Jamaica: Church Takes Parable of the Good Samaritan Literally

Hundreds of Kingston, Jamaica’s homeless will soon benefit from the opening of the Good Samaritan Inn, which aims to provide food and clothing for the homeless in the island-nation’s capital.

Seventh-day Adventists in East Jamaica recently purchased the one-stop, drop-in facility.  Pastor Adrian Cotterell, president of the Adventist church in East Jamaica said, “it will provide a hot meal, a change of garment and a bath for folks who are living on the streets and other individuals from various communities that may need this sort of assistance.”

It is the story of the Good Samaritan as told by Jesus in Luke 10: 25 to 37 that inspired the church to open the facility.

Martin Henry, a church member who is on the board for the development of the project said church members are excited about the project. “We feel that the church’s social conscience ought to have greater expression, especially in an urban setting. Our ministry of preaching and teaching must be balanced against the hard circumstances of people in the community. If we are going to be reaching out we must address some of the social problems as well,” he said.

Cotterell said the need for a facility like the Good Samaritan Inn became increasingly clear as over the years local churches provided lunches to the homeless and saw that the needs were even greater than just occasionally providing food.

Cotterell said the two-story building will also host a job-skills training center and a church congregation.

He said the church in East Jamaica has never done something on this scale before. “We believe on this larger scale we will be able to impact more individuals not just in one particular area but the larger community in which the [church] operates.”

He added that even though they are still fundraising for the day-to-day operations of the building, the church is committed to making the Inn a mainstay in the community.

“We need to be in the community,” Cotterell explained. “This is one of the ways that we can place the church in the community. It is part of our responsibility to help our brothers who are less fortunate to enjoy the basics of life.”

For more information on the project visit