Strengthening Communities Main Focus of NLPB

The 43rd staging of the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast (NLPB) will be held on Thursday (January 19) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston, under the theme ‘Strengthening Communities through Peace, Justice and Forgiveness’.

Speaking at the Annual National Leadership Prayer Service, held at the Kingston Open Bible Church on Sunday (January 15), Chairman of the NLPB Committee, Rev. Sam McCook, said the theme is a very timely focus, noting that Jamaicans need to engender a spirt that disposes us to forgive.

“We need to extend grace to each other, and that is the focus of this year’s prayer breakfast – that we build our communities… strengthen our communities [and] that we work together to protect each other,” Rev. McCook said.

For his part, President and Chief Executive Officer of VM Group, Courtney Campbell, said this will be the 38th year of the bank’s partnership with the national leadership prayer breakfast.

“We in VM have been diligently investing time, energy and capital in promoting financial well-being of our people… but we are committed to investing in more than financial well-being. We wish to be among those who invest in building up the soul of this nation,” Mr. Campbell noted.

“The call to prayer among our leaders and for our leaders is important because if we are going to transform Jamaica into a stronger, healthier, more prosperous nation, we have to be united around some central, eternal values,” he added.

Mr. Campbell stated that this year’s theme embodies some of the values that “we need to adopt beyond the week of the breakfast”.

He noted that the beneficiary of this year’s NLBP will be the Students Christian Fellowship and Scripture Union, an organisation that has sustained a very effective ministry to secondary and tertiary students over many decades.

“This movement prepares strong leaders for our country, so this support will be a high-yielding investment,” Mr. Campbell said.

During the service, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang and Opposition Spokesperson on National Security, Senator Peter Bunting, read lessons from the Bible.

The annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast, which had its genesis in 1981, facilitates fellowship among the nation’s leaders and an opportunity to model a united Jamaica.