Non-national residents in Nevis appreciated
By Pauline Waruguru
Nevis Reporter-SKNVibes.com
~~Adz:Left~~CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- Non-national residents in Nevis were appreciated yesterday at a service hosted by Shiloh Baptist Church, Ramsbury.
The event was marked amidst reminders by a visiting pastor and leaders of Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) that nobody was a non-national as all persons were the planets’ citizens.
Visiting Pastor, Keithley Saunders, of Light House Baptist Church, Sandy Point, said any movement of people on planet earth is ordered by God. “God told man to multiply and subdue the earth,” he said.
In his morning and evening sermons, Pastor Saunders recommended the Christian faith to non-nationals and worshippers and stressed that a meaningful personal relationship with their creator through Jesus Christ would enable them to secure the salvation of their souls.
Pastor Saunders told worshippers that Christianity stood out above all other religions. He noted that there was no other religion that boasts of a saviour, a redeemer or a resurrected saviour, “I do not care where you go…there is only one message that gives eternal life.” He called on Christians to be pro-active in preaching the Gospel.
Pastor Saunders appealed to Nevisians and Kittitians as well as non-nationals to co-exist peacefully. He said many Kittitians had family links in Nevis, especially Kittitians living in Cayon (his home area). He also declared that calls for secession bothers him.
Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Legal Adviser Patrice Nisbett, who spoke on behalf of the Premier of Nevis, told worshippers that all persons are God’s children. Nisbett also said the inherent character of human beings is nomadic. Human beings, he said, were fulfilling God’s message through free movement, adding the biblical mandate to man by God is to “multiply and subdue” the earth.
Nisbett enlightened the worshippers that God had commanded Abraham to go on a plain and visualise a distant land that he would inherit. The Legal Adviser said free movement of persons had God’s blessings and declared that the NIA welcomes immigrants as long as they guarded their reputation and were capable of contributing to the development of Nevis.
Nisbett called on Nevisians to adopt a positive attitude to non-nationals and reminded them that their parents and relatives had immigrated in large numbers in yesteryears and were therefore able to send remittances. He said the NIA has adopted an open door policy to those who come to Nevis, but warned that their lifestyle and conduct should be of high standard. He also called on all non-nationals to join Nevisians in pursuing the “Nevisian Dream”.
Opposition Leader in the Federal Parliament Hon. Mark Brantley, who represented Vance Amory, echoed Nisbett’s conviction that the world had no non-nationals as in modern times the planet had become a global village. “The barriers are breaking down and Shiloh has demonstrated this by embracing non-nationals.
Brantley told the congregation that the display of flags representing the various nationals residing on Nevis had made him believe he was temporarily at the United Nations.
He said Nevis needed more people to sustain existing and potential businesses. Brantley said like many other Nevisians, his father had lived overseas for 40 years and the cheque he sent regularly kept the family going.
Brantley said it did not matter where a person was originally born, “We are all one people.” He said the church’s current theme - “Let there be no strife” - should be adopted by the island. Brantley decried the vulnerability of children and said he did not understand why after the age of 15 parents were unable to discipline their children. “Let us try to do what we can for our children.”
He said the children he had seen in church looked orderly and disciplined and wondered why this discipline was not sustained, “Discipline them when they go astray.”
He told non-nationals that the most important part of any person was their soul, and the way to secure it was to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Pastor Eric Maynard of Shiloh Baptist Church, who organised the non-national appreciation day, said his desire was to make his church as diversified as possible. He thanked all those who had turned up to mark the event.
Flags of different nations kicked off the church service
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Shiloh embraces all regardless of political affiliation
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Visiting Pastor Keithley Saunders of Lighthouse Baptist Church, Sandy Point
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