PHILIPSBURG - In Bible times when prophets and kings were at a crossroad in the nation and when Israel was faced with serious threats and obstacles they sought their God by means of prayer and fasting. The prophet Joel declared a fast saying: “summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD” (Joel 1:14). King Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah and the people “gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord…” (2 Chron. 20:4). And Queen Ester called for a fast among the Jews in the kingdom. (Esther 4:15).

In view of the fact that Sint Maarten is presently at a crossroad constitutionally and as far as putting a new government in place is concerned, the Church is calling on the nation to observe a national day of prayer and fasting on Sunday, November 9^th 2014.

Why call for a national day to pray and fast? The formation of a new government for Sint Maarten reached an impasse when the Dutch Government, on October 17^th, instructed the Governor not to ratify the national decrees appointing candidate ministers and the Prime Minister until, in addition to the existing vetting criteria, further screening is done to ascertain the eligibility of the proposed ministers and prime minister for their posts. This measure has been taken due to the fact that there are serious concerns regarding the integrity of the Government of country Sint Maarten. Three reports, all published this year, have pointed to minor as well as serious breaches of integrity at all levels of government. And a fourth report is still due in December 2014. The instruction given to the Governor has caused the formation of the new government i.e. the appointment of ministers and the prime minister to come to a halt. This situation is not good at all for Sint Maarten because it brings with it insecurity and instability and creates a negative image in the eyes of ourselves as a people, as well as in towards investors and the outside world.

One cannot open a newspaper or listen to a talk show on radio without hearing or coming across the words corruption, bribery, favors, dishonesty, greed, vote and seat buying, ship jumping, etc. as people make reference to parliamentarians, ministers and civil servants. In other words, there is a serious lack of integrity in government. In the constellation of the former Netherlands Antilles when a government leader’s integrity was questioned, even though he/she was not yet proven guilty, we would hear of that leader “doing the honorable thing”. During the past four years St. Maarten’s government leaders broke with that ethical and moral custom and whether accused or guilty they maintained their positions in Government. They might have acted legally, but they certainly broke all moral laws and acted without any sense of ethics and integrity. Indeed, some decisions, actions and behaviors may be legal but they are certainly not moral or ethical. Take for example the so called “ship jumping”. It may be perfectly legal, but is it moral or ethical? And what message does it send to our people, especially our youngsters. Formerly your “word was your bond”. Nowadays, the example given to our young people is that one’s word has no value whatsoever.

Indeed, Sint Maarten is suffering from an integrity crisis. The three integrity reports confirm this. The outgoing government also acknowledged it and consequently requested the Dutch Government for assistance in this area. Besides, the incoming 10-seat coalition government also recognized the integrity deficit in our country and has, by mouth of its leader, promised to execute the recommendations mentioned in the various integrity reports. Is this call for help and the promise to implement the integrity recommendations enough to get on with the business of forming the government? Well, we must realize that four years of integrity violations have led up to this impasse; and promises as well as requests for help are seemingly not sufficient guarantees at this time to assure the Dutch government that integrity will be restored in the local government; hence, the unprecedented instruction to the Governor. The integrity buck lies now on his desk and we believe that he should do whatever is necessary to restore trust and integrity in our government and consequently in our country.

To bridge the gap between the past government, riddled with integrity issues, and the promise of the incoming government to implement the integrity recommendations found in the various reports, the Governor and parliament should consider forming a “Zakenkabinet” that would lay the foundation for the incoming government. This interim cabinet would be comprised of professionals and persons from the business sector who have passed the stringent screening and whose integrity is above reproach. They would govern the country for a definite period of time according to an agreed upon governing accord. The main focus of this accord however, would be to deal with, among other things, the establishing, implementation and monitoring of integrity codes and standards. Once the period of time is completed the interim cabinet yields to the new government who is expected to continue to govern the country according to the acceptable integrity standards and codes.

