The Tribune

By Felicity Ingraham

WHILE most churches were busy sprucing up their sanctuaries to welcome members and guests on one of the most important Sundays of the year, the pastors at Transformation Ministries International decided that they would step outside of the walls of the church and into the neighbourhood to ensure that their entire community looked bright and beautiful for Easter.  

The Men of Valour, the men’s arm of the church, gathered its members for the first annual community clean-up event. 

They began at 8am last Saturday, first by cleaning up the church grounds – located at 11 Dignity Gardens – then moving through every corner of the neighbourhood off Carmichael Road, and then heading to Millars Road in the Bacardi Road area. 

They worked along with a dump truck throughout the day, keeping the following mandate in mind: “Take pride in your community, help clean up, tame the brush, make the paths more walkable.”

Elder Roosevelt Whymms called for all churches to take up this mission in their communities so that as a whole, churches throughout the Bahamas can play a vital role in making “such a beautiful country” even more beautiful. 

He encouraged the general public to visit the church on Sunday mornings, where free breakfast is served to attract members and visitors who would otherwise miss the service because they are too busy feeding their families at home.

He said the church also has an “exciting and appealing” youth arm for young believers, and groups such as the Men of Valour exist to keep members active and inspired.

“This community means a whole lot to us, and we intend to empower our community by cleaning it up, hoping that this effort will bring unity and awareness, and express the love that we supposed to have for our community,” said District Elder Paul Rolle.

Psalms 133, said Assistant Pastor Ellis Farrington, notes that it is a good thing for the brethren to dwell together in unity. 

Not only are the Men of Valour enjoying a sense of camaraderie amongst themselves, they are also knocking on doors in the community and sharing the Good Word whilst asking residents if they may have any debris in the yard that they wish to have removed. 

For residents who were not home, the Men of Valour still made sure to tend to the areas near their streets and along the walkways.

Pastor Farrington noted that even the pastors of the church put on their gloves and grabbed garbage bags and helped to clean up the community.  

“The Bible says, ‘By this should all men know that ye are my discipled if you have love together’, and we see all the residents of Dignity Gardens as our brothers and sisters,” he said.

The lone woman taking part during last Saturday’s clean-up was Senior Pastor Sharon Rolle. She was more than happy to cheer on the men and hand out flyers for her church, noting that as men are the head of the household, they should set good examples for their families by engaging in exercises like this. “We at Transformation Ministries International live in the Land of Goshen, where nothing is lacking and nothing is broken,” she said. “I am so excited to see a lot of young men going about and doing the work of the Lord. They will know we are Christians by our love. We have come to bring change and transformation into the lives of others and make their lives worth living.”