Under the theme, “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart!,” the 18th Annual Thanksgiving Service will be held Sunday, December 4, 2016 in front of the New Government Administration Building. The ecumenical service will begin at 4:30 PM with Praise and Worship led by the Harmonics.
The Thanksgiving ecumenical service is an annual undertaking by the St. Maarten Christian Council, St. Maarten United Ministerial Foundation and the Seventh Day Adventist Church supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs. It is in keeping with compassion, tradition and the expression of gratitude and love and joy at the end of the hurricane season and light at the beginning of the Christmas season in particular towards the less fortunate in our community whose fabric is being destroyed by violence.
“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed”. Proverbs 19:17
The Thanksgiving service is observed on the first Sunday of December annually, inviting people of all faiths to congregate and give thanks and gratitude to God for an uneventful hurricane season. It was decreed in 1999 by an Executive Council resolution of the formerly Island Territory of St. Maarten, and has since become part and parcel of the annual cultural calendar of program and activities.
The Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs Ms. Silveria Jacobs is appealing to the general public to come out and give thanks and praises to the Lord for protecting our shores during the hurricane season of 2016.