The Information - December 1998 (Vol 8 No. 13)

A Communication from the Chairman of the Moravian Church, E.W.I. Province.

It's the Advent, Christmas Season

Time for the Moravian Star!!

The Moravian Star has a three-fold message.

It testifies to the greatness of the Creator who made the stars on the fourth day (Gen. 1:16), numberless (Gen. 15:5), differing in glory (1 Cor. 15:41), and praising the might that laid the foundations of the world (Job. 38:7).

It is a reminder of the star that once led the Wise Men from their distant homes until "it came and stood over the house where the young Child was," and they fell down before Him and worshipped Him (Matt. 2:2, 7, 9, 10).

It points to the Divine Star, fore-told by the prophet who said 'A Star shall come out of Jacob" (Num. 24:17), and fulfilled in Him who said of Himself, "I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star" (Rev. 22:16).

Light of the world, into our hearts

Let Thy full glory shine,

That we may follow now Thy star

Until we reach Thy shrine.

Taken from Customs and Practices of the Moravian Church - by Adelaide L. Fries

Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope!

That is the theme of the 8th Assembly of the World Council of Churches as it meets in Harare, Zimbabwe for December 3-14. Over 3,000 participants including the representatives from our Province will gather on the campus of the University of Zimbabwe for this very special occasion. It is even more significant because the WCC is 50 years old this year. Please pray for the Assembly and pray for the work of the World Council of Churches.

Bro. Christopher Reports on Massive Flooding in St. Kitts

St. Kitts, still recovering from the terrible disaster wrought on this 68 square mile island by hurricane Georges on September 20-21 has been hit again! This time by flood waters.

It rained all day Saturday November 28 in some areas, particularly in the mountains. By about 10 p.m. Saturday the entire island was saturated by unrelenting rains which caused ghauts and streams to run. College Street which is immediately west of Zion Moravian Church is actually a part of a natural water course called College Ghaut. It is the main source of flood waters in Basseterre. The flood waters came down this ghaut without warning and in full force bringing with it boulders, sand and debris. It took cars which were parked along this street, and it flowed into the adjoining Market Street as well. It is reported that island wide some 82 cars were either lost or damaged.

Several persons are known to have been trapped by the floods and had to be rescued by fire department personnel and other volunteers. At least two are known to have been caught in vehicles. It is reported that one woman was dug out of the sand and mud, having been buried up to her neck. She survived the ordeal. The other, a mechanic, was not as fortunate. His body was found in the sea early this morning (Monday).

The Central Basseterre area has been covered with sand, mud and debris, up to 15 feet high in one area according to official reports.

Buildings in the main business area, such as Social Security Office, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Nichols' Hardware Store, the Post Office and many others have been badly affected. Social Security is perhaps the worst. Many of the records stored in the basement and on the ground floor have been either lost or badly damaged.

There was also flooding in various rural areas causing disruption to normal activities. Some landslides occurred in St. Peter's, Phillip's and Tabernacle.

Electricity was also affected as generators at the island's only plant were flooded. Consequently, many areas have been without electricity since Saturday night while in other areas there have been long periods without this utility.

Those persons whose roofs have not been replaced or repaired or properly covered after the hurricane were badly affected by water pouring into their homes. In addition, some homes have been damaged, with one reported to have collapsed because of the undermining of the area by the waters. This is said to be a recently built home.

Tomorrow, December 1, has been declared a National Clean-up Day, as once more we seek to put things back together after another hard blow from Mother Nature.

Total damage has been put at approximately EC$10.4 million.

Bro. Malcom Daniel Receives Top Labour Award

Bro. Malcolm Daniel of the Greenbay Moravian Church in Antigua recently received the highest award of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL).

He received the Sir Frank Walcott Award for his many years of service to the Labour Movement in the Caribbean.

Bro. Daniel was the first President of the Antigua Workers Union when it was established in 1967 and gave thirty (30) years of unbroken service in that office until his retirement in 1997.

Bro. Daniel has served in many capacities in his home Church and was for many years the Treasurer.

Congratulations Bro. Daniel!!

May God bless you!!

