Everlasting Love Ministry celebrates 10th anniversary with extraordinary conference |03 September 2020

A song performance (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

Everlasting Love Ministry, founded by Jude S. K. Fred, celebrated its milestone 10th anniversary last weekend with a special extraordinary conference, under the theme ‘9941- Hope to the Hopeless’.      

The conference, held over the course of three days, namely, Friday at 6pm, Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 10am at the Plaisance community centre, once again presented an opportunity to reach out to the youths and families of Seychelles who are hurt, broken and despaired, by educating, empowering and offering support to them through the Ministry’s Spiritual Empowerment Programme and other programmes, which has over the past decade helped to bring about positive changes in many lives.

“The past 10 years have been challenging in that there has been some criticism over the organisation and what it aims to do, but it has also been rewarding and fulfilling, fulfilling in terms of what we have achieved and how much we have accomplished through our programmes. One highlight for us throughout the years however, is that all our activities are well-received and usually attract lots of people, and for this celebration, we were able to reach out and bring hope to those who most need I,” Mr Fred told Seychelles NATION.

“The chosen theme for the celebrations, 9941 in large means the 99 percent who form the majority, should seek out the one percent, who are broken, hopeless or who have lost their way. One of our main objectives is to reach out towards the community to empower and educate, especially the youths to be ambassadors for change, and to themselves be able to reach out and offer their support to others,” Mr Fred explained.

During the weekend’s events, bands animated the adoration with songs of worship, while other members shared their testimonies about the positive changes they have brought about in their own lives and the lives of those around them, and put on heartfelt song and dance performances. The event successfully attracted some newcomers, some of whom will be advancing forward on programmes on offer by the Ministry.

“Currently, our focus is primarily on our target groups from Corgat Estate and Les Mamelles and surrounding communities. In fact, in partnership with the district administration of Plaisance, we are working to start a rehabilitation programme whereby we can offer counselling and mentoring twice per week, as we do at our Oceangate House office daily,” Mr Fred added.

Everlasting Love Ministry offers a rehabilitation programme in partnership with external partners based in South Africa, but the vision is to bring closer to communities most impacted by the drug issue and other social ills. Newcomers and others facing certain difficulties have been placed on the counselling and mentorship programme, already on offer daily at the Oceangate House office, and which can be accessed by appointment, although walk-ins are also welcome. According to figures recorded by Everlasting Love Ministry (ELM), over 80 persons accessed counselling and mentorship services offered by ELM over the course of 2019.

As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, ELM will officially launch its strategic plan 2020-2025 in October, with a vision to continuously build on the foundation to empower people and society in general. In addition to community outreaches, ELM aims to reach out to more youths and other groups in society, especially those most vulnerable.

As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, ELM is on October 3, hosting a gospel concert at Eden Bleu Hotel. Tickets for the event are priced at R400 and must be pre-booked on account of the limited number of seats available.

Laura Pillay