THE MANNING SCHOOL TO BENEFIT FROM PROCEEDS OF NATIONAL LEADERSHIP PRAYER BREAKFAST

The Manning School, in Westmoreland, is set to benefit from the proceeds of the 46th Annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast that will be held at the Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Andrew, on January 15, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

A wellness centre at the school, which was destroyed during the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28, will be repaired with funds raised at the breakfast and help from the institution’s past students’ association.

The event will be held under the patronage of Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen.

Secretary of the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast Committee, Reverend Dr. Wayneford McFarlane, said it is their mandate to highlight to the leaders of the nation the need for unity and to promote those interrelationships that work for “harmonious collaboration in how we manage the affairs of the nation and, as well, how we relate one with the other”.

He was speaking at a press briefing, held today (January 7), at the VM Group, on Half-Way Tree Road in St. Andrew.

“We really celebrate a long history of togetherness in that regard. We have always been sensitive to the situation of the country and so in keeping with the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the Committee opted to take another look at the breakfast preparations, and so from a physical location and also in terms of the management of the affairs of the breakfast, we have opted to change the venue to the Boulevard Baptist Church,” Rev. McFarlane said.

The theme for the breakfast is ‘Caring for Our Neighbours’, and along with church leaders, it will have the presence of the Governor General; Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness; Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding; Cabinet Members, Parliamentarians, Custodes, the Judiciary, State officials, and the general public.

In solidarity with persons in the Western part of the island who have been affected by the hurricane, the Committee has decided to host the Week of Prayer that they normally have in the West, and a service will be held on Sunday, January 11, at 8:00 a.m. at the First Church of the Open Bible in Montego Bay, St. James.

“Each year, the Committee selects a Government Ministry which the nation is called to pray for during the National Leadership Prayer Service. And so, in light of the work required to build homes and livelihoods and renew hope for a brighter future, the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development will be the focus in the service,” Rev. McFarlane said.

For his part, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Victoria Mutual Group, Courtney Campbell, said the Group has always enjoyed working with the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast Committee, and it will collaborate with The Manning School’s Past Students’ Association, “so that we can support the students there”.