Great disappointment

In 2003, experts who regularly check the hills for loose rocks that might fall into Jamestown, had warned the St Helenian Government that a rockfall was imminent, in the very spot that the Aug 2008 rockfall happened. Nothing was done about the warning. In August 2008, 300 tons of rock rolled down the hillside in the middle of the day, and most of it landed on the baptist properties. It is only God's providence that no one was hurt.

Today, Graeme and some of our deacons and fellow claimants met with the public solicitor, who was representing us in our claim for compensation from the Government. The sad outcome of it all was that the claimants felt obliged to abandon the case. The Government had demonstrated its willingness to incur excessive legal costs by instructing barristers in the UK to represent them, which was way out of our league in financial risk. It appears that the Government fears massive claims in the future, should there be a more catastrophic rockfall. If they paid us out, it would have created a precedent that they could not afford. Everyone is now being encouraged to take out their own insurance against rockfall damage.


As far as the chapel is concerned : in anticipation of receiving money from the Government, Trevor and Teddy have cleared the rubble and tidied up the chapel quite considerably. We have purchased the sheeting to replace the roof, but need money to afford the labour, which will be quite significant. We also need to repair the gallery and the holes in the wall near it.
Another setback is that the schoolroom which we reopend with such joy about 6 months ago, is in need of further maintenance. The back wall has land fill right up against it, and the recent rains have highlighted the problem.
The manse roof needs replacing, and the chapels in the country need repairs. We were hoping to attend to all of these maintenance needs with the anticipated money from the Government.

Instead of looking to the UK Government for the funds that we need, we are reminded that we should be looking to the Lord of all the earth to supply our needs.