Fresh Bread Ministries International unveil scholarship fund to honour late founder

WESTERN BUREAU:

THE MONTEGO Bay-based Fresh Bread Ministries International [FBMI], a nondenominational church, has formally launched a new scholarship fund to assist a selected ward of the state in St James, as part of its 25th anniversary celebration and in honour of its founder, the late Bishop Philemon Samuels.

The fund, the Bishop Philemon Samuels Scholarship Fund, was launched at FBMI’s church building on Market Street, in the western city, on Wednesday. It will be used this year to help fund the education of a ward, who is based at the Melody House Girls’ Home, to the tune of $300,000.

Noida Cooke, a member of Melody House’s board of directors, who attended the launch, expressed gratitude for the financial aid for the ward, who was not identified, but is said to be pursuing tertiary-level studies.

“There are not many wards who go on to tertiary institutions,” said Cooke, albeit admitting that her home has had a few in the past years. “Our beneficiary really needs help, and she is an eager student and is always appreciative of any help she can get, so we are very grateful to have this opportunity for her.”

The fund’s creation and launch are among several activities that FBMI is carrying out this year to mark its 25th anniversary milestone. The church was establishment in October 2000.

Among the other activities planned, are the church’s Word Explosion Conference 2025, which will take place from October 17 to 20, and a banquet at the Iberostar Hotel on October 18. The proceeds from that event will go toward the scholarship fund.

Olga Samuels, FBMI’s current pastor and the widow of Bishop Samuels, told attendees at the launch that her husband, a former board chairman of Howard Cooke Primary School, in Montego Bay, and Rusea’s High School, in Hanover, was always passionate about education and ministry prior to his death in February this year.

“We have realised that sitting in church and just listening to the word of God being preached is different from being really taught the word of God. We have to destroy ignorance with truth, and that was something we wanted, not just to have people hear the word and say, ‘That was a great word,’ but for them to know the truth and understand the word,” said Samuels. “Education was something that my husband really believed in. Beyond his ministry, he served as the chairman for two schools, because he really believed in nurturing the next generation.”

Gloria Henry, vice president of BPO and Logistics at the Port Authority of Jamaica, who is a longstanding member of the FBMI congregation, said that the scholarship fund will continue the outreach work left behind by Bishop Samuels.

“Today is not only about launching a fund; it is about planting a seed in the community of Montego Bay, a seed of opportunity. That, I believe, is exactly the kind of act that Bishop Samuels would celebrate,” said Henry.