St. Kitts – Nevis’ PM – Dr. Denzil Douglas
Photo By Erasmus Williams
St. Kitts – Nevis
March 21, 2010 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas celebrated his 21st anniversary as an elected Parliamentarian in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly.
Dr. Douglas, first elected to the lawmaking body on March 21st 1989 celebrated the 21st anniversary with Pastor Keithly Saunders and visiting Pastors, including Guest Preacher, Pastor Roderick Webster, and congregations at the Lighthouse Baptist Church at Crab Hill Sandy Point.
The members of the Church were in fact celebrating their 17th anniversary of the founding of the church.
In his message Prime Minister Douglas gave thanks to Almighty God for His blessings and brought greetings and congratulations to Pastor Saunders and his congregation on behalf of the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis.
He commended the church for the critical role it has played in providing spiritual support to its members and community, and the significant role it has played in response to government’s appeal for the Church and other stakeholders to assist in the realisation of the national social development agenda in fighting crime and violence among the nation’s youths.
Prime Minister Douglas expressed his delight, honour and privilege to jointly celebrate another achievement in his long and successful political career with the Lighthouse Baptist Church.
He thanked the people of St. Christopher #6 (Newton Ground, St. Paul’s, Dieppe Bay, Parsons, Pogson, Saddlers and Harris’), who responded to the call of the Labour Party under the leadership of the late Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore and voted overwhelmingly for Dr. Douglas with more than 90 percent of the votes in the general elections of 21st March 1989. He has maintained that percentage in the successive general elections in November 1993; July 1995; March 2000; October 2004 and January 2010.
Prime Minister Douglas indicated that although he was certain that like himself the Church must have experienced challenges throughout its 17 years since its founding, it must have been a beacon of light and hope for the scores of people it must have influenced to come to know the Lord and dedicating their lives to serve Him.
The 57-year-old UWI trained physician turned politician, is now the longest serving Prime Minister among the Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) who in the 25th January 2010 general election made history in winning the election for his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) for a fourth consecutive time and is the only Head of Government to have done this convincingly in modern Caribbean politics.
Dr. Douglas informed the congregations that though he has encountered many challenges over the last 21 years as a Parliamentarian, there is nothing else in the world he would want to do if he was not serving his people as a Physician, and he was confident that he had positively influenced the lives of the people in the communities he represented in Parliament and throughout the country in general.
Prime Minister Douglas ended his short address by admonishing the Lighthouse Baptist Church and himself by saying:
“We just can’t give up now.
We’ve come too far from where we started.
Nobody told us that the road would be easy.
And we don’t believe He brought us this far to leave us.”
Obviously inspired by the words of an item presented in song earlier in the Anniversary Thanksgiving Service by the Connor Sisters, Antoinette and Delcia of Sandy Point, the Prime Minister appeared very confident that the Guiding Hand of God was directing the affairs of man and was definitely guiding his life of service to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis.