Brother Christopher Anthony Collins, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints, is a Mormon Pioneer in Jamaica. He was born in the lush rural parish of St. Elizabeth. He grew up in the country with his brothers and sisters, until he lost his mother at the age of twelve. He them moved to Clarendon to live with his older sister where he met the missionaries. He joined the church at the age of eighteen in the 1980’s when the church was just being organized in Jamaica. Shortly thereafter he served a full time mission in the Kingston Jamaica Mission from 1986 to 1988. He was one of the first Jamaicans to serve a full time mission in his own country. By 1991 he met and married his eternal companion, Eugenia Collins in the Atlanta Temple.
After marriage, he worked as a Salesman for Dairy Farmers in Kingston. While in Kingston he served as District President until better job opportunities called him back to St. Elizabeth in 1997. By then he had a young family of three children, two girls and one boy. At the time that he and his family moved, the only branch was the Santa Cruz Branch-three hours drive from their new home in St. Elizabeth. Brother Collins made that three hour drive every Sunday to make sure that his family went to church. Soon efforts were made to have a branch closer to home and missionaries were sent to Junction St. Elizabeth to begin proselyting. That branch was successfully opened and other members who joined the church were able to attend on Sundays.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Brother Collins faithfully served in the Church and worked to provide for his family until illness prevented him from doing so any more. Brother Collins has lost his sight but that has not stopped him from serving the Lord. He is currently serving as branch president in the Junction Branch. He now has seven children, including a son who recently returned from his mission and a daughter currently awaiting her mission call.
Brother Collins has truly served the Lord and has been instrumental in the creation of the Junction Branch where he now serves. He enjoys spending time with his children and listening to church literature. He often talks of the day when he will have his sight again, but in the meantime he continues in the faith.