Superintendents Appointed

During the recent meeting of the P.E.C., several appointments were made in connection with the office of Superintendents in the various Conferences. The following Superintendents were appointed for a further two year period:

Bro. Romeo Challenger - Antigua
Bro. E. Elroy Christopher - St. Kitts
Sis. Cicely Athill Horsford - Trinidad
Bro. Leon Matthias - has been appointed until the summer of 2000 when he is due to go on leave while Bro. Winston Chase has been appointed until the summer of 1999 when his work permit for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago expires. Bro. Rudolph Holder is already on a one year appointment in Barbados.

Chaplain Appointed for 25th Synod

The Revd Rudolph I.C. Holder, now serving as Superintendent of the Barbados Conference has been appointed by the P.E.C. as the Chaplain for the 25th Provincial Synod to be held in Antigua from August 8-21, 1999.

Since Bro. Holder was ordained at the 1959 Synod, he is now into his 40th year of ordained ministry and will have an opportunity to celebrate his 40th anniversary with the entire Province.

Let us pray for Bro. Holder as he prepares to lead us in this very important ministry during Synod.

Please Pray For:

Bro. Mikie Roberts along with his family as he has just lost his father in Antigua. At this time of writing (Nov. 30), the funeral arrangements are still being made.
Our Brothers and Sisters of Central America as they seek to put the pieces together after the massive destruction by Hurricane Mitch.
Bro. Hampton Morgan, Sis. Gail Walker and other staff members and volunteers of the Board of World Mission (USA) as they try to co-ordinate assistance for the tremendous need in Central America. They really have been very, very, busy.
Our students in training and our Ministers on study leave as they come to the end of the semester with all its demands of exams and assignments.

Please Join the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle and Pray

Week 50 - December 6-12 - Angola, Mozambique
Week 51 - December 13-19 - Botswana, Zimbabwe
Week 52 - December 20-26 - Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland

The Ecumenical Prayer Cycle is an effort of the WCC especially in this its 50th anniversary in 1998 and in preparation for the 8th Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in December, 1998 under the theme "Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope".

Happy Anniversary New Herrnhut in St. Thomas, USVI

The oldest Moravian Church in our Province and the oldest Protestant Church in these parts, the New Herrnhut Moravian Church in St. Thomas celebrates it 261st anniversary on December 14.

New Herrnhut has 621 members and the pastor is the Revd Glenvil Gregory.

Let's Not Forget!!

December 9, 1754 - The arrival of the first Moravian Missionaries in Jamaica.

December 13, 1732 - The arrival of the first Moravian Missionaries to any foreign land. They were Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann and they went to St. Thomas, West Indies.

A Good Example

Who remembers the 1998 World Cup Football tournament? Even if you are not a devoted football fan, it was difficult to avoid the images broadcast around the world.

Who remembers the massacres, the hundreds of thousands of displaced people and countless civilian victims of the conflict in Liberia between 1990-1997? Probably far fewer people - for cameras were hardly welcomed in this hostile and pitiless environment.

Today a fragile kind of peace exists in Liberia with a friendly football match between the country's top two teams, the Invincible Eleven and the Mighty Barolle, bringing former enemies together on a quiet evening in May. But this was no ordinary match, it was a match with a message. Organized by the ICRC, with support from the International Federation and the Liberian and Belgian Red Cross Societies, this game also promoted respect for the rules of war.

Before 15,000 spectators, and many more watching on television or listening to the radio, the referee signaled the kickoff and the players ran riot on the field. The crowd was dumbfounded. The players disregarded all the rules of the game and ignored the referee's instructions.

After ten minutes, the match was interrupted and the Liberian football idol, George Weah, spoke. He explained to the spectators that what they had just witnessed was a "set-up" to show that if the rules of football - or for that matter in any situation in civil society - are not respected, chaos and anarchy will ensue. This is also true in times of conflict, only with more deadly consequences.

"You can see how impossible it is to follow what is happening in such a chaotic confrontation," Weah told the crowd. "Rules must be followed and respected whether it be in conflicts, in civil society or in sport.

A relieved crowd than sat back to watch the game as it should be played.

Taken from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Magazine issue #3, 1998.

CCC Seeks New General Secretary

This position entails the overall management of the affairs of the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC). This Officer is the Chief Executive and therefore ultimately oversees all CCC personnel and activities.

This position demands training in Theology, as well as considerable experience in working with churches. It also calls for strong inter-personal skills, training and/or experience in management.

