National Prayer Vigil scheduled for St Elizabeth on Sunday, December 8

The 32nd annual National Prayer Vigil is to be staged at Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth on Sunday (December 8).

The event is being held in the parish for the second time in the history of the vigil.

During a recent press conference at the church, Chairman of the National Prayer Vigil Committee, Evangelist Errol Rattray, invited Jamaicans to join in the period of prayer between 6pm and 9pm.

He cited the power of prayer in healing the nation.

“I believe in the power of prayer. There is a thing that is called supernatural intervention; some people call it divine intervention....  If Jamaica did not have the praying people and the prayers being done in this nation, we would be worse off. We must pray for this nation, and I believe that God is going to turn this nation around.  I am still convinced that when the people of God unite and pray, God stops and God does things,” he said.

Rattray urged those who cannot attend in person to join the live broadcast on radio and the livestreams on social media.

He informed that a similar prayer vigil is to be held in the United States soon for Jamaicans in the diaspora.

Meanwhile, Rattray informed that the annual vigil has contributed to many causes across the island, and this year will be no different.

“We have contributed much-needed medical machinery to hospitals, contributed to schools, and on one occasion one company gave us an ambulance,” he said.

This year, the St Elizabeth branch of the committee will be replacing tables and chairs at the infirmary in the parish.

The 2024 National Prayer Vigil, themed ‘Justice, Unity, Peace, Healing’, is being staged under the patronage of Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen.

The event, which was initiated by a group of ministers in Kingston, was originally held at King’s House, but was subsequently moved to different parishes.

The Parish Ministers’ Fraternal has traditionally helped to plan and execute the event near the end of each year, usually on the second Sunday in the month of December.