Asiel's Musings

Hab. 3: 17-19 How did we make it through 2009? How will we make it in 2010? Will we survive in 2010? How are we going to manage with all the new taxes? Will I lose my job? Will I ever be able to find a job? How will my children go to school? Why is there so much evil in the world? Why do the wicked seem to be winning? Why is there so much poverty in Jamaica? The picture that we see as we end 2009 and enter 2010 is a picture of a dying Jamaica, a dying community, dying families, dying young men, hopeless mothers, aimless fathers, depressed wives, frustrated husbands, tired workers. It is a picture that breaks the heart of God, a picture that breaks my heart. Here we stand with an urgent cry, “How long O LORD must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you , violence! But you do not save? Our LORD, how long must I beg for your help before you listen? How long before you save us from all this violence? Why do you make me watch such terrible injustice...

THE CRISIS: At the end of 2008 69% of the total population was under 40 years old. 37% was under 20, and the largest percentage of the population, 10% are between the ages of 10 -14, followed very closely by 9% being 15 – 19 years old. Some of you here today fit into these age brackets, while the others of us here are just above. What happens to our churches if we do not have at least a similar proportion of youths in them? What future is there for our churches if these are the adults of tomorrow and they are not reached won for the Kingdom? Where do you fit into God’s Kingdom agenda for Jamaica? Where is your MYF heading if the hottest debate before and after your meetings is who she Gaza and who seh Gully? I firmly believe and submit to us today that at their stage of development one of the leading influencers in the life of youths is the peer group. You at Christianna High, and Russea’s High, and DeCateret, and KC and JC, you are in a uniquely qualified position to ...