Jamaicans Urged to Unite for Nation Building

‘Building Love’ was the theme of the annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast (NLPB) held this morning (Jan. 20) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, with state and church leaders calling on Jamaicans to come together in unity and peace for the betterment of the country.
Dr. Las G. Newman, chairman of the NLPB committee, set the tone of the function by urging Jamaicans to give peace a chance and help to eliminate the scourge of violence that pervades the society.
He described 2005 as a year of changes, citing the appointment of a new Commissioner of Police, the retirement of Edward Seaga as Opposition Leader and he took the opportunity to announce his intended retirement as chairman of the NLPB. “This will be my last year as chairman of this committee. It has been a great opportunity to serve the last three of which I was chairman. It is time for new leadership,” he announced.
Governor General, His Excellency Sir Howard Cooke, in his address echoed the need for more love and peace to effect positive changes in Jamaica. “I believe we’ll see a change in Jamaica. We should pray not only for our family but also for those who have done us wrong,” he beseeched. “When people irritate us, we just respond ‘one love’. We must reach out to the healing of the nation,” he added.
Main speaker of the function, Pastor Rennard White of the Tower Hill Missionary Church in St. Andrew, emphasised the need for more love and kindness among Jamaicans and charged that the war against crime and violence had not been lost. “We may have lost the battle but we have not lost the war,” he stated.
He called for neighbourly love among Jamaicans and for Jamaicans to give love, as they would want to be loved. “Our sense of community is critical to nation building,” Pastor White charged.
Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson and Mr. Seaga were among several leaders of society and business, who took part in the event. The Prime Minister read the first lesson at the function, while Mr. Seaga read the second lesson.
The purpose of the NLPB is to foster unity in the nation, particularly among the nation’s leaders at all levels. The first NLPB was held in January 1981 and is held annually on the third Thursday of January .The night shelter for homeless persons in the corporate area is the committee’s major project for 2005.