowed to congregate publicly.
During the pandemic, the evangelistic arm of WMUC, at the request of the people of a community in Cross Roads, taught Sunday School every Thursday to the children there. He said they were directed by God to make the teaching available to all communities, with a directive pointing to Emancipation Park in the 60th year of LJamaica’s independence.
“We have been there every Sunday, rain or shine, teaching God’s word with its principles of the Father’s love, forgiveness, kindness, and salvation. They play games, win prizes, and a meal is provided for the attendees every week,” Lt. Khan revealed.
With children having a lot of distractions in today’s society, Lt. Khan said the pandemic has made it worse, with parents in this generation not seeing Sunday or Sabbath school as a priority. It is this reality that has proven to be the catalyst for renewing our nation’s covenant with the Eternal Father and the children.
Sharing how parents can partner to ensure the event is a success, Lt. Khan said it is important that they bring out their children and their neighbours, as well as their friends children, and also assist in the supervision of these children at the location.
“It is important that parents and guardians understand that this is a monumental event of national importance where our children will fully understand the meaning of our motto, anthem and pledge.
With the event now a few weeks away, Lt. Khan said they are already sensitising the churches and communities to the event via letters, social media posts, and church visits.
Coming out of the event, Lt. Khan said he is hoping the following objectives will be accomplished:
- The persons in attendance online or face-to-face will understand that the anthem and the pledge are covenants between the God of the Holy Bible, the Eternal Father, and Jamaica.
- When we pray as a nation, it is to this God that we pray.
- Going forward, we will say our National Pledge and sing our National Anthem with the understanding of the God to whom we sing (Eternal Father).
- That we need no other guard but the guard of Eternal Father
- That we teach the children the importance of praise and worship.
- That they would develop an understanding of Eternal Father so that they would know how to, in turn, cry out to Him in times of need and acknowledge Him in times of plenty.
