Adventist convention brings cheer to hospital, infirmary

The St Ann's Bay Hospital and St Ann Infirmary are both to benefit from Jamaica's hosting of the Adventist Lay-persons Services and Industries (ASi) Convention which begins today at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

The health facilities will receive much-needed supplies in line with the tradition of the ASi to impact the community in which the annual convention is held.

Convention 2011, which is the 11th staging and the second in Jamaica, which will end on August 20, under the theme 'Messengers of Hope'.

Delegates from North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, who are part of the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, will be in attendance. They will be joined over the four-day period by delegates and participants from Jamaica and other parts of the world.

Making a difference

"We are very pleased to host this convention in Jamaica," said Marston Thomas, president of ASi-Jamaica. "This week, as we celebrate, network and get involved in other activities, we are happy to be able to make a difference in the lives of patients and residents of the hospital and infirmary. Our main emphasis will be on the maternity and children wards of the hospital."

In addition to the charities mentioned, the net proceeds of the convention will go towards the Good Samaritan Inn in Kingston, the Educational Foundation for Children Care in Four Paths, Clarendon, and the West Jamaica Feeding Programme in Montego Bay, St James.

There will be more than 30 exhibition booths, along with motivational presentations, and empowerment seminars on investments and healthy lifestyle. Portions of the event will be broadcast via the Internet, with special aspects of the programme live on NCU Radio and NCU TV. Highlights of the events will be shown on Hope TV.

ASi is the business and professional arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide. The ethos of ASi-Inter-American Division is to assist in the development of the whole person, and in the past the organisation has given generously to the relief efforts in Haiti, the Good Samaritan Inn and the West Jamaica Conference Feeding Programme, among other charities in the region.