The Caribbean people in global missions

We the people of the Caribbean are the result of the world's first experiment in globalisation, as the Spanish tried to pioneer new trade routes to the far east by sailing west: Columbus refused to believe Eratosthenes' calculation of [rather roughly!] about 200 BC, that is in fact within several percent of the true value of how far it is around the Earth.

[The Librarian of Alexandria had looked at the shadow cast by the sun on a certain day at Alexandria and at Syene, far tot he south along the Nile. From the difference in angle he worked out the number of degrees of arc between the two cities, thence the circumference of the Earth. Earlier, Aristotle had argued that since the Earth cast a round shadow always on the Moon during a lunar eclipse, and since it is obviously a solid, then it would logically be a sphere as only such a shape always casts a circular shadow.]

Columbus bumped into the Caribbean, and a largely unhappy train of events was set in motion as European settlement of the New World began.

However, despite the horrors of slavery and all that went with it, we received the blessing of the gospel, which materially contributed to our liberation and empowerment. So, over the past 200 years, we have become a Caribbean people even as we became more and more a cultural melting pot of people from all over the world. By God's grace, we have largely learned to live with one another across many a racial and cultural divide.

That immediately means that we are in a position to reach out by bridging North and South, East and West, through the power of the gospel.

In turn, that immediately raises the challenge that we are strategic for the ministry of the gospel all across theworld. For never have we been so educated, so relatively well-off, so able to travel, and so out of the current geostrategic clashes. So we need to ask if we have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Thus, we need to consider carefully what God may be telling us and calling us to.

In turn, that leads us to reflect on the way we should interact with government. So, have a look at Acts 27, to see a case study I first looked at when this blog began. END