Church Leaders called upon to Sponsor a Child

Church leaders and their congregations have been called upon “to sponsor a child”, in an effort to tackle the problem of crime and violence.
The call came from the President of the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pastor Adrian Cotterell, at the Workers’ Week and Labour Day 2010 Thanksgiving Service on Sunday (May 16) at Seaview Chapel in Harbour View.
“I challenge every pastor, whether as an individual or a cluster of congregations that has not yet started, to sponsor a child and let us save them before they are 14, and stop them before they are 20,” he appealed.
Pastor Cotterell noted Jamaica’s high number of churches per capita, and insisted that this would be a significant way of transforming the nation.
He pointed out that criminal statistics have revealed that both the perpetrators and victims of crime are disproportionately youth, aged 14 to 25, and suggested that a campaign was needed to stop the crime and violence.
Focusing his sermon on the Labour Day theme, “Our Children.Show Them We Care,” he said that the spiritual nurturing of children is the responsibility of both the home and the church. However, he said that when the home fails, the church has a responsibility to provide spiritual nurturing.
Pastor Cotterell stated that it was a known fact that the majority of persons make life changing decisions in their teen years, and called on parents, pastors, teachers, churches and leaders to redouble their efforts to save more children.