Page 2 - Moravian Messenger October 2018

Ongoing work after hurricanes Irma and Maria in the Virgin Islands
and rebuild the Moravian properties are in excess of $4 million U.S. dollars. Despite these challenges, trusting in God, the VI Conference continued to meet its financial obligation to the Province. We are truly grateful to them even as we pray that their efforts will be a testament of what God will do for the Conference as it seeks to recover and rebuild. We are thankful to the Board of World Mission for sending several Work Teams to help in the repair and rebuilding effort.
We are grateful to all of our partners who continue
to pray for us and offer tangible support. It is a real
miracle that many lives were not lost. God was truly
in the midst of everything. The type of devastation spelt death everywhere, yet almost everyone survived to tell the story of what Hurricanes Irma and Maria did to them personally and to the communities around them generally.
Where are we now?
It is a mammoth task. Several work teams have been at work in the Virgin Islands. The first task was to clear away the tons and tons of debris from the buildings and the compound. Secondly, most of the Moravian buildings are historic buildings and of such, the Historic Preservation Society of the Virgin Islands dictates that all the buildings must be restored as they were before. The Society must give permission for everything being done including the materials being used. The Society has
been working closely with us to guide us in the repairs of our structures. The priority at this time is the restoration of the Moravian School on St. Thomas to enable our students to resume school in an environment that is conducive for learning and teaching. Four work teams will be in the Virgin Islands for the next four weeks (one each week) beginning 25th July. They will be working specifically on the Moravian School-Memorial Campus. Once the School buildings are complete, work will begin on the Sanctuaries in phases. You will be kept abreast of how things progress.
Rev. Dr. Cortroy Jarvis
Chairman of The Provincial Elders Conference Moravian Church, Eastern West Indies Province
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Cunning, deceit, devious, subterfuge, intriguing, mysterious and bewildering - these thoughts were what was running through my head when I finished reading 'John Cennick, The Forgotten Evangelist' by Author Gary Best. I count myself as a bit of a history buff and have read most books and articles on Moravian Church history to the point where I can recite a
good story but this book shook quite a few facts and reversed totally my previously held view of two of the main protagonist's in the book. This book is basically a historical biography of John Cennick: it describes and covers with intricate detail, both his personal life and his faith journey through the Anglican, Methodist, Calvinist and then Moravian traditions. It outlines his travels and work through England and Wales but then goes on to focus on the place I call home, Northern Ireland, where he is accredited with establishing 15 Congregations, 40 societies with 200 preaching places. The book outlines his hard but committed work and how he lived his life around that and looks in detail at his preaching ability and the crowds that came to listen to him. All good stuff on Cennick I hear you say but the book also in my opinion takes apart John Wesley as someone who was nasty, deceitful, controlling and very self-
centred and at the same time the book portrays Count Zinzendorf as someone who lived in an Ivory tower who always as a first stop looked after himself before the church. The book somewhat shatters my opinion on Zinzendorf to a stage where I only now thank him for taking us on to his estate in 1722. It left me feeling that Zinzendorf had lots of missed opportunities to promote the Moravian church. The quote of the book for me is found on page 248 where William Hammond, a well-known Hymnist of that century quotes 'He (Cennick) has set the Moravian Church as a fold to receive us stray sheep into'. It's a cracker of a read and should be on your coffee table.
John Cennick the Forgotten Evangelist is written by Gary M Best and published by New Room Publications, Bristol. ISBN 978-1-910089-47-7.
Br Mark Kernohan
Book Review:
John Cennick the Forgotten Evangelist
© Br Cortroy Jarvis