Pastor explains why Pamela lost her man

A Seventh-day Adventist preacher is attracting quite a bit of attention for incorporating dancehall-inspired themes into his messages during his Proclamations of Hope Evangelistic Crusade (Season 2), currently running in Moneague, St Ann.

Topics such as ' Why Pamela Lose Her Man', ' Pretty Face and Bad Character', 'Gully or Gaza' and ' Nuff Gal Inna Bungle' are being explored by Pastor Jermaine Johnson, who has been stirring up significant attention.

"My choice of subjects is an attempt to grab the attention of my key audience in order for me to get the message out to them because ultimately, I am not preaching the dancehall," Johnson told THE STAR.

He added: "In my presentation, I decry some of the messages and lifestyle that we see coming out of the dancehall because of their social impact on some of our youth and society at large. But I can find elements in them that will make people say 'What is he going to talk about?'"

SHIFTED FOCUS

A motivational speaker and a minister of 10 years, Johnson oversees the Moneague District of Seventh-day Adventist Churches in St Ann. He admitted harbouring thoughts of becoming a dancehall artiste while he attended Titchfield Hih School in Portland. However, when he got baptised in 1999, at 15 years old, his focus shifted. Now, 24 years later, he remains fully committed to the gospel.

Johnson acknowledged that his preaching method is unorthodox, but emphasised that it is not about gimmicks. Testament of the wisdom of his technique could very well be the 88 persons who have been baptised in seasons one and two of the 2023 crusade.

'Why Pamela Lose Her Man' was presented last week Wednesday night. Johnson borrowed from the parable of the 10 virgins in the Bible and illustrated that the loss of her beloved was because she never focused on the TLC.

The 'T' represented her tendency to take things for granted, the 'L' symbolised her lack of commitment, and the 'C' highlighted her unfortunate choice of company.

"We can talk about common relationship woes that people experience and then I bring it back to the biblical theme. It's about using the known to lead people's attention to the unknown," Johnson said.

The Gully or Gaza theme was used during the crusade's opening night on July 16. Johnson embarked on a biblical exposition about what God has to say about the gully, and moreso the Gaza, in a prophecy that was written in the book of Zechariah. In the scripture it was said that Gaza shall lose her king.

"The first time that I did Gullly or Gaza was in 2014 ... a little after the incarceration of Vybz Kartel [head of the dancehall outfit, the Gaza Empire] and it caused some discomfort when I announced it. But in my message I said that gullies are seen as a place of waste and desolation and God wants to lift us out of the quagmire. Gaza has always been portrayed as a place of violence, bombings, and murders. The sum total of my message was a nuh gully mi seh, and a nuh gaza mi seh, but a Jesus mi seh. I went on to show why I chose Jesus. That night at the tent was packed - Rastaman, baldhead, everybody. At the altar I had scores of young people who had come to hear what pastor was going to choose. Yuh know what they ended up with? Jesus," Johnson said.