January 9, 2013Dear Sir,It’s a New Year; we have a new government, with new vision and new optimism and we have an age-old problem that concerns all of us as a people. A small segment of our Island community are perpetrators of heinous acts, and the effect on our country is alarming. Five young men were murdered in 2012, and many more in previous years. The graveyards are filled with unrealised potential and promise and families are left grieving, angry and confused. We are losing our sons, our brothers, our fathers, our future generation, our seed. We recognise that crime is prevalent in most societies worldwide, but for a small closely knit island such as Bermuda the level of crime and violence is increasingly alarming and tragic. Our new Government, with all of its good intentions and election promises has pledged to put programmes into place to fix this dilemma. The situation will not be solved by throwing money into programmes. This problem is much bigger than that!What our country desperately needs is more prayer, not more programmes. With the number of people on our Island who profess Christ, we have the resources to turn this chaos around. Money and programmes serve their purpose but they will not fix the problem that Bermuda is currently facing. Unless there is a change of heart and mind, there will never be a change in direction and purpose. God has promised in His Word that “If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers made in this place.” 2 Chronicles 7:14-15 (NIV).God wants to bless and heal our land and it rests on “Gods people” to call on Him as one united voice. Let’s close our doctrinal differences, pull down denominational barriers and get serious about Gods business. If the church doesn’t change, the situation will worsen and God will hold us responsible, not the Government of the day. Our families and communities need better morals not more money — prayer more than programmes and peace rather than worldly pleasures. The realisation that there are political and economic woes are by no means minimised but there are other pressing deep rooted issues. Here is the call for Christians everywhere to mobilise and sacrifice our time to come together regularly to pray until we see and experience change. Christian leaders let’s get together so we can get it together.I encourage our premier and his cabinet — the opposition and independents to come together for the good of the country. What has been done has not worked. We must seek the counsel of the spiritual leadership of this island. Malachi 2:7 (NLT) says “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”Bermuda can, should and will be a model for many lands if we take heed. May God’s blessing of true peace be upon all of us as we collectively seek His will.PASTOR G DEAN SMITH