avatar
Anneta Pinto-Young
avatarAnneta Pinto-Young4 min read  

For Us or Against Us (2)

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?

In our last devotion, we discussed the concept of neutrality and explored how this is sometimes linked to people pleasing. Today we will consider the term advocacy and consider what role the church has to play in this area. An advocate is someone who publicly supports a cause or who champions a case on someone’s behalf. Lawyers are considered advocates as they attend courts to present a case on behalf of a client.

John makes reference to Jesus Christ being an advocate for the church. The encouragement is that we do not fall into sin, but if we do sin, we have an advocate in the person of Jesus. “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). A propitiator is someone who stands in the gap to appease or make amends for the wrongs done by others.

Our aim and assignment is to be like Jesus and to do greater works than he did. This often means standing in the gap for the less fortunate and being a voice for people who do not have a voice. There are many groups of people in the world who are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination. The church cannot afford to be silent on issues that affect the marginalised and oppressed. Neither can the church choose only to be vocal around issues that encourage ‘religious posturing’ such as abortion.

We are salt and light. Light cannot be hidden but shines brighter in the darkness. We are the salt of the earth and salt preserves and adds flavour to what would otherwise be bland and tasteless (Matthew 5:13-16). The church represents the heartbeat of the world and it is our presence on earth which keeps the Devil from having complete dominion.

Our prayers are powerful and effective and we have a role to play in prayer for our nations and the world. However, there are circumstances when we have to do more than praying. Some occasions require a helping hand or a voice crying out to the darkness to stand back and allow the light to shine through.

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).

A.P.-Y.

Published by Anneta Pinto-Young

I am a trained Social Worker who currently provides professional leadership on a programme to support Social Work students and Newly Qualified Social Workers entering the Social Work Profession.

Born and raised in Jamaica in a Christian family where my father is an ordained Pastor and Deacon who has served for over 50 years in the ministry. My father is also a trained musician and our family can be described as a musical family. I grew up in a small farming community in St. Peter’s, St. Andrew and my parents also have a small farm.

I credit my gift of writing to my father who I watched and listened to over the years as he wrote sermons, poems and other recitals in his capacity in ministry. English has always been an easy subject for me and over the years I have developed an increased interest in writing.

I am a Trainer, I sing and have a passion for worship, the spoken word and the free flow of the prophetic anointing. I am married to my best friend Andrew Christopher Young who is an advanced Musician and whose music you can find on YouTube and Facebook. I am a trained Coach and Mentor and I love experimenting with food so I love cooking. I enjoy trying cultural dishes from across the world and I view food as an entry into cultures and languages.
View all posts by Anneta Pinto-Young

Published
March 15, 2021March 22, 2021

Post navigation

    See all from Anneta Pinto-Young

    Editor's Picks

    avatar

    Anneta Pinto-Young

    Anneta was Born and raised in Jamaica in a large family of eight children, where her father is an ordained Pastor and Deacon who served over 50 years in ministry. Her father is a trained musician, and she grew up in a musical family of singers and musicians and there was always singing and music in her childhood home. Anneta has served in the church from as early as she can remember, singing in the choir, directing the children’s choir, praise and worship leader, Sunday school Teacher and as an Assistant Youth Director. She came from humble beginnings and grew up in a small farming community in St. Peter’s, St. Andrew. She is a writer who writes inspirational content for a blog -Devotional Inspirations which is featured on Wordpress.com and Crossmaps.com. Her writing was published in an Anthology of Social Workers in 2021 - Hidden Narratives from Social Workers of Colour. She credits her gift of writing to her father who she watched and listened to over the years as he wrote sermons, poems and other recitals in his capacity in ministry. Anneta is a singer and has sung lead in choirs in churches from as young as she can remember and has featured on the Jazz circuit with the ACY Jazz Organ Trio in 2022 and 2023. Anneta also worked with the 606 Gospel group and featured at the 606 Jazz Club between 2019 and 2021. Her musical style is rhythmic with an eclectic blend of gospel, blues, jazz and ballads. Anneta is an advocate at heart, having started her career in 2001 within the charity sector where she was trained in advocacy. Those early years of Anneta’s career focused on supporting grassroots communities in advocating at the local government levels for community resources. She trained communities in governance and decision making and worked to facilitate consultations with local communities. She worked on developing a sanitation policy in Jamaica in 2007 and helped to deliver on this policy and was part of a national planning committee for the Regional Caribbean Sanitation Conference in April, 2007. Anneta was also a United Nations sponsored youth representative at the World Conference Against Racism in South Africa in 2001. She also represented her organisation and country at other international conferences and events focused on aid effectiveness and development, youth advocacy and lobbying and the United Nations Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean in Chile, Nicaragua, Canada and attended the Commonwealth People’s Forum Meeting in the United Kingdom in 2008 as an official Jamaican representative and was interviewed on BBC Radio. Anneta is a trained Social Worker with close to twelve years’ experience in the field. She is a Coach and Mentor with level 7 post graduate qualifying experience from Kingston University since 2020 and she specialises in providing wellbeing coaching, to support individuals with career planning and creating a vision for their future. Anneta created the five-year plan template which she has used to support staff at various stages in their career development. Her coaching style focuses on building self-awareness, increasing confidence and empowering clients to understand their life’s purpose, tap into their gifts, talents and abilities and encourages them to maximise their life’s potential. Sessions with Anneta are deeply reflective, therapeutic and gets to the core of life experiences that may have created limited beliefs and ideas about oneself. Clients have fed back about feeling more confident, self-assured, feeling more connected spiritually, empowered and able to take on life’s challenges and learning how to turn obstacles into opportunities. Anneta is trained in professional leadership through the Frontline Pathways Leadership programme, the Practice Supervision Development Programme and has over seven years’ experience of leading on programmes to Managers, social workers, students, Newly Qualified Social Workers, practice educators, trainers and practice supervisors. Anneta is a skilled trainer and facilitator with over twelve years’ experience in delivering training, facilitating groups and providing action facilitation. She is trained in Action and Facilitation Strategies through the Institute of Leadership and Management, completed the training of trainers and has completed participatory action and learning and action programmes.

      See all from Anneta Pinto-Young