bbc e-voice magazine january 2015

BBC E-VOICE Issue 28

Council Retreat 2015:

Ministry in a global context

Moving Forward in Faith

National Prayer Breakfast

Interview Feature: Sophia Williams

Haiti, five years after...

Kingston Keswick: Challenging times!

Two biggest retirement myths

Risky health tests

Talking compost with Val Seymour

BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 2


At the recently held Council retreat in January, all

new and returning members of Council were

enlightened by the thought-provoking presentation

by Rev. Marvia Lawes. She described the context of

our mission in 2015 and beyond, highlighting six

generations to whom we would need to minister:

• Before 1946: The greatest generation

• 1946-1964: Baby Boomers

• 1965-1984: Generation X

• 1985- 1997: Generation Y

• 1998/2000 - 2000/2004: No name yet

• 1980s-2000s : The Millennials

According to Rev. Lawes, we are living in an era often

described as post-modern era or the age of secularism

or the technological era which is dominated by two

major developments: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and

Big Data.

She pointed to the many challenges and concerns

about the pace of innovation globally, highlighting

the slow pace of legislation including privacy laws

and policies necessary for sustained development. She

further noted that technology also presented a moral

dilemma because it could be assistive yet disruptive

and invasive.

Jamaica, she said, was faced with a slew of socio-

economic challenges including debt, corruption, high

energy costs, crime and violence, no cohesive set of

values and attitudes to counter indiscipline, low-

productivity and environmental vulnerabilities.

Reverend Lawes stated that the Church must now

respond to this context by stepping up its outreach

programmes to become involved in national affairs or

social action and forge stronger ecumenical relations

in order to remain relevant. However she noted that

ecumenical relations needed further definition.

In addition, she said the Church needed to offer a

clear definition of what it called Christian Marriage,

especially in the face of a breakdown of family life

and failing marriages.

The church, she argued, should also be concerned

about the aging population and declining birthrate

and ought to make a concerted effort to win back men

who had left the church for more than 30 years.

An entire population, she concluded, was at risk and

in a serious crisis. However we must begin to address

the issues from the right side not the reactionary side.

We must begin with identity, then you will know who

we are to become in Christ. Only then can we teach

that person to connect with others and to love others.

Of Jamaica’s 1.9 million persons eligible for marriage

1.3Million –Never Married

461,240 – Married

74,390 – Widowed(18,452Male,55,928 Female)

18,098 – Legally Separated

37,379 – Divorced and 22,564 –Not reported( 12,092

Male,10562 Female)

Mission and Ministry in a

global context Marvia Lawes


Presented by: Dorrett R. Campbell

The children of Israel were at a rather dismal

place in their history. They were unwitting

guests of the Babylonian empire and as

recorded by the Psalmist in Psalm 137, they

were lamenting their situation, missing their

homeland and perhaps having regrets about

the pattern of disobedient behaviour that had

caused them to become captives in Babylon.

Perhaps too in their moments of remorse they

recalled some of their glory days as a nation:

their conquest of other nations, their walk

through the red sea and the demise of

Pharaoh’s army.

But on this particular day, the prophet Isaiah had a word from God for them: Forget the

former things – be they positive or negative -

Do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a

new thing! Now it springs up. Can you not

see the vision? I am doing the impossible:

creating suppen out of nothing at all - I am

making a way in the desert and streams in

the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18-19).

I’d like to draw on these two verses to make

three “half pints.”

DO NOT ALLOW YOUR PAST FAILURES TO

POSSESS OR CRIPPLE YOU

We may not have achieved all we set out to

achieve in the ministries we led last year or

even in our professional and personal lives. We

might have made some mistakes, errors of

judgment, even incur some losses; but

lamenting on them and obsessing about them -

I could have… should have… If only… - isn’t

going to change the reality of the past. We can

however allow those past failures to be

instructive. Yes! Pause to reflect on them;

dissect the whys and the hows; learn from them

and use those lessons to create something new

and better.

