Young people from Jireh and Shemei Tabernacles of Seventh-day Adventist congregations at South Hill and Long Bay, led by three passionate adults, have made their mark on The Valley community – particularly at the Food Strip patronised by a number of persons.
On a hot Sabbath afternoon, on March 19, they travelled on a pickup/truck to The Valley carrying cases of imported water which they purchased for free distribution. Then, in groups, they handed out bottles of the water to many grateful individuals. It was more than just an ordinary gesture of goodwill as Ms. Jennyville Smith, an ardent Seventh-day Adventist (at Jireh Tabernacle) and Legal Assistant at Webster’s Law Office explained:
“The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist has designated this day as Global Youth Day. It is a time when young people come together, go out into the community and be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. So today, our young people, from the Adventist congregations, are distributing bottles of water. Even though the water has the ability to bring refreshment to the bodies of the recipients, we really want to introduce them to Jesus Christ who is the Living Water and will give them Eternal Life.”
Ms. Smith’s colleague, Ms. Dana Campbell, the Adventist Youth Leader at Jireh Tabernacle and an Attorney at Keithley Lake & Associates, commented:
“As our young people share with the community that Jesus is the Living Water, we are giving persons a nice, cool drink of water as well. We all know that Jesus replenishes our lives. He is the one who sustains us, gives us the energy – and we want to remind everyone…who He is and what He does; and we are inviting everyone to worship with us anytime.”
Ms. Campbell continued: “It is actually the first time we are doing this in Anguilla, but it has been happening in the SDA General Conference and around the world every year. This time Anguilla did not want to miss out on the opportunity – even though we have been doing it in other ways.
“Shemei and Jireh Tabernacles have already swarmed the western end of the island and are now sharing in what is being done now in The Valley. On another day the young people from the SDA congregations at Mount Fortune will be doing their work in the East End, Island Harbour and surrounding areas.”
Ms. Campbell said that tracts were also being distributed along with the bottles of water. “The tracts shared a Scripture text explaining Jesus as the Living Water. It shows that we are not just saying it. It is something Biblical,” she stated.
The Adventist Youth Leader added: “You have no idea how passionate I am about this. I am passionate about young people and to see them not being afraid to go out into the community and share. This is especially at a time when we have so many young people getting involved in the wrong things. It is inspiring to see young people coming out and sharing a positive message.”