We must remember that integrity is, in the first place, a personal issue. It has to do with our own personal choices regarding our values, norms, morals and principles. According to C.S. Lewis, “integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching”. Having a fear and understanding of God will cause us to realize that even when we think that no one is watching God sees and knows every action we take and that there are consequences to everything we do. We pray that our leaders and government officials would keep in mind the moral and spiritual values they were raised with and apply these in their daily work environment. One way of keeping those values before them would be their faithful attendance at the five public ecumenical services held during the year. We applaud the fact that Government, in coordination with the Church, supports these national services. Yet it is regrettable to note that most government leaders and civil servants are blatantly absent which is really not a good example to the rest of the citizenry.

Besides praying for Government, the Church would like for parliament to consider including prayer at the opening and closing of the parliamentary year. The official moment of silence whereby everyone should pray in his/her own way is no different from the moment of silence that is observed to respect the memory of someone who has passed away. The late Island Councilman, Edgar Lynch, did his best to get the then Island Council to begin the government year with prayer. Unfortunately, this was rejected because St. Maarten, on its own, could not amend the laws of the Netherlands Antilles. Now, that Sint Maarten is an autonomous country it therefore can decide to change the law to enable prayer to be said audibly at the opening of the parliamentary year. Nowhere in the Bible does God ask us to speak to him in silence. On the contrary He says “call on me and I will answer!” The Church will soon be submitting a proposal to parliament to institute prayer at the beginning and at the closing of the parliamentary year.

Another thing that can be done to promote integrity in government is for parliament and government to have an official chaplain, similar to the chaplaincy in the US Senate and House of Representatives. In November 2010 the Sint Maarten Council of Churches requested parliament to establish a chaplaincy. Now more than ever there is a need for prayer and spiritual guidance in the chambers of parliament and in the cabinet. The Church will also be submitting a request and proposal to Parliament regarding the establishing of a chaplaincy.

The Church’s God given responsibility is to pray for government. The apostle Paul urges us to make petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving for kings and all those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Therefore, we should pray for our leaders, that God would grant them wisdom, understanding and skill to lead and make the right decisions. Hence, in view of the current impasse on Sint Maarten, the Church is calling for an island wide day of prayer and fasting to gather together to pray and cry out to the Lord to have mercy on our island. What better time to do this than on Sunday, November 9^th, which is 2 days leading up to Sint Maarten’s Day, when the entire island would be celebrating its common heritage and cultural unity.

All churches on the island are herewith requested to set aside some time during their services or masses on Sunday, November 9^th 2014 to pray for God will the Government that it needs at this time in history. People can also pray during their personal and individual daily prayer times. Even if you also decide to fast from eating one meal that is better than not fasting at all. Let us cry out to the Lord our God for a God fearing-government that will uphold integrity, transparency, uprightness, honesty and people above self. Further information about the National Day of Prayer and Fasting will be given during the week. Let us as a people untie and come together for peace and common good of Sint Maarten. May God bless Sint Maarten! (Saint Martin United Ministerial Foundation)

PHILIPSBURG—UPNext, the youth movement of the United People (UP) party is gearing up for its “Christmas Cheer UP” activities for the upcoming Christmas season. It is the first project the group of youngsters will embark on following the Parliamentary Elections of August 29.

The Christmas Cheer UP project will ultimately result in UPNext “doing something special” for the less fortunate in the community in the season of giving. To support this initiative, the group will be holding two fundraising bake sales at two different public locations in the month of November. The locations will be announced this week along with additional details of the project.

“We want to stay very active in our community. During the campaign we told everyone that UPNext, though part of the UP in general, is not a political gimmick. It is a group of young people coming together to do good. We just happen to have a very dynamic party and its membership backing us. But what we do is for our enture community and we hope we get overall support for everything we have planned,” President of UPNext Kinisha Kalla said. 

While “Christmas Cheer UP” will be the only project executed for the remainder of this year, UPNext has a full calendar of events planned for 2015.