Presbyterian Minister prays for communities of peace in 2024

Presbyterian Minister Rev Letra Jacob said for 2024, she wants to see communities not under siege but in peace.

In her Old Year's Night sermon at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church, San Fernando, Jacob said this can only happen if the criminal elements place their burdens at the foot of the cross and change their lives.

“The crime is too much for all of us,” she said.

Asking the congregation, which included Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial, if they have been listening to the news and reading the newspapers, Jacob said, “Listening and hearing of the sad stories of your neighbours, your friends and friends of your friends, relatives, and relatives of your relatives.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t hear of somebody or some family that has been affected by crime. It is now beginning to hit home. So close that you can identify with it because you know the people who are affected in such a personal way.”

Reflecting on the December 29 kidnapping of El Socorro businesswoman Anesha Narine-Boodhoo, who was found on January 2, Jacob said women are now becoming the target of abductors.

“It's kind of scary for women of this nation. The kidnappings in recent times, it’s the women, the businesswomen.”

She said these women did nothing wrong for them to be subjected to that kind of torture and trauma.

“They did not sit down and do nothing. They worked hard for what they wanted to achieve. They were achievers. They ensured that life was good for them and their families. They wanted to make a good contribution to their family and the nation.

“Now we have to be very careful in our going out and our coming in.”

Jacob said she was alarmed to hear of a child who was shot while sleeping next to her parent – a place that is supposed to represent comfort, safety, and security to a child.

“Why should we be afraid in our own land? Where is the measure of security in place for us to feel safe?”

She suggested more policing on the streets, not just for Christmas and Carnival, but ongoing.

“Just seeing them, their presence gives you a different kind of confidence. We should see them regularly on the streets, in the cities.

“The year 2023 would have been a year where many of us lived in fear. We should not have to be living in such fear.”

She said many God-fearing citizens have no control over the crime surge, causing even the church to change its worship time on Christmas morning from 6 am to 7 am so that people would not have to leave their homes in the dark to attend the service.

“As we move into 2024, those of us who come to church know there is a place for everybody at the cross.

“Even for the criminal-minded individual, there is a place for them at the cross.

“There is a place for everybody with Jesus, and we must make that conscious choice to change our lives. There are those who feel there is no one in the world for them, and they continue hurting others and continue along that path of crime.

“I want to tell them, there is a place for you with Jesus. We are winners in Christ. We are champions, not losers.”

But despite all the negatives, Jacob said there is still a lot of good in Trinidad and Tobago.

“Good is still happening in our lives and land despite all the negative things. You are still standing. Hold on to the good.”

What is not so good, she said, is the wait for the promised local government reform to materialise.

“Has it materialised in your community? Are the roads any better than the ones I drive on, through San Fernando to Marabella and Barrackpore?”