Hurricane thanksgiving services on St. Croix September 23

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricanes Irma and Maria’s devastation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Governor Kenneth E. Mapp has praised God for fortifying him, his colleagues and the people of the Virgin Islands for the challenge of rebuilding their homeland.

In a stirring address last Sunday at the first of three thanksgiving events to mark the occasion, he told worshippers in St. Thomas that in the immediate aftermath of the devastation he could not fathom how the Territory would rebound. In fact, he needed time to pull himself together before rallying his Cabinet and others to set to work.

“I had to ask for 10 minutes alone so I could get myself together,” he recalled, after touring hurricane-hit St. John and St. Thomas.

“Because the devastation I saw, I did not know how we were going to recover. I did not know how I will face the people of the Virgin Islands in this daunting task of natural mayhem.”

However, the self-confessed “continually growing Christian” who is “far from perfect” offered “personal thanks” to God for giving him the strength and wisdom to spearhead the Territory’s resurgence in the past 12 months – and for “teaching me again that faith is real”.

“The folks that the Good Lord put me to work with in this Cabinet, our wonderful congresswoman (Stacey Plaskett), you, the people of the Virgin Islands, and some friends on a national level, we’ve figured a way through the mayhem,” he declared to the congregation at University of the Virgin Islands’ Sports and Fitness Center.

“We’ve figured a way to rebuild our Territory, to get the resources that we need and the help that we need, that we could all take a disaster and turn it into opportunity.”

Reinforcing his belief that the resilience “had to come from a being stronger, better, and more powerful”, the Governor asked God “to bless the Virgin Islands, (and) to continue to protect the people of the Virgin Islands”, noting that other weather systems were heading towards the Caribbean as he spoke.

“I’m personally hurricane fatigued. But at the end of the day, I know that there’s somebody bigger than me. Somebody stronger than me. And somebody who will not give us more than we can carry,” said Mapp to the large gathering, including Lieutenant Governor Osbert E. Potter and members of his cabinet.

Additional thanksgiving services will be held on St. Croix on Sunday, September 23 from 2pm – 5pm, and on the island of St. John on Sunday, September 30.

The event on St. Croix will be held at the St. Croix Educational Complex and feature the renowned Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights as well as other inspirational groups. The thanksgiving service on St. John will be held at Franklin Powell Park in Cruz Bay.

The upcoming services will be streamed on the Virgin Islands Consortium’s Facebook page.