What great pain and suffering result when a person made in God’s image is reduced to being just another piece of property: being exploited, abused and discarded when of no further use.

In an earlier statement I shared how the issue of slavery struck a deep chord with our people. The AME Church began during slavery and served then as a catalyst for freedom.

Today the church is actively involved with the issue on the African continent while striving to overcome its after-effects on this side of the Atlantic.

We have strong sympathy for people who are now suffering what our foreparents once suffered. We recall the enormous social and political effort required to achieve liberation. Two hundred years ago the law abolishing the slave trade became law.

More than 30 years later Emancipation came with the sunrise in August. Freedom came through much toil and hardship.

And we know all too well that the struggle did not cease with the breaking of chains. Emancipation must be followed with empowerment.

As the Presiding Elder of the AME Church, I appeal to the people of Bermuda to give thanks to God for the freedom that we enjoy now and that we do not take this great privilege for granted.

I call for us to do what we can to alleviate the burdened. I continue to pray for the release of captives worldwide, for true justice and equality here and abroad, and for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who will break every chain!

The African Methodist Episcopal Church maintains a deeply rooted Christian presence in Bermuda with 11 congregations dispersed throughout the Island.

The mission of the AME Church is to minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional and environmental needs of all people by spreading Jesus Christ’s liberating gospel through word and deed.

Rev. Malcolm Eve