WHEN Tassia Edwards, now 17 years old, was faced with financial difficulties while attending primary school, her church family at the Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ quickly went to her aid.

They paid her tuition, gave her lunch money, provided her with groceries every month and took her on regular shopping sprees.

As a result of this, the Seaview Gardens resident said she was able to not only complete primary school, but also graduated last year from Camperdown High School with seven CXCs and a high school diploma.

“If they didn’t help me, most of the time I wouldn’t have been able to go to school and I would have missed out on a lot of things,” she said.

Edwards is just one of about 22 students that have benefited from the church’s “Adopt-A-Child Programme” since its inception in 1992. The programme is geared towards facilitating positive growth and development among children from depressed communities.

“We don’t take the child out of the home; the child is adopted in the home. We contribute to their uniforms, books, tuition, transformation and so forth,”

explained Bishop John Hewitt, pastor of the church.

The students all attend the church’s Sunday school and are helped up until they graduate from school.

“These are people who attend the Sunday schools, and so based on our interaction with their parents, we are able to identify children who have the greatest needs socially,” Hewitt said.

The church spent over $500,000 towards the programme last year and since the start of the year, has spent an additional $204,000.

The Adopt-A-Child programme is just one aspect of the church’s “Bethel United Project Help” initiatives, started in 1977. Under this programme, the church also established a basic school in 1973, which contributes to the early development of the 120 students currently enrolled.

Hewitt noted that a number of the communities surrounding the church, have benefited from the Bethel United Project Help programme. They include Franklyn Town, Rollington Town, Allman Town and Southside.

“We are making an impact in the community; there is not one community that you will go in and they don’t know the name Bethel. They know that this is a church that’s not only preaching the gospel, but they know that this is a church that has been assisting people within the community,” the pastor said.

Over the years, the church has been taking food baskets to members within these communities. It has also provided elderly residents with cash every month to help them meet their needs. In addition, it hosts a weekly feeding progamme at the Golden Age Home in Kingston, and at the McIntyre Community Centre.

“Besides feeding, from time to time we would donate bed linens. The members would also go into the Golden Age Home where the ladies would look after the hair of the female inmates, and the brothers would do barbering,” said Hewitt.

He said Bethel United Project Help is a very costly venture amounting to approximately $1.5 million annually. However, he believes his church is fulfilling a mandate given to Christians to help those in need.

“We believe that man is a tripartite being, involving body, soul and spirit. We have always believed in not just preaching the gospel, but also taking care of man’s temporary needs,” he said.

Front Pew: Bishop John Hewitt

Pastor: Bishop John Hewitt

Church: Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ

Location: 20 South Camp Road, Kingston 4

Membership: 1,000

Denomination: Apostolic

Marital status: Married to Ethel-May Hewitt with four children

Years as a pastor: 31

Four things people would be surprised to know about me

1. I am a fitness enthusiast.

“I like to exercise, especially since I am over 40; so I do a lot of running religiously. At least five days per week I run in the mornings for about three miles.”

2. I like to prepare meals for the family.

“I do cooking for the family sometimes. My favourite dish to prepare is a Mediterranean soup, but that’s mostly on a Saturday. It has in split peas, and you can use any type of meats, but usually it would be ground turkey and a lot of vegetables, which would include turmeric, tomato, broad beans, and scotch bonnet pepper. It tastes really, really good.”

3. I am an avid tennis player.

“I am a very good tennis player. I have represented the Gleaner Company in business house table tennis in the past. I learnt to play table tennis on the steps of Cornwall College where I went. I think I developed into a very good player.”

4. I enjoy watching people get married.

“I am a marriage officer, and I have done 816 weddings over a period of 18 years; that’s a whole lot of weddings! I enjoy doing weddings. I just like putting people together, I really enjoy the service, and I enjoy the happiness that exudes from the couple, as well as from those who are in attendance. It’s a happy occasion, so I get happy as well.”