Mr. Vincent Sam Hodge and Dr Bonnie Richardson-Lake
It is always a delight for The Anguillian to cover special church events, as we regard occasions of religious and spiritual significance to be noteworthy in our society. On Father’s Day, 19th June, at the Christian Fellowship Church, ten men were recognised for the work they have done in the advancement of the tourism industry in Anguilla.
During the service, the men, who are engaged in various aspects of tourism and hospitality, were honoured with due recognition by the Gender Affairs Unit, and its Director, Ms. Kemoloy Murphy. Their recognition, as local outstanding pillars of the Anguilla’s tourism industry, was part of the activities of Men’s Week 2022 conducted by the Gender Affairs Unit.
Also attending the church service, were the Honourable Minister of Social Development, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, and the Permanent Secretary of that Ministry, Mrs. Bonnie Richardson-Lake. They were accompanied by the Founder of the Anguilla Community Action Network (ACAN), Mr. John C. Lake.
The Church’s Associate Pastor, Rev Iton Connor, welcomed the honorees and introduced Ms. Murphy who addressed the congregation: “It is a privilege to be here this morning representing the office of Gender Affairs Anguilla, and the Ministry of Social Development,” she said. “I would like to express thanks to the Christian Fellowship Church for such a warm welcome.
“I acknowledge, with me, the presence of the Honourable Minister of Social Development, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, the Permanent Secretary Mrs. Bonnie Richardson-Lake, as well as the Founder of the Anguilla Community Action Network (ACAN), Mr. John C. Lake. And, of course, I would also like to recognise our 2022 Men’s Week honorees.
“Gender Affairs Anguilla will observe Men’s Week from today, Sunday, 19th June to Saturday 25th June. The week is being celebrated under the theme ‘Men in Hospitality: Leadership, Service and Commitment to Anguilla’s Number One Industry’. Men’s Week 2022 will focus on men in our community who are leaders in the tourism sector, and who have given of their service and demonstrated their commitment over the years.”
She noted that the honourees for Men’s Week 2022 honourees were selected by a special appointed committee. She said that she would like to publicly express her thanks to the committee members, namely: Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley, Mr. Kenroy Herbert and Mrs. Cheryl Hughes. She then announced the names of the Men’s Week 2022 honourees as: Mr. Albert Lake; Mr. George Reid; Mr. Vincent Sam Hodge; Mr. Delroy Lake; Mr. Pieter Carter; Mr. John Christopher ‘Chris’ Richardson; Mr. Kelvis Hodge; Mr. Kevin Carty; Mr. Robin Ricketts; and Mr. Lawrence Gumbs. “These are our ten honourees that we will be recognising for the entire week,” Ms. Murphy said.
Delivering the message of the day was Pastor Carl Richardson. His sermon, in keeping with Father’s Day, was entitled “Leading for Legacy”. He observed: “Fathers have always been important in societies. We only need to look into the Word of God to see the amazing favour that God places on the lives of men and fathers.” In part, he took his scripture text from 1 Samuel 21:15-17.
He preached: “It is so important to live our lives as the scriptures instruct us. When we talk about ‘Living for Legacy’, there is a part of us that dictates that as human we are to live to please ourselves. We think about our self-preservation. But when you start to think about the future, and the time when you will not be here on the face of the earth, you must think about leaving an imprint of yourselves after you have gone – a legacy.”
“This should speak about our selflessness,” he noted, “and it should cause us to focus on things that would be important after we have gone – not just when we are here demonstrating our energies to bring about transformation and change for ourselves.”
“The Bible gives us many examples of who made a difference in the lives of their children and their descendants,” he said. He expounded on the story of David – how that when he was old, he was still willing to go out with the army of Israel to do his part in fighting against the Philistines. But David got tired in the battle, and one of the Philistine soldiers was about to kill him; but one of David’s men rescued him by striking down the Philistine and killing him.
From that day, the army of Israel forced David to make an oath that claimed: “Never again will I go out with you to battle, that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.” The army of Israel was concerned about preserving the legacy of their King David, even though he had the selfish ambition to fight against his enemies in his old age.
At the end of his sermon, Pastor Carl prayed for the congregation, asking God to “help everyone to realise that tomorrow matters even after we are gone, and that we must expend our energies to leave an indelible mark of our values and our belief systems.”
