SPANISH Town, St Catherine is considered one of the most volatile areas in which to live and work, owing to the frequent upsurges in gang-related wars there. But this has not deterred members of Twickenham Park Open Bible Church.

The congregation, headed by pastor Everal Edwards, has come up with a raft of social intervention programmes over the past few years to meet the community’s physical and social needs, and has reaped tremendous success in getting some residents to turn their lives around.

“We know the concerns about Spanish Town, and I believe most people — unless you were born or grew up here — would have concerns about Spanish Town, but the people in Spanish Town and the environs are not very different from the other places in Jamaica, and we see this as an opportunity for us to indeed make a difference,” he told the Sunday Observer.

One of the programmes through which the church has been making that difference is its annual Vocational Bible School (VBS) which sees over 300 children and teenagers from about 10 different communities in Spanish Town working together for at least two weeks. About 25 of these children are retained for another week where they receive specialised counselling to address behavioural problems through the assistance of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).

“Basic communication skills most times are weak, so we will have, from time to time, fights breaking out. We noticed that this last time it was less, so I think between JSIF and us, what we are doing is working because they are communicating better,” superintendent for the church’s Sunday school Doreen Daley explained.

The programme also has a parenting component, in which the children’s parents are invited to workshops at least every term. But apart from this, the programme, which cost approximately $2.2 million for the three weeks, allows the church to employ and pay a stipend to youths within the community who assist with teaching.

The church also has a vibrant music class for youths, which presents an alternative to the often negative dancehall music that permeates the airwaves. This programme, too, has been effective in transforming the lives of some young men, who gather on the church compound each week to learn how to play wind instruments, the piano, congo drums, among others.

“We have had some success and I have also noticed that the guys who are involved are now living a different quality life,” explained music director Horace Wright. He added that the group was invited by other churches, schools and even the Spanish Town Hospital to play at their events.

Some of the young men also attend mathematics classes at the church each Saturday, free of cost.

“They are going further in school and they are having long-term plans beyond school,” pastor Edwards said. “They are beginning to see themselves differently and it makes them a lot easier to deal with and you can entrust responsibility to them.”

Some of the young people are also paid a stipend to perform odd jobs like helping to pack away chairs. Pastor Edwards is pleased that some of them have been using it to go back to school and are gradually changing their attitude towards life under the mentorship of church deacon and advisor to the youth department Pedro Lattery.

In addition, the church hosts friendly football matches, which have been attracting a number of young men from various communities in Spanish Town who gather to socialise and compete. Some of them remain after playing to attend youth meetings, a step on the ladder to gradual immersion in the activities of the church.

With some support from private sector groups, Twickenham Park Open Bible also works with those who are isolated from society by visiting the Tamarind Farm Correctional Facility and the Spanish Town Infirmary on a monthly basis.

“The Infirmary commitment is more than just sharing gospel,” explained pastor Edwards. “The persons who go actually get involved in talking to the persons there and comb their hair and befriend them because sadly, a number of people there are in their right minds, but they are just rejected by family members and they are thrown on the State.”