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Genesis, the flagship event for the Jamaica Youth for Christ (JYFC), had its media launch at the Hyundai Jamaica Showroom in New Kingston on Tuesday, and the organisers are promising another fun-filled, uplifting and God-centred staging of the annual gospel showcase.
Held at the Montego Bay Community Centre, following the traditional New Year’s Eve watch night service, and in Kingston on New Year’s Day at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, Genesis wears the crown as the longest-running gospel concert in the entire Caribbean. It had its genesis in 1986.
At the launch, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport Olivia Grange, who was represented by Ariane Roxburgh, noted that despite facing funding constraints, and even natural disasters, the organisers of Genesis Praise Fest have always found a way to make the festival a reality each year.
The line-up for the 2025 staging includes some heavyweight gospel acts, among them Sister Patt, who will be performing at Genesis after a 10-year hiatus; gospel favourite Kevin Downswell, who was present at the launch; Blessed Messenger out of Trinidad and Tobago, the artiste who specialises in the art of ‘messengerlogy’; Ryan Mark, who recently released the album Milestone; DJ Nicholas; Goddy Goddy; Johnmark Wiggan; and Prince Saj.
With the focus on youth, Kemar Guyah, coordinator for Genesis, is confident that this event is the right note on which that particular demographic should start the new year.
“My hope is to see young people from all over Jamaica coming together in one location, lifting up Christ, having fun, a positive vibe, a positive environment. Our hope is really to bring that sense of love, peace and unity within our nation. We are in a crisis right now, where we see young people dying daily and a lot of things are happening. We want to encourage young people that they can have fun and that they can enjoy the presence of the Lord. One of the things that I am looking forward to is seeing the entire family coming together in love and unity,” said Guyah, who has been in charge of the entire planning and execution of Genesis Praise Fest for the last 10 years.
Guyah is immensely proud that the festival has provided a platform for up-and-coming gospel artiste to expose their talents to the world and give them that much-needed promotion, which is vital to their eventual success. Some of the names he called were not familiar, but the story may very well be different after their performance on the Genesis stage. The CAG Family, Pazzion, Minister D. Brown, Da Levite, Treze Gaye, Shaundre and KaanaStone Howard are the new acts who will help the audience to get their praise on during the Lime Light segment,which is sponsored by light and power company JPS.
Also performing will be the Genesis Praise Squad, which Guyah explained is “an idea that came to life last year”.
“We decided to put together a group of young people, singing, worshipping and praising together. From that inception, they have been doing well and going places and have done a number of events during the year,” Guyah shared.
Rian Davis and Audia Spencer Brown, who the Sterling Gospel Awards named Breakout Sensation of the Year for 2023, round out the line-up.
Guyah, who is a volunteer at the JYFC, described his work at the festival as “satisfying” and shared that it “is a part of my fulfilment in terms of giving back to an organisation”.
“To be honest, it comes with its own challenges, in terms of putting the event together … getting sponsorship and that kind of thing … but God has continued to carry us through. And at the end of the day, we see the reward …we see young people coming together and having fun and starting the year right,” he said.
Host for the evening, radio and television personality, singer and actress Nadine Blair had sound words of advice and a special request.
“I want us to keep Genesis at the top of our prayer list ... first of all, it’s outdoor and we want to make the sure that the clouds understand that it’s not their time...they are not invited. And, even more, I want God to be placed in the place, and so, bring your worship, bring your best praise, bring your dancing shoes and let’s have a good time at Genesis, whether in Montego Bay or in Kingston,” said Blair.
Jamaica Youth for Christ is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering the youth of Jamaica through faith, music, and community development.
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