Jamaican compassion at its best
THE EDITOR, Madam:
ON MARCH 21, the Mustard Seed Communities, supported by various government agencies, exemplified true hospitality. It warmly welcomed and committed to caring for 59 Haitian children with various disabilities, alongside their 13 caregivers.
Many Jamaicans often feel a sense of helplessness in the face of the Haitian crisis, torn between the desire to assist and the practical considerations of resource limitations and security concerns. However, the open arms extended to the Haitian children by the Jamaican Government and the Mustard Seed Communities have helped us maintain our humanity as neighbours.
That was an act of Christian hospitality. Those involved in such loving, compassionate actions can be demonstrating Matthew 25:35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
I pray that as those children are cared for at Jacob’s Ladder in Moneague, St Ann, that many well-thinking Jamaicans will offer not just token gifts, but loving service that will add to the quality of life of those and other children being cared for in children’s homes across our country.
As I reflect on the hospitality being extended to the Haitians, I commend other groups and individuals who continue to be present in the lives of orphans or abandoned children. It is important that we continue efforts to make it easier for well-thinking Jamaicans, possessed with a desire and resources to adopt or foster children, to be able to do so with greater ease.
The Christian community, through our words and deeds, need to position itself as seekers of justice and correctors of oppression as we care for abused, neglected and orphaned children, because we have been cared for by Jesus. This is religion with hands and feet, and not just words. I am reminded of the words of the Apostle James in Chapter 1 of his general letter to Christians: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Valuing each person’ s humanity and dignity and striving to preserve them is the essence of loving service. True Christian hospitality propels us from mere committee discussions to meaningful community engagement.
The Mustard Seed Communities exemplifies what it means to be God’s loving hands extended to the oppressed and marginalised. Its act of radical hospitality serves as inspiration and a call to introspection for the State and the Church.
ROY NOTICE Administrative Bishop New Testament Church of God