Adventists Launch Initiative in Jamaica to Help Young People Engage in Service

By: Nigel Coke, Inter-American Division News

With the goal of sharing positive values and encouraging spiritual devotion and transformation, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica, through its youth department, launched its first mobile clinic dubbed HYPE — Helping Young People Engage.

HYPE is the coming together of Adventist young people, pooling their resources to serve God and humanity, said Jamaica Union Conference president Everett Brown.

Speaking at the launch on January 31, 2019, at the Grants Pen Peace Park in St. Andrew, Brown challenged the gathering and the nation to invest in the education of young people. “A nation, a church’s greatest asset lies in its people,” Brown said. “When people come together and pool resources, there is no limit to what can be achieved. We need to invest in our human resources. Investment in the education of young people will reap great dividends for our church and nation.”

Engaging Young People Is No Hype

Brown suggested that the launch of the mobile clinic is an idea whose time has come, one that fits perfectly with the overall worldview and philosophy of the Adventist Church. “We believe in the wholistic development of people. Spiritual, social, mental and physical. Service is at the core of what we do. Building relationships and establishing partnerships. Giving back to God and community,” he said.

Helping young people to engage is not hype, Brown said. “Rather, HYPE is a fantastic initiative, a model that is worthy of commendation and emulation. It is more than a mobile clinic. The heart of this initiative is the focus to serve people and build communities.”

The primary objective of HYPE is to engage youth in acts of service while providing health care and promoting positive lifestyle changes, as well as an intentional sports program to connect the youth of the church with the youth of the community, church leaders said. It is non-discriminatory and will seek to serve across religions, ethnicities, and political persuasions.

“We are passionate about helping our youth to realize their best potentials,” said Jamaica Union Conference youth ministries director Dane Fletcher. “HYPE will continue along this trajectory, as we encourage and inspire our youth to volunteer and make a positive contribution.”

The mobile clinic will go across Jamaica and will engage volunteers throughout the island in order to have resource personnel to execute its mission, Fletcher added. “We believe in empowering our youth to create a healthier, happier Jamaica,” he said.

During the launch, funds and medical equipment were donated for the HYPE initiative by The Dental Place Cosmetics and Spa.

HYPE is a youth ministries initiative of the Jamaica Union Conference (JAMU), born of proposals made by young people of the Adventist world church. The church has encouraged the implementation of such initiatives with a sponsorship of US$80,000, which was used to outfit the HYPE Mobile Clinic.

The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division news site.