DO NOT DEPEND UPON PAST SUCCESSES

TO SUSTAIN YOU

Do not rest upon your laurels. We might have

inched further in numerical and spiritual

growth; our tithes and offering might have

increased; we fed the five thousand with very

little resources through our outreach initiatives;

a prophet brought a direct word from God to

you and you preached like Peter in Mandela

Park.

BUT those were the successes of last year.

…in faith


We are as good as our next achievement. We

cannot be satisfied with past achievements.

Instead, we must improve on our best

performances. Use them as springboards for

more creative work. The bar of excellence has

to be raised for every time we pole vault a

milestone.

God through the prophet invites us, this

morning, to RISE up to our fullest potential in

Him. He has called us into 2015 to do mightier

and more creative things. He is extending an invitation to share his vision: See I am doing a

new thing. Do you not see it?

My sisters and brothers: We can't stay where

we are now and we cannot go back to where we

were. We have got to keep on moving forward.

It is only in moving forward that we accomplish

what God has called us to do.

THEREFORE MOVE FORWARD IN FAITH.

Move forward with a vision of the plans God has in store for you. (Verse 19) See I am doing a

new thing. It sprouts up NOW. Can you not

see it by faith?

God is challenging you … to adopt a new way

of looking at old things; adopt a different

approach to the same old problem; change the

dye in order to get a different outcome; change your mindset; quit looking behind and focus on

what lies ahead.

Unfortunately, for some it is the 'new' and the

new way of doing things which often make us

uncomfortable. We are not sure how to handle

the things which we do not see and have not

done before. But for us to remain a learning

organisation always innovating and re-

inventing ourselves to remain relevant, we

have to walk new walks; talk new talks; venture

into the uncertain and tackle the unknown.

God is stretching us; telling us to come up

higher and from that vantage point we have a

more lucid vision of what we can accomplish

through him and under him.

Therefore do not allow past mistakes to cripple

you; do not depend on past successes to sustain

you; go forward under God with a RENEWED

vision.


Pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Montego

B ay, Reverend Everton Jackson has appealed to

Jamaicans to adopt a God-centred, communal

approach to governance and problem solving in

order to rebuild Jamaica.

Reverend Jackson who was the keynote speaker at

the recent 35th National Prayer Breakfast, told his

audience of political, church and civic leaders that a

communal approach to rebuilding the walls of

Jamaica would only work if it were underpinned by

“insightful, visionary, creative and innovative

leadership with strong moral authority.”

He called for Jamaica to return to God, noting that

sustained development must be God-centred and

therefore required a return and reconnection to the

Divine.

Treating with the theme, Return, reconnect,

rebuild with God, the Calvary Baptist Pastor used

the story of Nehemiah to urge Jamaicans to play

their part in the overall development of their

country, stressing that it was a collective as well as

an individual responsibility to rebuild the

economic, moral, social and spiritual walls of

Jamaica.

“We need to get our best minds at the table for

constructive conversation, visioning and

conceptualizing. There is no place for destroyers or

jeering spectators in this rebuilding programme,”

he cautioned.

It was the spirit of community, he emphasized, that

was absolutely necessary for child rearing; for

crime fighting to stem the galloping murder rate

and for the protection of little girls and boys from

the “onslaught of unscrupulous predators.

He lamented that it was the crude and questionable

actions of Jamaicans that gave the country a poor

profile in the regional and international community.

“Do you not feel ashamed knowing that Jamaica is

known as one of the most corrupt countries in the

world? Do you not feel ashamed knowing that

Jamaica is considered as having one of the highest

murder rates in the world? Do you not feel ashamed

when you travel and are sometimes treated by

immigration officers with suspicion as if you were a

criminal? Do you not feel ashamed knowing that

Jamaica is featured so prominently in lotto

scamming and drug use?

Well I do, and it is for this reason why the call is for

all of us to work together to remove the shame and

disgrace from Jamaica – land we love,” the Baptist

Pastor bewailed.

