Describing the arson and gun attack on residents of Walkers Avenue in Gregory Park as barbaric and evil, pastor of the Gregory Park New Testament Church of God, Reverend Easton Thompson, said his church intends to visit the community soon to distribute care packages.
Reverend Thompson, who is currently overseas, said the church, which is located in Cedar Grove, had refrained from visiting Walkers Avenue since it was under curfew following the incident. At least 45 people have been left homeless following the brazen attack.
“A friend of mine said he wants to put together some packages and to help those persons,” said Rev. Thompson, who said he intends to galvanise his mission team next week to go into the community.
The pastor said the area is one of several that his church visits every week to distribute care packages and to evangelise.
“The plan is to go down there and to see what we can do,” he told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
First elder and assistant pastor at the Gregory Park Seventh Day Adventist church, Tavan Davis, said some of the members of the church are from the community.
“Our missionary activities spread throughout those areas, primarily where it is located, and by extension, we spread out into the adjacent communities,” he said.
“We preach the gospel, have street meetings, prayer walks, visitation, and track distribution, and there are times very often when we have community impact where we distribute care items and also food items and clothes,” he explained.
Reverend Thompson noted that the government and the police alone cannot solve the crime situation in Jamaica and urged everyone to play a part in making the country a safer place to live.
“Government cannot be in every house and in every home in Jamaica. People have a responsibility to control their actions and also to understand they need Jesus Christ,” he said.
“People need to understand they have a part to play in what is taking place in Jamaica,” he added.
The pastor was very vocal in his criticism of the church umbrella groups, which he feels should do more to bring the churches together to address national issues. In the wake of the recent firebombing of houses and gun attack in Gregory Park, he was hoping for a general statement condemning the incident and a walkthrough from the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches.
“We are the conscience of God. We are the voice of God that speaks,” he said of the churches.