Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
Counsellor Dave Williams of the Victims Support Unit of the Ministry of National Security addresses Geon construction workers and management personnel concerning the management of grief. - Reuters
Contributed
ABOUT THREE months ago, it was shaping up to be a normal working day at the Geon construction site on Old Hope Road. Then at about noon, a man armed with a gun walked on to the site and fatally shot a worker. Fear gripped the site. Work is closed for the day. The workers are traumatised. Reynold Scott has a new challenge to deal with.
Mr. Scott, the chairman of the Geon Group of Companies, was in his vehicle when his cellular phone rang alerting him to the shooting. It was the first time in his nearly 30 years in the construction business that he had to deal with the shooting of a worker on a site.
Not many days later, Mr. Scott summoned some Christian construction professionals who were associated with Geon. They brainstormed to come up with an appropriate response. That was when the Geon Site Ministry idea was born.
The Geon Site Ministry is an attempt to share the Christian Gospel and to equip construction workers with knowledge to enhance personal development. Mr. Scott along with Horace Wright, Geon's cost manager, acknowledged that their construction workers were often out of the loop and so were not able to take advantage of information from officialdom that could enhance their personal development.
The Old Hope Road project in St. Andrew was the location for the launch of the first Geon Site Ministry outreach. This took place within days of the shooting. The success of the first meeting has prompted Mr. Scott to take this ministry to all the project sites of Geon.
CATERING TO WORKERS' NEEDS
The Gleaner was present for the second such ministry. It was held on September 29, at Earl's Court, St. Andrew, where Geon is developing 25 townhouses. Mr. Scott explained that site ministry is an attempt to cater to the psychological, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of the workers. He told The Gleaner that a number of workers on the Earl's Court site were on the Old Hope Road location when the fatal shooting took place. Many of these workers, he said, have not been sufficiently exposed to an appropriate level of professional care, hence the urgency of a site ministry.
On this bright day last month, Mr. Scott welcomed the almost 200 workers present and then he introduced them to a team from the Victims Support Unit of the Ministry of National Security which gave a Powerpoint presentation on grief management.
The workers, standing around or seated on unfinished buildings, listened keenly. The main presenter, Dave Williams, a trained counsellor, asked them if they had ever experienced grief. The workers shouted responses like: "Yes, when my father died", "When my girlfriend left me", and then the place erupted into raucous laughter when one man said, "Yes, whenever time I see my pay." Even the Geon chairman laughed.
Mr. Williams in the course of his presentation urged the workers to accept grief as a part of life and to be willing seek professional help if necessary to deal with that kind of trauma. He made it clear that the Victims Support Unit was willing to offer that and other kinds of psychological assistance.
There was a distinct appreciation evident on their faces and demonstrated in the applause they gave the presenters.
Then came the testimony of 'Carson' (not his real name). Carson was among those present at the first site ministry of Geon and that event sowed the seeds of his transformation. Without giving away too many details, Carson, 24, a former subcontractor with the Geon Group spoke of his gun-toting days. He made it clear he had given up that lifestyle because God had touched his soul and now he was striving to be a better man. The Gleaner learned that Carson had become a born-again Christian and is being discipled by members of a Spanish Town-based church.
STAR ATTRACTION
Then came the star attraction popular gospel artiste, Howard Reynolds, better known as deejay Mr. Goddy Goddy.
He started out telling the workers that he at one point worked as an electrician in the construction business. He spoke of his 'wild' ways before he started following Christ. At times, his novelty combined with his honesty evoked uncontrollable laughter from the audience. Now that he is married, he told the gathering, he had become 'a one burner man'. This is better, he said, than having many burners, for, with a one burner, the gas lasts longer.
He dug into his repertoire and sang hit after hit. He had the crowd in his hands and he moulded them as he would putty. He even found time to allow a female worker to sing a gospel song, then she sang the refrain in one of his songs. This transported the crowd into a higher upbeat zone.
His closing act was to deliver a sermonette where he encouraged the workers to change their lives and invite Christ into their hearts. About 80 persons went forward during the altar call. Minister Goddy Goddy led them in saying the 'sinners prayer'. Then 18 indicated their willingness to be counselled by a team put together by Messrs. Wright and Scott.
As refreshments were served at the close, many workers approached the Geon chairman to thank him for fortifying their spirits with the site ministry. Every worker The Gleaner spoke with said he/she enjoyed the afternoon's activities and wanted this ministry to be on the site with regularity. Some wanted it there at least weekly. Mr. Scott for his part said he was listening to the responses and would be taking their suggestion under consideration. It was evident, to those who would see, that the Geon Site Ministry served to address a hunger in the lives of these construction workers.
Meantime, Mr. Scott is hoping that this Geon precedent will inspire other construction companies to institute something of the kind to minister to the psychological, emotional and spiritual needs of construction workers.
Send feedback to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com