Reverend Jackson declared that in the rebuilding

process “there can be no room for naysaying or

crude and brutish behaviour.”

“It is full time for us to live out our motto – out of

many one people. Arrogance must give way to

tolerance; disrespect to respect; competition to

complementarity and crudity to civility,” he

averred.

The Baptist pastor pointed to technology as one of

the key contributors to decaying morals and values

and the “get rich quick mentality” among

Jamaicans, asserting that collectively, Jamaicans

need to work … not gamble their way out of

problems.

“Let us not be discouraged or daunted... In all of

this, let us not forget the central place of the Divine.

We cannot do it alone; we need God,” the Reverend

Everton Jackson concluded.


Do we not feel ashamed?


Do we not feel ashamed?


Scenes from Haiti in 2010

Haitians searching for relatives Just minutes after the earthquake in 2010 persons

searched frantically for family members.

Churches destroyed A man seen clearing the rubble from what used to

be a church in Haiti.

Fast Facts

68%The percentage of persons estimated to be

homeless after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

That is 1.5 Million people became

homeless.(source:

http://www.dec.org.uk/haiti-earthquake-facts-

and-figures)

42%The percentage of persons estimated to

be homeless five (5) years after the

earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

January 12, 2015 may not have been just memories of an earthquake five years ago for many Haitians, but the marked evidence of the devastation from a magnitude 7.0 quake still remains, as the rebuilding process is yet to make the kind of progress that most Haitians would desire.

Johmen Tireus, a student pastor

attending the United Theological

College of the West Indies here in

Jamaica is one Haitian who hoped

that things had progressed further

than they are now five years later.

Johmen, who is a resident of Port-

au-Prince, was visiting his family in

the second city of Cap-Haitien (five

hours drive away from Port-au-

Prince) at the time of the

earthquake. When asked what his

reaction was when he received the

news, Johmen said: “It was surprising

and stressful for me.” He explained

that he lost relatives and everything.

Johmen stated that some persons

had rebuilt on their own while some

rebuilt through assistance from the

government. Despite the

government’s intervention, he

explained that there were others

who were still struggling.

Johmen said that the NGO’s and

other similar organizations had also

helped by coming in and managing

their own funds and contributions to

the Haitian people. The government,

he explained, did not handle any of

those funds or contributions.

Johmen explained that most

buildings have been reconstructed.

The Catholic Church was the first to

rebuild. He added that most of the

state buildings, including the

Presidential Palace had not been

reconstructed.

Approximately three million people

were affected by the earthquake,

which devastated the capital.

Johmen said that based on what he

had observed he would present a

balanced figure (fifty-fifty) in terms

of the individuals who were able to

rebuild and move on with their lives

to those who had not yet managed

to do something for themselves.

Haiti five years after the earthquake By Johmen Tireus

People still living in tents 5 years

later (picture courtesy of npr.org)


Sophia Williams shares her

experience of working with the

BBC E-voice magazine, which she

has been involved with since its

inception. Sophia is the past chair

of the Communications and Media

Committee and editor-in-chief for

the BBC E-voice magazine. She

shares how it has been for her,

managing this publication over

the past three years.

BBC E-voice: Tell us when and

why the BBC E-voice magazine

started?

Sophia: The first official

publication came out in

December 2012 after much

anticipation. Our pastor,

conceptualized it in association

with Chris Williams of Proven

Investment, who sponsored the

magazine up to September 2014.

BBC E-voice: How different is

the E-magazine from the

newsletter which existed prior to

the e-magazine?

Sophia: The newsletters were

circulated in printed form and

produced on a quarterly basis,

while the e-magazine is

published online. The newsletter

carried articles that were mostly

geared toward church events

and activities of the various

ministries and auxiliaries. The E-

magazine includes some of that

in addition to articles covering

different areas such as finance,

health, the environment, law,

interviews, etc.

BBC E-voice: How did the name

‘E-voice’ came about?

