With the country's murder toll continuing to climb unabated and now bordering on the 850 mark, one of the nation's largest Christian groups is organising a special 'Day of Prayer.'

Head of the Adventist Church in Jamaica, Pastor Patrick Allen, is calling on the more than 650 congregations across the island to set aside Saturday, August 2, to seek the Lord's face on behalf of the nation in light of the relentless crime, violence and economic woes.

"We are concerned about the rampant crime and violence affecting our nation," said Allen. "Our beautiful island Jamaica has been reeling under the effects of lawlessness, resulting in a record number of murders, rape and crime against the young and old in our society.

Interventions

Numerous social and security interventions by Government, security forces, the Church, the business sector, other non-govern-mental organisations and individuals have not yielded the success we desire. Nevertheless, without these interventions, the problem would have been worse."

This latest church initiative comes just days after Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced a list of new strategies to control crime.

"As a church, we believe that we should employ the best weapon at our disposal - prayer," Allen said. "Therefore we are calling on our members, and the entire nation at large, to join us in our petition on August 2 in any of our churches convenient to you islandwide. We feel that this is a good time to ask for divine intervention and liberation from the scourge of crime and violence, economic distress and moral decay.