Church in Kingston, Jamaica, takes homework program to Mona High after students stop attending

When students stopped attending the homework sessions held at Mona Church of Christ in Kingston, Jamaica, minister Michael Dunbar decided to take the program to them, according to a report in the Jamaica Observer. Members of the congregation now mentor young people at Mona High School.

Antia Steer, the school’s principal, welcomed the initiative. “We are happy for the church’s involvement because there is definitely a need for it,” she said, as quoted by the Observer.

The Observer reported that Dunbar sees the school-based work as a way to support children’s secular education while building relationships with them. “You are helping them (children) to obtain a secular knowledge, but at the same time, you are hoping that you can reach them,” he said. He added that he hopes students will become familiar with the church so that, if they face problems, they will already know members they can turn to.

The Mona congregation also sponsors several other benevolence programs for at-risk teenagers in Kingston. The church collects funds for members in need, including victims of the Haiti earthquake, a practice that reflects the spirit of sharing with those who lack (Isaiah 58:7).

The Observer also published a brief question-and-answer with Dunbar, who ministers to the church’s 100 members and has preached for 28 years. Asked about his volume, he said he talks loudly because he preaches all the time. He recalled that people often asked him whether he was a preacher, and when he asked how they knew, they told him they could hear it in his voice.

Source: Read the original report