Dr Terri-Karelle Johnson, founder of the Open Door Foundation, says the Emancipation Day gathering on Friday, August 1, for the Cece Winans ‘More Than This’ concert was far more than a celebration of ancestral freedom.

She describes it as a powerful spiritual encounter that continues to open doors for vulnerable Jamaicans.

Her foundation, one of the beneficiaries of the concert’s proceeds, has received J$2 million.

“It is breaking bonds and breaking chains, but it was so much more than that. I think when we gathered here on the lawns on August 1st, we were able to celebrate our freedom in Christ, our freedom in our identity in Christ, our freedom to gather and to magnify his name unapologetically, and that was a very beautiful thing,” Johnson said at the handover ceremony of the net proceeds from the CeCe Winans ‘More Than This’ concert, on Wednesday.

Recalling a moving moment during Winans’ performance, Johnson shared that the event was a deeply spiritual experience for her family. “I turned, and I looked at my daughter, crying after Cece Winans sang ‘Come Jesus Come,’ and when I asked her why she was crying, she said she could not explain it. And I said, Well, you have been introduced to the Holy Spirit. This is not just a concert. This was not just an event. This was an encounter with the Holy Spirit.”

Johnson emphasised that the experience symbolised freedom and opened doors for all beneficiaries of the event. “To children going to school, children who need security and stability, elderly and disabled who need opportunities and care, and of course, communities who need healing.

“To Cece Winans, I just want to thank you for showing us what ministry in action looks like. We thank you for always using your platform to glorify God. To the Come Alive Collective, every single person and volunteer who was a part of that team showed us what kingdom excellence looks like,” Johnson continued.

The Open Door Foundation founder expressed that the team, sponsors and attendees’ contribution did not start and end at the lawns, but that the impact went so much further.

“And I can just say for me, with the hurricane that has come, Alex Sterling and the rest of the Open Door Jamaica Foundation, we had to go into communities to find persons with disabilities and to find the elderly who cannot make it to shelters, who cannot make it to jobs, who cannot possibly get in lines to collect care packages, and it is a beautiful thing to see and we will continue to do so,” Johnson added.