Trinidad 's Winston Garcia was the resource person at a youth crusade organised by the Diocesan Youth Secretariat in Grenada on the weekend of April 8-10.

The crusade was held at Tanteen Recreation Grounds, beginning at 5 p.m. each day, and the numbers grew as the weekend progressed.

The programme began with lusty singing, prayers and cultural presentations from several youth groups.

Bro Winston, no stranger to the diocese, brought his wealth of inspiring personal experiences to the crusade, and “seems to have that special talent of holding his listeners' keen attention”.

He spoke on a wide range of youth issues and concerns, like drugs, sex and violence. He would highlight a problem and then point out that the best way to deal with it was through Jesus.

Bro Winston had advice for both the young men and women.

He urged the young women to respect themselves if they wished to be respected, and warned them about the variety of subtle tricks of seduction used by men.

Winston Garcia

Addressing the young men, he cautioned them against what he called aggressive women, who might sometimes deliberately put temptation in their way.

Bro Winston also spoke of a problem which was prevalent in Trinidad and which has become a major source of concern in Grenada – liaisons between maxi-taxi conductors/operators and schoolgirls.

He noted that some young people who felt depressed or who had little sense of self-worth might have these feelings because of a negative attitude of their parents during pregnancy.

Emphasising that learning began in the womb, Bro Winston said when parents regret a pregnancy the child usually grew up with a negative attitude to life and turned to drugs and violence for escape and for expression.

He punctuated his talk with examples from his own life to highlight the problems and to point the way to conversation and a turnaround.

On the final night of the crusade, the young people brought along several adults – as requested by Bro Winston. He addressed the adults on the issue of their role in the Christian upbringing of their children.

The crusade ended with a healing session.

Many young people expressed great satisfaction with the crusade, saying it was spiritually uplifting.