Prominent pastor says residents of Tivoli Gardens need a listening ear to help them cope
IN THE aftermath of the deadly three-day stand-off between members of the security forces and armed thugs from west Kingston that left at least 73 civilians dead, a prominent pastor is urging the religious community and trained professionals to give the residents of Tivoli Gardens a listening ear.
There is little doubt that the survivors of the deadly three-day gun battle have a lot to say. They should.
The west Kingston residents were locked off from the outside world for days while gunmen and members of the security forces, three of whom were also killed, traded bullets.
When the security forces finally allowed the media to go into sections of the area last Thursday, several residents vented their anger at the political directorate. Others just wept.
Food is being provided to the residents by political ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair and the Red Cross, but Reverend Dr Stevenson Samuels, pastor of the Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God, is of the view that the traumatised residents of Tivoli Gardens need more.
Critical juncture
Samuels believes at this critical juncture the residents need a shoulder to lean on and ears to listen their cries if they are to successfully pick up the splintered pieces of their lives and move forward.
“There needs to be a lot of talking through … a lot of trained listening ears (because) it has been extremely traumatic,” said Samuels.
However, he also believes that the residents need to rely on a higher power to help them make it through the difficult days ahead.
“The people in Tivoli will need some kind of energy outside of themselves and outside of the society that they feel betrayed them …. and I think that is God,” Samuels advanced.
Additionally, the man of the cloth thinks there needs to be a restating of the reasons for the recent incursion so that the residents can “make sense of it”.
Meanwhile, Bobby Wilmot, pastor of the Majesty Gardens Covenant Community Church, told The Sunday Gleaner that the church should definitely move into the broken Tivoli Gardens community.
“The area is ripe for a clear call. We need to show them that Jesus Christ is the true hope,” he said.
Wilmot said Christians should descend on Tivoli and show the weeping residents the love of Christ by praying and empathising with them.
Samuels argued that the vicious cycle, which gave birth to the need for the incursion, will not be broken if the required interventions – a listening ear, reliance on a higher power, and a restating of the reasons for the offensive – are not provided.
“If this doesn’t happen, there will be the perpetuation of a culture within the community … (and) the feeling of resentment and bitterness will linger,” Samuels said.
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