Young men in the tough community of March Pen in Spanish Town want change.

At least that is what they seem to be saying by their response to a crusade being put on by an alliance of seven churches in the March Pen and Scarlet Road area.

Organisers of the crusade say an unusually large number of young men have responded to calls offering a new life, issued throughout the services. Many from the community - as many as 31 young men - have also been baptised.

Last Wednesday night, the message Pastor Audley Arnold preached was about change.

"My message was from Ezekiel 16, where the Bible said, 'I saw you polluted in your own blood, and I said to you live'!" said Arnold.

"The message was that there was a generational curse over the community. Because your father was a gunman you don't have to be a gunman, because your mother was a prostitute you don't have to come out the same way. What the community needs is change!" Arnold preached to the crowd.

eager response

The effect on the young men was evident by their eager response, Arnold related.

"At one point when I was in the pool baptising, I felt someone touch me in my back. It was a young man with a big spliff, saying 'Pastor tek this, me tired a this now, me nuh want this nuh more, a God me want now'," Arnold told The Gleaner.

The Reverend Eric Antonio, head of the Pentecostal Miracles Deliverance Centre, and one of the leaders hosting the event, said the effect on the young men in the community was so remarkable, it went beyond what anyone would have expected, as some of the young men had either been involved in questionable activities, or were prone to that lifestyle.

fostering peace

There even seem to be signs that the crusade might be fostering peace among the divisive factions of the community, Antonio said.

The tough community is usually divided into warring sections, like top and bottom March Pen Road.

On Thursday night, at least four young men from top March Pen Road were baptised at the crusade, even though the tent was pitched close to the bottom of March Pen Road.

"You see, we have begun to tear down the barriers. This is what we want; we want to foster unity. People respect the churches enough to allow the safe passage of persons from one section of the community to the next," Antonio said.

andrew.wildes@gleanerjm.com