It requires a commitment to ecumenism, and to being the advocate of the disadvantaged and deprived of the region. As such, it necessitates a sound and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of regional development issues, and the ability to interpret these as required.

Computer literacy, as well as the capacity to communicate effectively in more than one language of the Caribbean are requisites of this position.

Principal Duties

Under the supervision of the Presidents of the CCC, the General Secretary is required:

1. To be chief executive and have ultimate responsibility for all CCC activities.

2. To be Secretary of the Assembly, the continuation Committee and the Officers' meetings, with responsibility for overall implementation of their policies and decisions.

3. To represent and interpret the CCC to Churches and Councils of Churches; to governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations; and to the general public.

4. To speak for the CCC on various issues; to issue press releases; and make public statements as the situation may indicate, after consultation with the Presidents.

5. To maintain contact and hold regular meetings with other Officers.

6. To carry on general correspondence with member churches.

7. To be responsible for relations with non-member churches.

8. To be a Moderator of the Staff Executive Group (SEG).

9. To be responsible for overseeing the general co-ordination of programme, finance and personnel matters.

10. To devise and monitor CCC policy on all personnel and human resource management and development matters; with direct responsibility for confidential, sensitive personnel matters pertaining to staff at Levels I to IV.

11. To be responsible for the overview of the preparation of the budget and its presentation to the Continuation Committee.

12. To have overall responsibility for liaison with partner agencies and extra-regional fund-rasing efforts.

13. To sit on the Scholarships and Development Fund Committee; and to chair the Programme Planning & Review Committee (PPRC); as well as be an ex-officio member of all CCC Committees and Commissions.

14. To be overall head of the staff of the Organisation and to act as the immediate Supervisor of the Associate General Secretary, the Regional Account, the Regional Programme Co-ordinator - financial Sustainability, and the Executive Secretary.

Occasional Duties

15. To perform such other related duties which may be required and assigned from time to time by the Presidents in order to assist the CCC to fulfill its mandate.

Applications:

Applications accompanied by curriculum vitae, the written endorsement of the applicant's Head of Church, two references, copies of qualification documents, and proof of (Caribbean) citizenship/resident status should be sent to the CCC's Regional Office in Barbados; Clearly marked - PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL; to arrive no later than January 15, 1999.

Caribbean Conference of Churches
P.O. Box 616
Bridgetown
Barbados.

Attention: Mrs. Pauline Harper, Executive Secretary

Are You Still Looking For Locally Produced Christmas Cards?

Well, your prayers have been answered as there is a wide assortment of locally produced Christmas cards made by "The Moravians" with their quality printing.

We also produce many other items and we invite you to give us a call at 246-462-3469.

Have You Been Surfing?

With more and more people on the Internet it is important that the people of God use it in order to get the Good News out.

Please be reminded as well that there are web pages for the Antigua Conference, the P.E.C. and for other Moravian Provinces.

We would be happy to receive and share your e-mail address just in case some one else would like to reach you by that medium.

Beloved, let's keep surfing!

Birthdays This Months!

Happy Birthday to:

Bro. Alban St. Hill 2

Bro. Leon Matthias 8

Sis. Sadie Harry 10

Sis. Cicely Athill-Horsford 12

Sis. Zenobia Lomax 13

Bro. Hilton Joseph 18

Sis. Maureen Lewis 23

Bro. Matthew Crooks 25

Bro. Rudolph Holder 31

Anniversaries This Month!

Happy Anniversary to:

Revd Dr. Cortroy & Mrs. Pearline Jarvis 7

Mr. George & Mrs. Zenaida Ramsay 18

Revd Algernon & Revd Denise Lewis 20

Revd Errol & Mrs. Joycelyn Connor 22

Mrs. Andrea & Mr. Dave Browne 26

Revd Dr. Samuel & Mrs. Gwendolyn Jacobs 31

A Smile!

I was always getting in trouble at school for things I didn't do - like arithmetic, history, biology, and so forth. The teachers kept asking me hard questions, like one asked me to define space.

"I can't put it into words," I replied, "but I have it in my head."

* * *

Older Patient: "Doc, I think I am becoming forgetful."

Doctor: "Sorry to hear that."

Patient: "What do you suggest I do, Doc?"

Doctor: "Pay me in advance!"