Sophia: It was Pastor’s idea that

we ‘jazz-up’ the name of the

magazine, instead of just plainly

calling it BBC E-magazine.

Subsequently we had a

competition for persons to

submit a name for the

publication, and from there the

name ‘E-voice’ was chosen.

BBC E-voice: To publish a

magazine on a monthly basis

how challenging was it for you?

Sophia: It was an awesome task.

Each month I had to consider

twelve articles for the

publication, and the thought that

as soon as one month is

completed then another one is

coming was no easy challenge.

BBC E-voice: What have you

gained over the three years,

working on this publication?

Sophia: I have experienced

tremendous growth spiritually

through my struggles and

challenges, having to rely on

God in every step of the way.

The fact is, prior to assuming this

role I had no training or

experience in this area, so it was

a total reliance on God. I am also

learning to surrender my

decisions to God. For example,

there were times that I reached

that stage where I wondered if it

was time for me to give up this

ministry, but I have learned not

to act based on how I feel about

a situation. It is to find out what is

God’s Will for me and for of a

situation existing at a particular

time. In a nutshell, it has brought

me into a closer relationship with

God.

BBC E-voice: What does the

future holds regarding your

involvement in ministry?

Sophia: My other interest is the

environment; nevertheless my

future in ministry is in God’s

hands. He already knows what

plans He has for me. With that said

I am working with Him in ensuring

that this plan is realized.

BBC E-voice: Sophia, thank you

so much for sharing. We wish you

God’s richest blessings and all the

very best in your future

endeavours.

Interview Feature: Sophia Williams CMC


Stand firm therefore…

CHALLENGING TIMES, was

the theme for the Kingston

Keswick 2015. During this one

week annual ecumenical event

held from January 18-25 at the

Boulevard Baptist Church,

Reverend Dr. Roy Notice, Pastor

of Waltham Park New Testament

Church of God used what many

may view as the most uneasy

Book of the Bible – the Book of

Revelation to address the theme.

Reverend Notice affirmed the

position that when the church

faced crisis and challenges we

first go back to God. He asserted

that if we are to stand firm we

must have rugged endurance.

With our focus on the week’s final

sub-theme: Revelation Blessings

for End Time Challenges, Rev.

Notice assured us that time was

wrapped up in God;

therefore living in

challenging times we live

between times. While we wait we

are called to worship and do his

work, and as this happens we are

blessed beyond measure.

Blessings, he posited, were not

afraid of challenges because it did

not come from earthly source,

but from God. “They are both

promises and demands,” he

stated, adding that blessings

were jewels of challenges and

responsibilities wrapped up in

encouragement. Rev. Notice

declared that to be blessed we

must obey the Word of God. He

noted that there were blessings in

hearing and keeping God’s Word,

imploring us to value and cherish

God’s word with sincerity and

seriousness to face the

challenges.

To enjoy Revelation blessings, he

asserted, we must overcome the

fear of death - Never be afraid to

expose ourselves in the name of

Jesus. “If you suffer with me you

reign with me” - referencing 2

Timothy 2:12. We can access this

blessing, Rev. Notice stated, by

ensuring that we were alert and

watchful. Referring to the

marriage feast in Revelation 19:6-

9, the church, he noted has to

hold on to the garment of

righteousness, as we cannot

afford to sell out or compromise -

Be righteous all the time!

Reverend Notice concluded

that “Revelation blessings

were there for those who will

endure to the end.”


“Retirement is like a long vacation in

Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it to

the fullest, but not so fully that you run

out of money” ~Jonathan Clements.

The main risk when one reaches old

age is poverty or income insecurity

owing to the loss of one’s ability to

earn income, whether partially or

completely. If you are still

unconvinced, consider this, if you

retired in 2000, 15 years ago, inflation

would have reduced every $100 of

your pension to less than $1 in

purchasing power.

