A positive vision

By Merrick Andrews, Staff Reporter

Nordia Blackwood, a missionary of the Institute of Caribbean Missions combs the hair of one of the students of the Visions of Hope. - Carlington Wilmot

IN THE crusade for lost souls around Beeston and Princess streets, Jesus ran a distant second to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

For neighbourhood children, who were once asked by a member of the Visions of Hope church to choose, it was a no-brainer - Kentucky won hands down. They said that they didn't "know anything about Jesus, they only hear about him, but they know about Kentucky," explained Pastor Hopeton Benaiah.

In this ghetto neighbourhood close to the volatile Matthews Lane area of downtown Kingston, Jesus, faith, goodness and hope were mere illusions. Yes, they had heard about the benevolence of God and his son Jesus but, for the most part, their lives were untouched by such concepts.

Their existence consisted of gang warfare, executions, rape and the glazed look of drug addicts.

There was no sense of God in the walls of the bullet-riddled building, in between the garbage or over top the wretched smell of human waste that permeated the structure now used by the church. That is, until Mr. and Mrs. Howard Robinson bought the two-storey building at 36 Beeston Street in 1999. The Robinsons said they had a vision of making a section of the building available for a ministry. They shared their dream with gospel singer Judy Mowatt, who passed on the word to Pastor Benaiah last year January. Two months later the Benaiahs obtained the building to house the church.

Once a thriving furniture store, evil struck when the owner was shot and killed by gunmen in the 1970s. The building quickly gained the reputation of being haunted and gradually shifted to more sinister activities, becoming a headquarters for drug addicts and gangs, a centre for rape and executions, a toilet, garbage disposal and a residence for squatters.

The church has since carried out major renovations, erasing the graffiti and filth, plugging most of the bullet holes and ever so gradually gaining the trust and fostering hope in children of the area. Although some adults are still afraid to enter the building, children who were initially forbidden to participate in the activities of the church are now turning up for after school sessions and other events that are part of the outreach programme.

The children were at first "hesitant, suspicious, wild, reckless, uncaring and defiant," said Pastor Benaiah. "Now they are more mannerly, respectful, and appreciative for each other and are God-fearing," added the 55-year-old pastor who heads the ministry with his wife Georgia and operates it with the assistance of his children.

"They are realising that Jesus is real."

To attract residents to its flock, the church kicked off with a crusade at the corner of Beeston and West streets ­ three blocks from the Visions of Hope building. With support from the Holiness Christian Church and performances by prominent gospel artistes, the crusade drew hundreds of children and adults. The mission is "to support and facilitate the transformation of this community as a part of the restoration of Jamaica," explained Pastor Benaiah who changed his name from Hopeton Ridgard "because of an inspiration from the Lord."

"It has helped us good," said 15-year-old Anthony Gordon, who participates in the 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. after school programme. "It helps us to stay off the streets and not to get in to trouble. It also does good for the community," said the Jamaica College student who missed school all of last year due to illness.

Curbing the turf mentality

The Visions of Hope ministry has helped to turn around children who are sexually active before they reach 12; pre-pubescent girls who have been raped; and others who used to sell their bodies for between $10 and $20, said Delbert Ridgard, the Benaiahs' 21-year-old son.

Church members have also encountered children who couldn't describe the sea because they were only familiar with the streets or avenues where they lived. When the programme started some children didn't get along with other children because of the turf culture, added Mr. Ridgard.

"What we had here was a turfish kind of mentality whereby children from one lane or one street don't interact with other children from other streets. There was and still is this kind of rivalry. But we've been curbing that somewhat by having them communicate with each other."

"Visions of Hope has an international vision...we believe that we can raise young people to become leaders who will become apostolic and prophetic material to this nation, Africa, and other Third World countries," said Pastor Benaiah.

The Benaiahs who have been funding the work of the church out of their own resources said they'd like to do even more but were limited by money, staff and support from the wider community. They envision equipment for a computer room, adult literacy classes, an entertainment programme, trips (to expose the children to other situations), providing text books for the home work assistance programme, shelves, desks, chairs, and a television, among other items for a community library and reading room.

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