While expressing confidence that the current crime trends will be reversed, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said there must also be a culture shift in The Bahamas in order for the country to return to the days when violent crime did not dominate the headlines.
He was speaking yesterday afternoon at the grand opening and dedication ceremony for the Gladstone Road headquarters of the Atlantic Caribbean Union of Seventh-day Adventists.  The headquarters opened during a time when violent crime is increasing in the country.
"We must rediscover and strengthen positive attitudes which earlier typified our people, and reinforce the spirit of volunteerism and giving among our people, most particularly among young people," Ingraham said.
"In truth, even while we will stem and reverse the anti-social and criminal behavior that undermines our society, we have a broader task and mission.  That mission is to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence, a culture of mutual well-being and fellowship, a culture of life and respect for the giver of life."
Ingraham said the Seventh Day Adventist Church has long been a beacon of faithful service and Christian stewardship in The Bahamas, most notably because of its exemplary work among young people, and in support of healthy family life and healthy lifestyles.
"Your promotion and encouragement of responsibility within the family, the community and indeed the nation is most appreciated, especially so as we address the debilitating influence which the naked pursuit of material wealth, at any and all costs, is visiting on our land; for too many amongst us in The Bahamas have forgotten the true purpose of our lives - to love God and our neighbors as ourselves," he said.
Ingraham encouraged the church to share its initiatives on healthy lifestyles and faith-based best practices in collaboration with other faith- and community-based groups, as well as in collaboration with public-private partnerships.
"I congratulate the leadership of the Bahamas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, whose capable and dedicated leadership has demonstrated to the wider Seventh-day Adventist West Indies Union your capacity to assume enhanced responsibility for the work of the church in The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands," he said.

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