With the Anguilla Progressive Movement still savouring its June 29 election victory, the governing party began a weekend of Prayer and Thanksgiving at the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church on Saturday, July 25.
Mount Fortune is the home church in Anguilla of Premier Dr. Ellis Webster and his family. In addressing the congregation, he stated:
“I was groomed by this church to be where I am today. I want you to know that God has a plan on where you have to be. As I said, two Sabbaths ago, half of the leaders of Anguilla have come from the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist Church. That sends a message that God has a plan – that this is a special church and you have to continue to walk in that way. Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 18 says: ‘Let us rise up and build and He strengthened their hands to do this good work’. So we need to build society; the church; the government; and the country in a way that God wants us to do it. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. We wrestle against principalities and powers; against the rulers of darkness in this world and against spiritual wickedness”.
Premier Webster continued: “This is a work that we have to do but we want everybody involved. We can’t do it by ourselves. Our Government is one that is open. We will be transparent and accountable. We believe in good governance and we are here to represent all the people.
“We know the election campaign was brutal. It separated brother against brother; church member against church member; and separated mothers and fathers from children. This is what the campaign did – but now that it is over, we have to be united, and that’s why I thank my Minister of Home Affairs, the Honourable Kenneth Hodge, for coming up with this Weekend of Unity and Thanksgiving. We have asked all churches, throughout the island, to set aside some time for unity and thanksgiving for us as a Government, and for the people of Anguilla, so that we can continue to trust in God. He is the one who gives us the ability to be where we are; to have strength and be able to fight Covid-19 and come out on top; and to fight against large hurricanes. This is the hurricane season and I know He will protect us and keep us going…”
During his address, the Premier apologised for the absence of three of his colleagues: the Minister of Tourism and Infrastructure, Mr. Hadyn Hughes; the Minister of Education and Social Development, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers; and the Ministerial Assistant, Mr. Merrick Richardson.
Those who accompanied Dr. Webster to the SDA Church Service were: Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Kenneth Hodge and his wife; Minister of Trade and Commerce, Mr. Kyle Hodge and his wife; Parliamentary Secretary, Mrs. Quincia Gumbs-Marie; Chaplain of the Anguilla House of Assembly and Minister of the World Harvest Assembly, Pastor Hugo Brooks and his wife, Pastor Wanda Brooks.
They were all formally welcomed by Dr. Howard Simon, Senior Pastor of the SDA Churches and Island Coordinator, who delivered a special prayer for the Government and the people of Anguilla. He prefaced his prayer with these words: “God has been good to us in Anguilla. I don’t think we praise Him enough. The fact that we have only had three cases of Covid-19, all of which have recovered, and today there is not one new case, we ought to give God praise.
with Mother
“The fact that we have come through an election, and no one has been killed, there has not been any other major violence and that we were able to [vote] peaceably, we ought to give God praise and thanks. There are some places, when you have an election you can count bodies of individuals who didn’t make it to the polls. We still live in a peaceful country. We pray that God will always keep it peaceful and safe so that we can differ from each other and agree to disagree.”
