Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Prayer Focus - Caribbean Territory
Praise God for this new day! Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, it is by God’s grace that you are where you are. Give Him the praise and the glory!
Prayer
Dear Lord, in the United States today we celebrate our independence as a nation. We thank You for the liberty we enjoy, first to worship You without fear. Thank You, that even with all the problems facing our nation, we are still a free people who are able to choose our leaders. Help us to exercise the responsibility given to us by the sacrifices of so many by voting and doing so with thought and seeking You for wisdom. We pray that our nation that has so carelessly been slipping away from You would once again turn to You in repentance, would humbly seek You and honor You as the only true God. In seeking You help us to do so that we can share You with all the world as its only hope. We do not seek You for riches or power, but we seek Your righteousness and with that Your view in all things. We commit ourselves and our country to You anew, dear Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Trinidad & Tobago Division 120th Anniversary United Band joined virtually to share a special number with all of us.
Background of the
Caribbean Territory
The Caribbean Territory encompasses a mosaic of present-day colonies and former colonies of the French, Dutch and English. Belize, although part of Central America, is included in the territory because it is English speaking. Three are part of South America: Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. Nations that are in the Caribbean but because they are Spanish speaking are part of the Latin America North Territory include Cuba and the Dominican Republic. There are a total of sixteen countries and colonies, ranging from the smallest of St. Kitts with a population of less than 35, 000 to the largest, Haiti, with a population of nearly 11.5 million.
The native populations of the Caribbean islands were wiped out early on by diseases brought in by European settlers and from being forced into slave labor. The colonists also imported large numbers of slaves from Africa to work estates for sugar and other products that thrived in the islands. Following the Second World War, independence movements across the Caribbean and the obvious inability of the European powers to protect their colonial claims during the war resulted in most of the colonies gaining their independence.
While English is widely spoken, Dutch is spoken in the Suriname and French in St. Maarten, French Guiana and Haiti. Economically, the Caribbean varies widely in development and stability. Countries like the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Maarten, Barbados and Antigua have enjoyed stable economies built on a well developed tourism industry, fishing, petroleum and agriculture. Other nations in the territory also depend on tourism as a major industry as well as other sources of income but have enjoyed less prosperity. All the area is vulnerable to hurricanes and much of the Caribbean lies along a major fault line that has caused catastrophic earthquakes, such as the one in Jamaica in 1907 and Haiti in 2010, the latter leaving over 300,000 dead.
Haiti, the most populous nation, is in a class of its own. By defeating Napoleon’s army, Haiti became the first black republic in the world. This shattered the assumption of white racial superiority that had reinforced colonial thinking at the time. Rather than welcoming Haiti into the family of nations, efforts were made to punish the new country for its supposed presumption. What did not help was a long history of poor governance that has continued to the present day. Although much less so in the countryside, the capital city of Port-au-Prince is largely under the control of gangs and periodically is beset by waves of violence and anarchy.
There is freedom of religion throughout the Caribbean, with almost all Caribbean people claiming Christianity, there are adherents of Voodoo in Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean and a significant minority of Hindus in Trinidad and other islands. Although Christianity is claimed by most, lax sexual morality has resulted in out of wedlock births exceeding those of children born within marriages across the Caribbean, even among those professing to be Christians. There. Is also a wide gap between those claiming to be Christians and those who regularly attend worship services. There is a need for revival and renewal.
The Salvation Army: In 1887 The Salvation Army opened fire in Kingston and then spread throughout the island of Jamaica. Then to Guyana (1895), Barbados (1898), Trinidad (1901), Grenada (1902), St. Lucia (1902), Antigua (1903), St. Vincent (1905), Belize (1915), St. Kitts (1916), Suriname (1924), Bahamas (1931), Haiti (1950), French Guiana (1980), St. Maarten (1999), and the Turks and Caicos (2011).
Facts, Stats and Leadership of
the Caribbean Territory
- Total population to fish and disciple: 18,938,599
- 250 officers, 5 auxiliary-captains, 10 envoys, 8 cadets, 544 employees
- 79 retired officers
- 129 corps, 45 outposts
- 12,731 senior soldiers
- 2,070 adherents
- 3,707 junior soldiers
Leadership
Commissioner Devon Haughton - Territorial Commander
Commissioner Verona Haughton - Territorial President of Women's Ministries
Lt. Colonel Emmanuel Supré - Chief Secretary
Lt. Colonel Edeline Supré - Territorial Secretary for Women's Ministries
Prayer Requests for
the Caribbean Territory
- We thank God for His protection and provision during the unrest in Haiti. Despite the violent uprising, many people accepted Christ, and the gospel continued to spread.
- Please pray for the ongoing development of men's ministries throughout the Territory.
- Pray that young people in the Caribbean, especially in English and Dutch-speaking areas, respond positively to God's call to be officers.
- Pray for divine guidance as the territory develops its 2025-2030 strategic plan.
- Pray for a powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Suriname District Centennial Celebration scheduled for 5-13 October 2024.
- Pray for divine wisdom, knowledge, understanding, insight, and foresight for the new leadership team as they embark on their tenure.
- Pray for those now being affected by Hurricane Beryl.
USA Southern Territory
Prayer Requests
- Major Matthew Satterlee, Territorial Youth Secretary
- Audit Department
- Lt. Colonel Al Ward, Territorial Research Analyst, Business Administration
- Jalane Rolander, Bible Correspondence Program Assistant, Social Services
- Peter Howell, Store Clerk/Customer Service Representative, Trade
- Captain Kelsey Bridges, Director of Curriculum, EBC
- Cadet Brian Shea
- Captain Jonathan Needham, Divisional Candidates’ Secretary, Kentucky/Tennessee Division
- Colonel Stephen Morris, Territorial Commander, Japan Territory
- Lt. Colonel Mark Harwell, National Treasurer and National Secretary for Business Administration, NHQ
- Lt. Colonels Ronnie & Sharon Raymer, officers, soldiers, employees and volunteers of the North & South Carolina Division
- Senior Residences
- Anonymous prayer request for the person’s family, home and for a job
- Anonymous prayer request for countries around the world, especially Africa, for the people there to have good health, strength and industry, and to be on solid ground
- Anonymous prayer request that the person not be homeless and for strength and courage
- Prayer request for Monique’s health and life
- Prayer request for God to look after Felecia Upshaw
Something to Consider
“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
Of what value is freedom without love? I suppose that something which answers to liberty may be said to attach to all that is desirable to human life. So that we have freedom from the monstrous bondage called slavery, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, freedom to labor or not to labor, freedom to come and go without let or hindrance in the lawful pursuits of life, and freedom of thought and religion. All good, all very desirable, all, I dare say, more or less needed for human happiness, and yet all perfectly powerless to make that happiness without one thing more – and that thing is love. One moment’s thought will convince the most untutored mind that none of the freedoms I have mentioned can of themselves be of much real worth to any human being without – love.
Love divine, from Jesus flowing,
Living waters, rich and free,
Wondrous love, without a limit,
Flowing from eternity;
Boundless ocean,
I would cast myself on Thee!
- General Bramwell Booth
From Bramwell Booth Speaks
Edited by Catherine Bramwell-Booth
Benediction
May God bless you and keep you this day as you walk in the freedom only found in His love. Amen.
Phil Laeger has captured the spirit of The Salvation Army in this wonderful song, “Soldiers’ Hymn”