There are three key components to a

retirement plan and a successful

retirement: know how much to save,

save diligently and review your plan

often. Over the years, many myths

have developed about retirement

planning and here are two of the

biggest retirement myths:

“I am fine; I have a company pension

plan.”

There are many considerations when it

comes to company pension plans, not

the least of which, is that less than 10

per cent of the employed labour force

in Jamaica have a company-sponsored

pension plan or approved retirement

scheme as part of their retirement

compensation.

In addition, we also have to

consider that there are many

different kinds of plans: the

two most common being

defined benefit plans and

defined contribution plans, both of

which pay pensions that are taxable.

Since the pension that you will receive

from each plan is determined very

differently, it is important for you to

know which type of plan you have as

well as its features and benefits.

With a defined benefit plan, once you

retire you receive a specified lifetime

monthly income – which is calculated

based on your years of service and the

salary you earned before retirement.

But even a specified monthly pension

that seems generous at retirement

loses its value if it is not adjusted for

inflation.

Additionally, you should be aware that

a company can change the terms of

the plan or the type of plan offered,

going forward, which may alter the

amount of pension you will receive.

What’s more, a company’s bankruptcy

can also affect your pension if the

company has not made all of the

required contributions to the plan.

A defined contribution plan does not

specify a monthly pension. The funds

that have accumulated at retirement

are used to provide a pension to you.

Once you retire, the funds are

generally used to buy an annuity i.e.

pension that will provide lifetime

income. However because the

investment risk is shifted to you, the

investment gains and losses made in a

defined contribution plan will affect

the pension that is payable on

retirement.

Having a company pension plan is

certainly better than not having one,

but having one is not always enough

to guarantee you will have enough

income during retirement years.

“If I am financially secure my

retirement will be perfect”

Not true. A major impact many

retirees face is a loss of prestige, a

feeling of worthlessness and not

knowing what to do with all the time

they now have on their hands. In the

same way you need to plan financially,

you also need to plan to set new goals,

develop new interests and hobbies in

your retirement to keep you mentally

and psychologically sharp e.g.

volunteering, mentoring, coaching,

teaching and even starting a new

business should be considered in

setting your retirement goals. In clsing

please remember the words of

Malcolm Forbes – “Retirement

kills more people than hard

work ever did.”

THE TWO BIGGEST RETIREMENT MYTHS Hugh Reid


A Consultation on Believers’ Baptism1 was held at the Four

Seasons Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica from January 8 -10,

2015. It was convened specifically to consider ways in

which the thinking among those traditions that have

normally practised only believers’ baptism might have

changed in the thirty years since the publication of the Faith

and Order Convergence Text, Baptism, Eucharist and

Ministry in 1982.

Through the papers presented by each of the participating

communions along with reflections from Faith and Order,

the participants sought to discern the places of convergence

in their understanding of the mode, meaning and practice of

baptism as well as to name the hindrances to the general

acceptance of those practices that did not accord with their

own understanding. The participants were grateful for the

hospitality shown by the Jamaican churches, and to the

United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands for their

explanation of how they lived with two practices of baptism

within one church.

Recognizing the historic nature of the event as the first

conversation of its kind, the consultation was filled witha

spirit of excitement as relationships were deepened and new

learnings discovered. Common affirmations were

celebrated and differences were met with an attitude of

respect and wonderment. At the conclusion of the

consultation, a new hope emerged for continued

conversations and meaningful ecumenical advance on the

topic.

We celebrate the fact that God continues to move in the

church and is present at baptism in all our churches. We

lament the continued divisions and barriers to mutual

recognition as we seek to obey the Great Commission

(Matthew 28:19-20) and “make every effort to maintain the

unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3),” so

that we “might all be one (John 17:21).” We pray God

might continue to guide and direct the Church as we seek to

live fully into the one hope of our calling (Ephesians 4:4).

