REALISING that there was a significant need for a church that caters to people with disabilities, the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SDA) launched its Deaf Church in Portmore, St Catherine.
Four years on, the congregation continues to grow, moving from eight members to 30. Overall, the church caters to some 75 with an average, 35 to 40 worshippers on a given Sabbath.
Pastor serving at the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Adrian Cotterell shared with the Jamaica Observer that the Deaf Church was established on November 12, 2015, because there was a strong passion and desire to minister to individuals with special needs.
And it was only fitting, he said, that it be launched in Portmore, which, according to him, was home for the largest number of deaf people in the country at the time.
