With over six hundred and fifty children, mostly boys, the Trench Town Community was an ideal location for the Feast of Esther Ministries, with the support of Inner-City for Christ Ministries, to host a Kiddies’ Funday and Crusade on Saturday, May 9.
President of the Feast of Esther Jamaica, Pastor Diane Hanson, noted that the event was held in observance of Jamaica’s Child Month and offered entertainment such as bounce houses, face painting, balloon sculpting, games, and a free warm meal. Following the fun day activities, there was a crusade, which had both children and adults in attendance. Also included, were practical stories such as that of Joseph and his brothers, to share the message of love and forgiveness with the youths.
The event provided an opportunity to radiate God’s love and glory under the theme, ‘Glow for Jesus’. Pastor Hanson said the kiddies fun day and crusade was a success as over 280 children, along with adults benefited.
“We recognize some of them are coming from broken homes, from single [family] homes. Some of them are actually not even living with relatives, but just living with a neighbor. Some of them have lost their father by, you know, gunshots, being murdered. Some of them have witnessed some things that they’re not supposed to, some things that they themselves as children should not be exposed to, and so we know that some of them have experienced trauma; but we’re introducing Jesus and we’re saying to them that, you know when you allow Jesus to enter your heart, it will allow you to glow, to remove that sadness, to remove that scar, to allow them to not live in a place of fear, but a place of faith,” said Pastor Hanson.
The Feast of Esther Jamaica president, said the choice to visit Trench Town was not her own, but came from divine revelation. She said that upon visiting the area, she recognized that Trench Town, being one of Jamaica’s largest inner-city communities had a lot of children. Saturday’s event brought several stakeholders together, for the sake of the children.
“In addition, we had members from the Feast of Esther Jamaica chapter. We had persons from the Inner-City for Christ Ministry church here, and we had the parents here as well. So we did not only meet the needs of the children today, but the parents and those adults who came out,” said Pastor Hanson who also highlighted several sponsors who contributed to making the event a success.
She believes that initiatives like this event can aid in bringing out a spiritual revival among the youth and the nation.
“If we’re going to be changing Jamaica, we’re going to have to reach the heart of our children, [and] if we’re going to experience Revival in Jamaica, we have to do so by impacting our children as well,” she said.
