Jamaica’s political, business and religious leaders have been urged to embark on a mission to rescue the island from despair and hopelessness.

The plea was issued on Thursday by the Reverend Omar Morrison, pastor of First Missionary Church, as he delivered the message at the 44th Annual National Leadership Prayer Breakfast.

With Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Opposition Leader Mark Golding, and titans of the political, business and religious fabrics of the nation in the audience, Morrison pointed to several dark clouds over the island, rays of hope which are visible, and several dangers which need to be addressed.

“Despite our progress in many areas of national life, there are dark clouds of despair that are hanging over our nation and are threatening to derail our progress and our prosperity as a nation,” warned Morrison.

“All is not well when unemployment is at an historic low of 4.5 per cent while homicide in Jamaica is still at an intolerable level of about 46 per 100,000. All is not well when so many of our young people are busy drifting while our society has gone off course. All is not well when well over 50 per cent of our children are born outside of the stability and security that marriage helps to provide.

“All is not well when, despite our greater access to education, some people have chosen to put their hope in winning big or chopping the line to fleece people out of their hard-earned life savings. All is not well when only about 23 per cent of registered voters choose to vote in elections, thereby threatening our democracy in this country,” added Morrison.

But he pointed to what he called “brilliant rays of hope” such as the five boys from BB Coke High School in St Elizabeth who took their badly beaten colleague to get medical attention last October, and a taxi driver who staged a customer appreciation day.

“Going after gangs and prosecuting them to the full extent of the law is a ray of hope. Twenty consecutive quarters of economic growth, and a tourism sector that keeps breaking records in Jamaica is a ray of hope,” added Morrison.

But he warned that the challenge Jamaica faces now is to move forward with hope and a belief in God.

According to Morrison, Jamaicans need to be prepared to act in the ways of the Lord if the country is to be moved from the hopelessness which is across the nation.

“Our society, my brothers and sisters, needs to be rescued from this hopelessness and this madness of which we have pictures right across the nation. Our society needs to be rescued from gangs and guns and lawlessness; rescued from reprisals and extortion; rescued from injustice in high and low places; rescued from [the] lewdness that is in some of today’s music that leaves nothing to the imagination,” he said.

“Our society needs to be rescued from the ‘mek man eat a food’ mentality. Our society needs to be rescued from the unproductive use of smartphones. Our society needs to be rescued from the pandemic of online overexposure of our children,” added Morrison as he argued that these things are making the Jamaican society mad and filled with a sense of hopelessness.

The veteran pastor did not spare his religious colleagues as he charged that if God’s church is to successfully tackle the sense of hopelessness in the society, it also needs to be rescued.

“The Church needs to be rescued from the doctrine of demons, from greed, from sexual immorality, pride, [and] an over concern for our own safety. The Church needs to be rescued from disobedience regarding the great commission and the great commandments. The Church needs to be rescued from our post-pandemic comfort zones,” added Morrison as he declared that such rescue is urgently needed.

With nods of approval and muted applause from the audience, Morrison argued that if Jamaicans embrace Jesus and all that He stands for, we will embrace concepts such as love, fairness and compassion without compromise as he issued a charge to the leaders in the building.

“Because of God’s grace and mercy you have been placed in a position of authority [and] you have work to do for us to work together to move this country forward. If we are to do that, my friends, we have to take this commitment seriously.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership. We are to be disciplined, we have to have conviction, we have to be people of integrity and we have to believe in the Jamaican dream,” said Morrison as he charged that there is hope for Jamaica because there are people who are committed to the country.

This year’s national prayer breakfast was held under the theme ‘Choose Hope, Arise and Build.’ Proceeds from the event will go to the Educate to Elevate Community Outreach, a back-to-school programme of Hope Gospel Assembly which has been providing back-to-school resources and scholarships to hundreds of children and their families for several years.

Reverend Omar Morrison (left), pastor of First Missionary Church, greets Prime Minister Andrew Holness (centre) and Opposition Leader Mark Golding during the National Leadership Prayer Breakfast at Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Thursday morning. Rev Morrison delivered the message at the annual event.