“Mission Alive at Sixty-five” is more than a slogan adopted by the Washington Gardens Seventh-Day Adventist Church to mark its sixty-fifth anniversary. It encapsulates the church’s acknowledgement of past efforts, current engagement, and commitment to greater pursuits in the future.
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In keeping with the spirit of Washington Gardens, the activities to mark the occasion will take place throughout the year and will include local and international members. Church services have already been held in Canada at the Kingsview Village SDA Church on June 24; at the Maranatha SDA Church in Florida on July 8, 2023, and will continue September 30 and October 21 at Lithonia SDA Church in Atlanta, Georgia and Ebenezer SDA Church in Long Island, New York, USA.
The characteristic features of all the services are heartfelt worship, warm fellowship, motivating memories, and focused plans on how to improve the impact of the church in the Drewsland community and its environs. The series of church services will culminate with the grand homecoming affair from December 17-23, 2023 in Kingston, Jamaica.
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A number of projects have been undertaken and/or strengthened as part of the sixty-fifth anniversary celebrations. These include the launch and resurgence of the BEAMS and GEMS programmes respectively, Community Prayer Walks, Community Back to School Treat, Community Health Fair, granting of Educational Bursaries and by no means least, an Evangelistic Series.
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Mission First: Evangelism Impact 2023
In collaboration with Adventists Laymen’s Services & Industry (ASI) Inter American Division (IAD), the Washington Gardens SDA launched The Mouth of God Proclamation Series on July 29 under a big tent in the Church’s carpark. Elder Ken Armstrong, a native Antiguan and naturalized ‘Jamtiguan’ was welcomed for the first two weeks.
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He proved to be a true teacher of the word of God. Fifteen power-packed messages, all cemented in Scriptures, were presented in an interesting and enlightening manner. These included messages such as, Test the Vessel, Who Am I? The Heavens Declare, which piqued the interest of each listener, under the tent and online.
The series began with the baptism of four members of a family and by the end of the second week, a total of eleven souls were added through the weekly baptism.
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The first two weeks with Elder Armstrong ended all too soon and Evangelist Theodore Henry took the podium for the next two weeks. His energetic, engaging, and unpredictable scriptural linkages created a discourse style which endeared him immediately to the congregation. The youths seem especially engaged and the online worshipers were equally enthralled as the viewership increased with every message.
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As suggested by the titles. The messages were keenly directed to special interest groups such as the ‘Dead’. The Fearful, the Defeated, the Financially Focused, Men and the sexually Mistaken and Romantically Misled. From the first Message to the Dead, listeners recognized the importance of looking into the Word and not at the preacher as the message was dissected with the use of different translations including the Jamaican Creole Version of the Bible.
The messages were all enhanced by his linguistic repertoire, direct personal appeal to his listeners and his evident connection with the Holy Spirit, who gave life to his words. An additional seven persons made their commitment to the Lord, resulting in eighteen (18) precious souls being added to the Kingdom at the end of the series.
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The final moments of the Mouth of God Proclamation Series were spent in a moving candlelight ceremony on Sabbath, August 26, 2023, during which all were invited to make the resolution to go light the world and influence others to make it to heaven.
As the 65th anniversary celebration of the church continues, so does the mission of the church to reach the un-committed and unreached, strengthen the faith of the current members and attend to the spiritual and social needs of the community. In its sixty-fifth year, the Washington Gardens SDA Church remains committed to “Mission First” and continues to be “A Place to Call Home.”