During St. Maarten’s Stewardship Impact event, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church had an opportunity to renew their commitment as stewards who have a responsibility to share the gospel with their neighbors. The Stewardship Ministry Director of the North Caribbean Conference (NCC), Pastor Hesketh Matthew, summarized the purpose of the convention, “It’s about bringing Stewardship Ministries closer to every Adventist member. It provided education and motivation, [thus] encouraging people in their spiritual growth while sharing spiritual nuggets to help manage life.”
Pastor Vashni Cuvalay, Coordinator of the SDA work on St. Maarten lauded Pastor Matthews efforts, “It was a very good motivation for the members. The turnout was great and the nightly attendance exceeded the regular meeting nights. The members are excited about the ministry of the speaker and they supported him. They love him and they are happy for his ministry. It was one of the more successful stewardship meetings convened in the life of the church on St. Maarten.”
From March 16 – 23, 2019, five guest presenters were deployed – one to each of five districts on the island. They ministered to members nightly and the subject matters ranged across managing health, personal finances, spiritual gifts, and personal relationships.
The presenters included: Dr. Leonard Johnson who, at the island-wide convention, drew from the story of the woman at the well to encourage members to respond to God’s love with passion and obedience; Pastor Danforth Francis, President of the East Caribbean Conference; Dr. Clinton Lewis, President of the Grenada Conference; Pastor Roosevelt Haynes, Stewardship Director of the East Caribbean Conference; and, Dr. Gandalal Samlalsingh, Stewardship Director of the Caribbean Union.
A symposium for pastors was hosted to share the vision of a strategic fiscal structure and to assist in the establishment of a solid financial system for congregations. The presenters explored reasons for visitation, modelled the approach by visiting 130 individuals during the week and encouraged members to remain firm and faithful to Christ during the visits.
Dr. Samlalsingh stated, “The goal is to impact the life and well-being of every believer and to let them know that stewardship is everything. As a wholistic message, stewardship is part of every other department’s message and ministry, and collaboration with other ministries and departments improves our reach.”
Pastor Matthew added, “According to treasury reports and giving trends within the denomination, it appears that the wholistic message of stewardship is “hitting home” closer than before. We praise the Lord for that and it is appropriate to express our gratitude, on behalf of the Conference, to all our members for their faithfulness in the giving of their hearts, efforts, and resources to the Lord’s work and supporting the mission of the Adventist Church.”
The NCC Stewardship Ministry teaches individuals how to live in constant obedience to the will of God. Emphasis is placed on developing people for the kingdom of God, not necessarily on raising money for the benefit of the church.