BY GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer
Mrs. Debbie Barracks and her husband Clive who took their daughter Sherika to be dedicated to God. - GEORGE HENRY
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
SUNDAY APRIL 2, will be a day long remembered by Debbie and Clive Barracks of Sanguinetti in Clarendon. It is the day when they both brought their little three-month-old infant Sherika, to be blessed and dedicated to God.
The parents who have two older children and who are Christian members of the Sanguinetti New Testament Church of God, did what the Bible said in Mark 10 verse14 when it advised, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them not, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven".
Dressed in a beautiful white dress with a head piece to match, little Sherika watched innocently as Bishop Barrington DaCosta, Bethel Bible College trainee-pastors Mrs. Lesline Henry and Samuel Smith presided over the ceremony.
Sherika who was born at the Percy Junor Hospital in Manchester on December 31, last year, was prayed for by Mrs. Henry, while God's blessings were pronounced on her by Bishop DaCosta and Rev. Smith. They were supported by other officers in the Sanguinetti Church.
Bishop DaCosta, during his remarks before little Sherika was prayed for in front of a packed church, said it was a delight that Debbie and Clive Barracks could have taken their daughter to God.
DaCosta said the parents took Sherika to be dedicated to God at the right time. A time when children on a whole need God's protection more than ever.
"If there is a time when children need the protection of God is now. So many things are happening to our young children in these days, and so we need to ask God for their protection," said the bishop.
He said the Bible says that parents need to train up their children in the way they should go, so that when they become old they will not depart from it. Comparing the young child to a young tree, DaCosta explained that it is easier to bend a tree while it is young than to bend one when it is old.
He noted that parents need to exercise tough love among their children and stated that as much as parents love their children they should not refuse to take the necessary corrective measures to ensure that they are brought up the right way.
The christening of little Sherika was the first to take place at the Sanguinetti New Testament Church since the start of the year. It was also witnessed by Sherika's godmother Nadine Thompson, who was on hand to give support to Debbie and Clive.
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