Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke greets Andre Gordon (left), and John Edmondson, (right), who are perched on a wall in Meyer Street, Jones Town, minutes before the dedication ceremony of Grace and Mercy Missionary Outreach Ministries building, yesterday. The Canadian-based outreach ministry is led by Reverend Guy Hibbert, who grew up in the community of Jones Town. CAN ANYTHING good come out of Jones Town?
Well, if the accomplishments of noted Baptist deacon M.E.W. Sawyers, deejay U Roy, or NBA basketball star Patrick Ewing, who all hailed from Jones Town, are anything to go by, then the answer is an emphatic "Yes!".
Jones Town yesterday saw the dedication of the Grace and Mercy Missionary Outreach Ministry building. Constructed at a cost of $1 million, the building will house a skills training centre, a feeding programme, a clothing and food outreach programme, and a bakery.
"We are now in the process of hiring staff for the bakery, as we have already bought most of the necessary equipment," Reverend Guy Hibbert, president of the Canadian-based Grace and Mercy Missionary Outreach Ministries, said.
He explained the reasons behind his philanthropic effort in this inner-city community.
"I was on one of my visits to Jones Town, Kingston in August of 1992. Two boys, between the ages of 7 and 9, were on the corner of the street arguing, one of them said to the other, 'yu se me, me is a murderer. Mi will kill you'. All the adults who were around began laughing. I laughed as well, but when I got to Canada, God began to deal with me about it," Reverend Hibbert said.
"It was then that I got the vision to return here to Jones Town where I grew up to start this mission and it has finally come true," he added.
The mission, which was started in 1992, was registered as a charitable organisation in Canada in 1995.
He, however, strongly criticised the attitudes and selfishness of the Jones Town residents who stole six columns of steel off the church building and later stole a barrel with kids' toys for the children of Jones Town, so they could sell them.
"The community has responded well, they are appreciative of stuff we give them but they are not helpful in a voluntary way, everything you have to pay them," he said.
But Reverend Hibbert, who grew up in Jones Town before leaving for Canada in 1967, spoke of hope yet.
"What is needed is a change in the hearts of the people in this community. I pray that God can take away the stony hearts and give them ones of flesh, hearts that bleed with compassion, love and justice," he said.
Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke, who had earlier cut the ribbon to officially open the building, dubbed the mission a "holistic expression of God's purpose".
"As I came here to Jones Town this morning, I said to my aide de camp, 'Oh what a waste!', all these young men and women...idle. But if this holistic expression can help get them off the streets to fashion lives, then it must be the will of God, let us say 'hallelujah'," His Excellency said.
"Hallelujah", the audience responded.
He then went on: "I am not a preacher. I am a teacher, but I know that I've reached the point in my life to listen. And who am I listening to? God. I am listening to God for guidance and direction, I urge you to do the same."
