Joel Edwards: A friend of Jamaica
THE EDITOR, Madam:
ON JUNE 30, 70 yearold Jamaica-born Joel Edwards died from cancer. Joel was the first black man to head the powerful United Kingdom Evangelical Alliance Conference. He used that office to foster a better relationship between Jamaica with the Jamaican diaspora in Britain.
In 2003, his Alliance hosted a Jamaica forum at the Jamaica High Commission office in England and invited Jamaicans Bishop Herro Blair; Rev Renard White, then president of the Jamaica Association of Evangelicals; the late Pastor Bobby Wilmot, and I to make presentations on ‘Jamaica: Challenges and Opportunities’. On that trip, he also arranged a meeting with Diane Abbott, a member of the House of Commons, and also with the head of the UK Home Office who was responsible for instituting the visa requirements for Jamaicans to visit England. Joel was agitating for betterment for Jamaicans.
Joel was also the inspiration behind the forgiveness campaign in Jamaica, which was a response to revenge killings and the need for better family relationships. That campaign culminated in a National Church Service in August 2004, where both major political parties signed an agreement which repented of past actions and pledged to commit to forgiveness.
Joel used his 15 years as a freelance broadcaster with the BBC and 10 years leadership in Micah Challenge International – a global faith-based response to extreme poverty – to advance the welfare of the whole human race.
Joel, a Pentecostal pastor, was made honorary canon at St Paul’s Cathedral. In 2003, he was awarded the Jamaican Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Services to Jamaica. In 2019, He was also awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Honours List. Joel was held in high esteem by many.
Condolences to his wife Carol. Jamaica has lost a friend in the UK.
DEVON DICK