1 It is noted that believers’ baptism can be used for

paedo and credo baptism but for purpose of the

consultation, believers’ baptism denotes credo baptism

Consultation on Believers’

Contributed article


For the health conscious individual, the quest to enjoy a safe and healthy life may very well put your health at risk, as you could end up in a worse case situation, which if known to you, could have been avoided. According to a professor of the Dartmouth Institute

Health Policy and Clinical Practice, H. Gilbert Welch,

the risk of over diagnosing prostate cancer far exceeds

the potential benefits. Welch said that for each man

who avoids a prostate cancer death, 50 men will be

treated unnecessarily. He said this is because their

cancers are so slow growing they would never cause a

problem. Chemotherapy, one of the most common

treatments of cancers including prostate cancer,

results in many side effects.

In relation to breast cancer screening, Mary Newman,

a Baltimore area internist, thinks that many patients

are not conscious of the potential harms of screening.

She referred to the small risk caused by repeated

radiation and the stress caused by false positive. She

also spoke of the risk of over treating a small, slow-

growing cancer that may never result in problems.

For females the ovaries can be damaged as a result of

chemotherapy treatment.

Some CT scans use high doses of radiation. The “64-

slice” CT angiography, which is said to provide early

detection of coronary disease, report is that you can

be exposed to 200 times as much radiation as

standard chest X-rays, and two times the radiation of

many CT scans. A study in the Journal of the

American Medical Association in July 2007, estimated

that 1 in every 1,300 sixty-year-olds who undergoes

the test may develop cancer.

A recent study of MRI tests on breasts found that

approximately 80 percent of high risk women who

thought they had cancer based on the test, actually

did not have cancer.

You may enquire about a lower dose or non-radiation

alternatives and request copies of your examination to

avoid repeating the test if you have to see another

doctor for the same problem. Another precaution is to

ask the technician for protective shield to cover your

thyroid gland and reproductive area.

Risky Health Tests


Talking compost with

Valentine Seymour

Valentine Seymour has been producing and

using compost for more years than he can

remember. This has been since his involvement in

the 4H Club and the Jamaica Agricultural Society.

A deacon at Boulevard Baptist, he shares the

benefits realized from using compost in crop

production:

Compost properly constructed and reach

maturity provides a good source of nitrogen

(nitrates) for leafy vegetables resulting in

vigorous plant growth.

The real value of manure reaped from compost

and applied to your vegetable garden will enable

one to grow crops that are organic in value,

which will fetch a higher price than crop grown

with inorganic manure, mainly because of the

health value.

Compost facilitates higher and better crop yields

– enabling greater productivity.

Soil erosion is a continuous challenge to farmers

at all levels and manure from the compost serve

as a good source of breaking down soils with a

heavy clay content and binding sandy soil, giving

you an alluvial composition, which is ideal for

holding enough water and at the same time

enables the root of the plant to penetrate the soil.

Soil with heavy clay content tends to get sour;

compost prevents this by providing good soil

conditioning.

Once the right materials are utilized in the

compost production, pests are not an issue to

contend with.

Grass is an excellent ingredient to use in

compost, especially guinea grass, and a little

limestone may be added.


Pastor: Rev. Dr. Devon Dick

Opportunities For Worship

Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Sunday School: 8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.

Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. • 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Prayer and Fasting: 1st Saturdays, 7:00 a.m.

Editor-in-Chief: Kameaka Duncan

Other Team Members: Hyacinth Brown, Dorrett Campbell, Francine Dallas,

Simone Hull-Lloyd, Verna Edwards, Ricardo Holness, Claudette Reid , Duvaughn Dick,

Petrona Faulknor, Sophia Williams and Lorna Fraser.

BBC E-Voice

Boulevard Baptist Church

2Washington Boulevard

Kingston 20

Tel#876-905-2422.

Mission Statement: To develop our spiritual lives, evangelize the

wider community and influence the world

through Christ by organized preaching, public

and private worship, Christian education and

fellowship, while co-operating with other

Christian bodies.

Tel.: 905-2422 or 925-5329

Email: [email protected] | Website: www.boulevardbaptist.org.jm

bbc e-voice magazine january 2015

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