Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is using film as an outreach tool in Barbados, aiming to steer young people away from gang violence by drawing parallels with similar struggles faced by youths in Nigeria.
YWAM screened “Go Africa: Skyboy and the Woman of Honor” on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the Globe Drive-In Cinema at Adams Castle, Christ Church — the island’s only drive-in theater — targeting young Barbadians vulnerable to gang culture and crime.
Jack MacCall, YWAM’s base leader in Barbados, said the film was intentionally selected to resonate with local youths, believing they would identify with its themes of leaving violence behind to discover a new identity and purpose in Christ.
“Seeing the youth of Barbados get involved in violence and killing one another is something that breaks my heart personally,” MacCall told the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.
“Now that I am a father to a two-year-old, I want to do everything I can to ensure he — and all our children — have a better future than that,” he said.
“Our ministry offers various programs where young people can find true purpose in Christ and fulfillment in their lives, rather than going down a road of negativity and violence. I work with youth year-round, and for me, it is incredibly life-giving to see them discover their true identity, talents and purpose.”
The film, released globally in October 2025, was directed by David L. Cunningham, the son of YWAM founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham, and is based on true events from the early days of YWAM’s missionary work in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The story follows efforts to reach militants, child soldiers and individuals involved in occult practices, offering pathways toward faith, forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ.
YWAM’s focus on youth outreach comes amid ongoing concerns about gang activity in Barbados. The Global Organised Crime Index describes gang presence on the island as “significant,” identifying groups such as Dawg Pound, Red Sea and The Dungeon as being involved in drug and arms trafficking, robbery and violence.
“While these gangs do not control territory, they operate under structured leadership, and there are concerns about their recruitment of vulnerable children,” the index said in its country briefing on Barbados. It also cited indications that certain politicians may be influenced by gang leaders.
The report noted that efforts to curb violence have included discussions among gangs aimed at establishing truces, particularly to reduce gun-related incidents, while also highlighting links between local gangs and regional criminal networks. Less-structured criminal groups were described as being involved in firearms trafficking, drugs — notably cocaine and cannabis — and human trafficking, though details surrounding those networks remain unclear.
Concerns about youth crime were reinforced by recent figures showing 1,390 young Barbadians entering the criminal justice system during the first 10 months of 2025. The data were cited in a Barbados Today editorial published in November, referencing remarks by the Rev. Anderson Kellman, district superintendent for the Church of the Nazarene in Barbados and senior pastor of Dunamis Outreach Ministries in St. George.
The statistics were unveiled at a rally organized by the Christian values group Family-Faith-Freedom earlier in the month, where Kellman warned that a lack of spiritual grounding had negatively affected what he described as “a generation of individuals.”
At the same rally, the Rev. Roger Husbands, director of Drug Education and Counselling Services, said young people needed guidance to process frustration and to discover purpose in their lives.
“The statistics are really the faces and futures of too many of our sons, daughters and neighbors,” the Barbados Today editorial said. “The growing level of violence and lawlessness among young people is not a storm that occurred overnight. It is the result of years of wearing away of the family structure, moral teaching and community.”
