The first time I met Br. Eddie Dunbar was some time in May, 1984. He was a rich landlord living in a very rich, residential area (Havendale) in Kingston, Jamaica. One of my Bible study students, who was another rich Kington business man (who became my friend) had recommended that I see Mr. Dunbar to get an apartment to rent.
After Sabbath close, Br. Ian Grant went with me to check out Mr. Eddie Dunbar to see if I could rent an apartment from him. We introduced ourselves to him as missionaries and he started telling us about his mother (who had years ago become a Christian); he said he (Eddie) was studying with the Herbert W. Armstrong people (Worldwide Church of God) who believed in the Sabbath. He said he believed Herbert Armstrong was a true prophet, and he would continue to read Armstrong’s religious materials. I told Br. Dunbar that Armstrong was a false prophet, and if he (Eddie) gave me the opportunity to study the Bible with him, I would prove that Herbert W. Armstrong is a false prophet, and that his organization, the Worldwide Church of God, was a false church.
Br. Eddie Dunbar accepted the offer to study the Bible, and the next week I started to study the Bible and the 3rd Angel’s message with him. God convicted him, converted him and led him to commit his life to the Lord in baptism (within one year of starting to study the Bible with me). Br. Eddie Dunbar got baptized and joined God’s church as a member of the local Kingston Church.
Br. Dunbar, served the church in several capacities, including Sabbath School Superintendent and teacher. He was always active in missionary work, always ready and willing to do anything and everything for God and God’s people.
He was warm, generous, extremely educated and intelligent, a deep-thinking brother who was also very humble and unassuming. Br. Dunbar grew up in a British background and had a British accent. This brother was an extremely polite, well-spoken, forgiving and “polished” man who sacrificed a lot for Jesus, whom he dearly loved. He loved to study the Bible and the writings of Sis. Ellen. G. White.
I am 100% certain that the Spirit of Prophecy books and the Bible(s) he left behind are marked and highlighted, and and written up with personal notes. One of the most memorable things about Br. Eddie was that he was perhaps one of the most generous and kind people one could ever meet. He cared for the poor and fatherless, and opened his home to those who were less fortunate than himself.
He sold his property in Kingston and moved to a rural area of Jamaica in the Parish of St. Mary, where he bought and lived on a farm. We even had a Jamaican Field Conference on his farm at one time.
Br. Eddie gave a lot of help to at least two young men who later became Bible Workers in our church. Br. Eddie Dunbar had a sweet, melodious base/baritone voice. . . and he loved to sing Christians hymns. One of his favourite hymns was: “I Come to the Garden Alone.” By the end of his earthly journey (life), Br. Dunbar may not have had a lot of money in earthly banks. . . but by the grace of God, he laid up for himself much eternal treasures in the bank of Heaven, through the generous, faithful Christian life that he lived to the very end. He was a father to many, and a wonderful and warm brother to all who had the privilege to have known him in the Church of God. May his soul rest in peace, with the assurance that in the Partial Resurrection, he will be one of the 144,000 saints.
Morris Lowe