NOT many people live to be 91 years old, and those who are fortunate enough to do so are usually incapable of taking on much activities.

DYKE...my parents were very strict people so we weren't able to do anything we felt like (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

But this is not the case for Pastor Kathyleen Dyke who still manages to preach up a storm at church most Saturdays and oversees various activities at church during the week.

In addition to assisting with the establishment of over 25 churches under the Jamaica Council Church of God seventh day umbrella, Dyke is also a member of the board of directors and is the ordained pastor for the head church which is on Chisholm Avenue in Kingston. As general secretary for the association, she also supervises the funds of the churches, and organises all major activities that the group undertakes.

And despite her advanced age, the effervescent pastor does not intend to retire any time soon. Those who know her well says that she has never mentioned the subject.

"Until I find somebody who is caring and somebody who has the initiative of being responsible for the things around them, then I will continue. When I find such a character, then I will recommend that that person gets my post and I will stand by and allow them to get the job done," says Pastor Dyke.

Though she admits that she can barely walk these days because of her arthritis, she says that she will continue on her mission of preaching the gospel and assisting young people.

In fact, the day before all woman caught up with her, she had just finished hosting a fund-raising concert to assist with financing outreach ministries which her church sometimes undertakes in inner-city areas like Maxfield Avenue, Trench Town, Waterhouse, Payne Avenue and Seaview Gardens.

Although she is a diabetic, Pastor Dyke says that she is healthy and blessed. So much so that when this reporter visited her home off White Hall Avenue in St Andrew, she was already in the process of penning her next sermon for the upcoming Sabbath.

With her regal gray hair tied back with a head wrap and her piercing black eyes behind her lens, she spoke about her parents, who she believes played an essential role in her being the person she is today.

"My parents were very strict people so we weren't able to do anything we felt like. Even though we grew up with a lot of family, we weren't allowed to run to them as we would like to," she says.

Pastor Dyke grew up with eight brothers and two sisters in a small rural village in St Ann known as Douglas Castle. The district was named after her family who occupied that area. Her father was the deacon for a Baptist church in the community and a well-known farmer, while her mother was a housewife who raised her during her earlier years.

Her time in St Ann was disrupted though, as she was whisked off to Clarendon when she was about seven years old to attend elementary and later primary school.

"I stayed with a family friend while at school from Monday to Friday and then would go home on weekends and we carried on like that for a while," she says.

But due to pressing family issues, she was recruited back home, thereby ending her chances of attending high school.

"My father planted ginger and in the reaping of the ginger he had to hire people to come to the home and peel the ginger, wash them and put them on mat to dry, but they were not trustworthy people and they wanted somebody to supervise, they weren't able to find anyone so they had to take me back from school to be the person to monitor them," she explains.

Dyke's job as an overseer for her father's crops was just the beginning of many leadership roles, as she was later given the opportunity to teach Bible studies at the church where her family attended. This opportunity served as the catalyst for her development as an evangelist and a pastor.

Pastor Dyke became an evangelist shortly after she became saved at the age of 24. Her work brought her across the island, although most of her services were held in St Ann and Clarendon. It was during one of her journeys to Kingston to preach that she met some other evangelists in the parish, and thus began her foray into pastorship.

"I was glad when I met them, I linked up with them, I worked in the church until I was ordained as an evangelist and then from evangelism, I was ordained to be a pastor," she explains.

Though her husband who passed on 22 years ago did not live to see the extent of her success and her many accomplishments, both of them worked together as evangelists, and had also started a church in Trench Town, an inner-city community in Kingston, where he was the pastor. They also built a church in Douglas Castle where they first met, when she was in her early 20s.

"A cousin of mine introduced me to him. He was then a businessman and after some time he made me know that he cared and...[asked] me and if I loved him and I said no, but he kept on talking to me so courteously that I said I would reconsider," she recalls.

It didn't take long to change her mind and the two got married a few years later. The marriage was met with many objections though. Primary among them was the fact that he was 22 years older than her.
Though the couple did not produce any children, they took pride in raising four. This included three girls and one boy who they took care of from they were mere months old. The eldest child is now 60 years old.

"The children belonged to two of my brothers and one of my sister. Before one of my brothers died he asked me to take his smallest girl and raise her and I did so. I also took in one of my brother's child because I love her and I felt that she was being neglected, and I must tell you that she is a blessing to me even until this day," says Pastor Dyke.

Currently three of her children live in the US and the other in Canada.
It was out of her profound love for children that Pastor Dyke also established a basic school at her church to educate the young minds within her community.

Those who know Pastor Dyke well, like her close friend of 48 years Kenneth Harper, believe that giving is just a part of her.
"She is very diligent and efficient. She cares about the churches and about people's lives. She is a person you could recommend in any area of life," he says.

Because of Pastor Dyke's efficiency, the church board depends on her to supervise the major activities of the association, especially annual conventions and fund-raising events. She often takes trips overseas to visit other churches, and across the island where other churches of her branch are located.

Pastor Dyke says that with the support of her congregation and God who directed the path she has taken, she has been able to accomplish what some would consider a difficult feat.

allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com

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