bbc e-voice magazine january 2015
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BBC e-Voice Magazine January 2015TRANSCRIPT
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
BBC E-VOICE Issue 28
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
BBC E-VOICE Issue 28
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
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 5
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.
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 6
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.
National Prayer Breakfast
Do we not feel ashamed?
National Prayer Breakfast
Do we not feel ashamed?
BBC E-VOICE Issue 28
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)
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 8
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
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 9
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.”
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 10
“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
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 11
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
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 12
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
BBC E-VOICE | Issue 28 13
BBC E-VOICE Issue 28
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.
BBC E-VOICE Issue 28
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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