Clergyman rallies Church, political and business leaders to rescue Jamaica from clouds of despair, rebuild hope

Pastor of First Missionary Church, Reverend Omar Morrison, has sought to rally the Church as well as business and political leaders to convince Jamaicans to choose hope, arise, and build in a bid to blow away the dark clouds of despair that have gathered and are casting a shadow over the island.

Morrison was delivering the main address at the 44th annual National Leadership and Prayer Breakfast today at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, held under the theme ‘Choose hope, arise and build’. He emphasised the transformative power of God’s hope, even amid despair.

“Despite our progress in many areas of national life. There are dark clouds of despair that are hanging over our nation and are threatening to derail our progress and our prosperity as a nation,” said Morrison.

He noted that the country has seen historic lows in unemployment and nine consecutive quarters of economic growth. In contrast, homicide rates are persistently high, children are being born in unstable households, and many have turned to illicit activities such as scamming to win big.

However, he charged Jamaicans to see beyond the despair and find hope.

“Our challenge is to decide whether we are going to see the glass as half full or as half empty. And I want to make it abundantly clear this morning that no matter what is happening in our country, there is a God who still sits on the throne and rules and reigns in the affairs of men, and he still has the whole world in his hand. Because of that, we can choose. We can choose hope,” said Morrison.

Highlighting the societal issues, he noted that they create a sense of hopelessness and emphasised the need for the Church to rescue Jamaica from its despair by creating hope. However, Morrison said that the Church itself needs rescuing to effectively address these challenges.

“If God’s church is to successfully tackle the pictures of hopelessness in society, the church itself needs urgent rescuing. The church needs to be rescued from the doctrine of demons, from greed, from sexual immorality and pride, over concern for our own safety. The church needs to be rescued from disobedience regarding the great commission and the great commandment. The church needs to be rescued from our post-pandemic comfort zones,” Morrison stressed.

He challenged the Church to push back against the forces of darkness, stressing that these issues require more than the intervention of government leaders to be resolved.

“If we embrace Jesus and all he stands for, we will embrace values such as love, peace and justice, truth, integrity and fairness, and compassion without compromise. This kind of embrace is very often disruptive, but this is what is needed for our country if we are to bequeath to a future generation, a country whose God is the Lord. Righteousness still exalts a nation, and sin is a reproach to any people,” he declared.

In a call to action directed at the country’s leaders, Morrison highlighted the significance and benefits of having disciplined, purposeful, and integrated leadership.

“Because of God’s grace and mercy, you have been placed in positions of authority. You have a work to do for us to work together to move this country forward. If we’re to do that, we have to take this commitment seriously. Everything rises and falls on leadership. We’re to be disciplined. We have to have conviction, we have to be people of integrity, and we have to believe in the Jamaican dream,” he said.

The annual prayer breakfast is organised by the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast Committee and sponsored by various private sector partners. Since its start in 1981, the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast has facilitated unity and fellowship through prayer among the nation’s leaders.