There is at present among the young people of Jamaica a great deal of spiritual concern. In most of the churches on the island, a great part of the members are young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five years. They are deeply concerned with trying to lead a Christian life and such expressions as “The Lord will provide” are very commonly heard among them.
The concern of life for these young people is very much the same as that for young people in their age group throughout the world; they are faced with the hardships of unemployment and other financial difficulties. Two-thirds of the young Jamaicans are unemployed and have no main source of income, while some of them have families which depend on them. Some of these unemployed young people are educated and a great proportion are skilled in some trade or other. But, due to the state of the economy, there are very few industries and, therefore, fewer jobs to offer to this cream of Jamaican society.
The result of this is, however, that on church days everybody goes to church where they seem to forget their worries and are willing to worship the Lord. Most of the young people of Jamaica are more active in the church than the older Jamaicans and will not grumble when asked to do some things for their church and their community. Although most of the young Jamaicans are frustrated and talk of emigrating to a more developed country, their chief ambition is actually to work and help ease the social and economic strain of our country.
In conclusion, one could say that the young people are both spiritually concerned and patriotic in their poor and humble way.
May God send His blessing to our young people!