A Nation Prays, a School Gets a New Computer Lab: The 30th National Prayer Vigil Comes to Annotto Bay Baptist

• The 30th National Prayer Vigil was set for Annotto Bay Baptist Church in St Mary on December 11
• The Governor General, Prime Minister and Opposition Leader were expected to take part
• Donations were to refurbish the computer lab and resource centre at Baxter’s Mountain Primary School
• The first vigil was held at King’s House in 1991

The 30th National Prayer Vigil was planned for Annotto Bay Baptist Church in St Mary on Sunday, December 11, from 6pm, the Jamaica Observer reported. Hosted by the St Mary Ministers’ Fraternal, it took the theme “Justice, Unity, Peace and Healing”.

The guest preacher was to be Rev Claude Williams, pastor of Oracabessa Baptist Church. The three-hour service was planned to include praise and worship and prayers of thanksgiving and intercession. The vigil’s patron, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, together with Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Mark Golding, were expected to give messages and read scripture.

The vigil has a practical purpose as well. Donations collected were to go to a parish project: refurbishing the computer laboratory and resource centre at Baxter’s Mountain Primary School in St Mary. New computers were also to be presented to the school.

The first national prayer vigil was held at King’s House in 1991. It is intended to lead the nation in prayer for justice, peace, unity and spiritual healing. This year’s hosts, the St Mary Ministers’ Fraternal, tied the collection to a project in their own parish.

Linking a national service to a building project in the host parish gives the vigil a lasting local benefit. A refurbished computer lab and resource centre is a modest piece of infrastructure, but for a rural primary school it can serve students for years. St Mary families benefit when their local school has decent facilities, and a well-equipped school is one of the things that helps keep a rural community attractive to live in. For churches and diaspora groups planning their own events, the idea of tying the collection to one specific, visible building project in the community is worth copying.

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