GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

Hugh-Hing Lawrence once strayed from God. Although he grew up in church, he believes peer pressure was the reason for the fall from grace. But, the Sunday school teacher now dedicates a part of his time in service to God, guiding young lives in the way of Christ.

"I used to attend Sunday school from a young age but after I got to the early teenage years, I stopped attending Sunday school on a regular basis. It could have probably been as a result of peer pressure as well as other reasons," said Lawrence.

Lawrence has been a member of the Faith Temple Shiloh Apostolic Church at Cuffie Ridge in St Ann since September of 1994. He has been teaching Sunday school classes for just two years consistently and said he enjoys doing that work for the Creator because it helps him as a Christian to broaden his horizon in terms of the Bible.

Lawrence admitted that his straying from the path of Christ, at the time he did, was mainly because he lacked proper parental guidance in the way of the Lord. He said this was so because his parents were not dedicated Christians, nor were they part of the church at the time.

According to the Sunday school teacher, if children are to do the things their parents want them to do for the Lord, they will have to show their children the good Christian practices for them to emulate, as children would better follow parents doing them.

rededicate his life

When Lawrence decided to rededicate his life to the Lord, having strayed away from Him in his early teenage years, it was not that he was witnessed to by anyone or he had heard a soul-stirring message being preached by a minister.

"I came to the realisation that man was not just like any other being. I had a soul which needed to be saved, and even though you might accomplish a lot of things on this Earth, at the end of it, it's only good for here; and I think on a personal note, I needed to give an account to God for myself. So I think the right thing to do was to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal Saviour," said Lawrence.

"Even as a teacher in the secular side, that is one way in which I can contribute in a meaningful way to the institution that played a vital role in my growth and development," said Lawrence.

He believes that children should be allowed to grow up in the Sunday school because when they do, they learn a lot about Christ. He added that a lot of the things they learn at Sunday school, they will not get on the streets or in their homes.

"So at that early stage, they will learn to develop a good moral conscience of what is good and what are the right things to do; and how to treat people in general," explained Lawrence.

The Sunday school teacher believes that for the most part, children who attend Sunday school or are involved in church activities do better academically than those who are not involved; hence the importance for all children to get involved.

"When they go to Sunday school, it can help to tap into some other resources that they have deep inside of them and which they probably don't even know is there; and for them to realise that the same brain which they would use to study, they were blessed with it by God Almighty. If they have a committed and a good relationship with Him, it will even make things much better for them," he said.

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