Adventist Youths Demo Love in Action
After more than two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing restrictions, hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist young people across the Caribbean Union (CARU) left church buildings to share hope and show kindness in their communities as part of the Global Youth Day celebration on March 18, 2023.
Reading time | 3 mins
Love and appreciation was shown to the Police and Fire Officers in the North Caribbean Conference. The youth on St. Croix served breakfast and extended tokens of love to Fire officers and the police officers across the island - in both Christiansted and Frederiksted precincts. Words of prayer and encouragement was shared. Image by STX AY Department.
After more than two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing restrictions, hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist young people across the Caribbean Union (CARU) left church buildings to share hope and show kindness in their communities as part of the Global Youth Day celebration on March 18, 2023.
The Mission? Demonstrate “Love as a Verb” across CARU’s ten fields. Using the theme as a call-to-action, youth across the region used creative means to share hope in their communities while assisting to deliver 50,000 copies of the book “The Great Controversy” book by Adventist co-founder Ellen G. White.
Music and Health Components in Community Outreach
Youths on St. Croix in the North Caribbean Conference organized an open-air gospel concert with the capacity for community members to get free health checks and facials on the perimeters of the pro tem arena.
Residents received standard health screening services by licensed professionals as well as general health advice. “Health remains one of the key challenges for many people,” said Pastor Thomas Rose, coordinator of the Adventist work on the island. “And what matters to our neighbors is of great importance to us. This is what drives our keen interest in the general well-being of our community,” he said.
District youth leader Vernelle Carr noted that the medical aspect embedded in the outreach is “one of the means through which we demonstrate the love of Christ to our neighbors and communities.” Love is an action word, and our Global Youth Day initiatives are doing just that, she said.
Meanwhile, youth in the St. Lucia Mission, Grenada Conference, and South Leeward Mission were also engaged in communities offering health checks, street-side ministry in parking lots, and distributing thousands of copies of Ellen G. White’s 1858 book, “The Great Controversy,” an account of the cosmic battle between Jesus Christ and Satan being played out here on earth.
Youth Director of the St. Lucia Mission Pastor Richard Randolph and the team that provided breakfast to the bus drivers. Image by GYD team members.
Food distribution and Community Cleanup
In St. Lucia, youths from the Dierre Fort church provided breakfast for bus drivers with service routes into their community. About 30 bus drivers benefitted from the initiative.
Young people in Barbados and on St. Croix showed acts of kindness by distributing care packages and food baskets to officers of the Fire Service and Police departments.
In the Grenada Conference, youths from the eastern district also handed out copies of The Great Controversy along with hot meals and food items to needy communities. In addition, the young people took part in hosting health fairs in communities where the need is urgent.
Across the territory, young people cleaned beaches, public parks, and people’s homes; they gave food to nursing homes and other community-based centers; many clothed the poor and encouraged lonely hearts, while others took to social media with positive messages and images about acts of kindness.
In the end, communities across the region were served with more than 50,000 copies of "The Great Controversy" book by Adventist co-founder Ellen G. White, special programs featuring music, prayer and inspiring messages of hope, deliverance and Jesus’ return.
“I am pleased to see the creativity and sensitivity of the young people to the needs of the communities,” CARU Youth Director Pastor Marvin Smith said. “Despite the difficulties, the different actions [the authorities] have undertaken, underlines the fact that our young people are still connected to God’s great commission, “I Will Go!”” he said.
“It’s amazing to see how young people in the Caribbean Union are reaching out to their communities for Global Youth Day,” said CARU President Dr. Kern Tobias. "We have a message to share to the world that brings hope to homes and communities. What is displayed across the territory demonstrated just what our community needs-love and hope."