GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer
Onisha Baker looks at her baby boy, Theomar Cornwall, as Reverend Jacob Powell (left) prays the prayer of dedication on him, on June 6, at a dedication ceremony at the Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth. - george henry
malvern st elizabeth:
It was a proud moment for Onisha Baker, mother of Theomar Cornwall, when she took the lad to Reverend Jacob Powell at the Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, for him to be dedicated to God.
The mother was all smiles and at times appeared curious as the minister urged her to ensure that her son knows the way of the Lord from early. She stared at her son while the pastor prayed God's blessings on him and acknowledged every word sent up to God by Reverend Powell on the behalf of Theomar.
Fear of God
However, prior to the baby boy being prayed for, the young mother was told that it was important to take the child to church and ensure that he is brought up properly and in the fear of God.
"Children are not to be brought up in this world without religious instructions and guidance. Children need to be properly guided.
If they are not properly guided, then they will grow up without purpose for their lives, without acknowledging any real direction in which their lives should go," Reverend Powell told the mother.
The pastor said a number of the problems currently affecting Jamaica, particularly crime and violence, exist because children were either not raised properly or they walked away from the guidance their parents gave to them earlier on in life.
He added that the majority of the crime currently taking place in Jamaica is being perpetrated by young men between the ages of 15 and 29. Reverend Powell said he wonders where it all went wrong.
Parents losing out
He questioned whether it had to do with parents losing out on properly guiding their children, or if the youths flatly refuse to be guided. He added that the problem had to do with both because parents lost out somewhere on the proper guidance which children need.
Reverend Powell said children are also refusing to follow rules and regulations that, according to him, will do them no harm.
Baker, who was attentive throughout the instructions given by the pastor, said she was happy to have been given them.
She said she would ensure that Theomar receives the proper guidance necessary to make him into a worthwhile citizen.
She told THE STAR that she felt good knowing that her baby was dedicated to the Lord, because God's presence will always be around him.
Baker also pledged to make her son know the way of the Lord from early, and that she will be doing so by making sure that he is taken to church regularly and that Christ-like behaviours are displayed around him at all times.
Theomar Cornwall is the son of Roger Cornwall and was born at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay on May 6.
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