April 23, 2021| Charlestown, Nevis | Delroy Josiah
The volcanic crisis on the island of St. Vincent has forced thousands of persons to evacuate. On Nevis, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been praying concerning the developments in St. Vincent, and has been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to give support.
Pastor Delroy Josiah, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) coordinator on Nevis, received a letter from the Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD) dated April 10. In this communication, the director of the NDMD, Brian Dyer, noted an initiative of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to ship relief items to St. Vincent. As such, Mr Dyer inturn invited faith-based organizations among other entities and civic-minded individuals to partner with the NDMD in this initiative. It was further noted that donations must reach the NDMD warehouse at Long Point by Monday, April 12, at 3 pm.
With only moments to make good on this invitation, Pastor Josiah promptly alerted his colleague, Pastor Otis Browne, of the initiative. Early Monday morning, the two pastors along with Mr. Irvine Pinney, Jr., worked assiduously to get the relief items to Long Point. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Conference of Seventh-day Adventists was notified of the shipment. Some of the items which were donated included dozens of cases of water, dried food items, disinfectants, and chlorine bleach.
In addition to the work on Nevis, the South Leeward Conference has designated May 1 and May 8 to collect a special disaster relief offering in aid of those on St. Vincent affected by this volcanic crisis. The Adventist community on Nevis will continue to pray for the people of St. Vincent and remains committed to supporting this cause.