My Fellow Sint Maarteners,
I extend warm Christmas greetings to you and yours at home and abroad.
Christmas is a special time of the year. It is the season of hope anchored in God’s enduring gift of love. As we celebrate this season I call on you to reflect on the power of God’s Christmas gift to us. And in doing so I encourage you to project that gift in our relationships with our families, with our neighbors, with our colleagues and with our Country. Because it is in our successful projection of that gift of selfless giving and caring one to another, that lies our hope for a revived and stronger Sint Maarten.
During the past year our resolve as a people has been tested. Our island has been devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria; We have experienced political differences; And our island has, just in the past 24 hours, been shook by an earthquake. Some of us have lost loved ones, have lost or face losing our jobs, have incurred damage to or have lost our homes, have been victimized by crime or other socially unacceptable behavior. To all facing personal loss or difficulties, I offer my sympathy and pray that the Christmas season of hope will lighten and brighten your way.
As we celebrate this season of hope, I trust that each of us will be moved by the Christmas gift of Love and in doing so help each other to secure for one and all a better tomorrow. For it is only through noble unified and giving actions that we will bridge our differences and strengthen the foundation of our society. In doing so we will, in the spirit of Christmas, contribute to the societal renewal necessary to secure the further healing, rebuilding and recovery of our beloved island.
As Sint Maarteners celebrating the birth of Christ and closing off 2017 let us at the same time, be grateful for the help and blessings that have come our way. Let us do so keeping our brothers and sisters in our region and around the world who have been less fortunate in our prayers for their healing and recovery. By building on that foundation of hope, thankfulness, and care for each other, I trust that going forward, we will continue to advance the wellbeing of all within our community. And in doing so foster, a more just, happy and sustainable Sint Maarten society.
It is in that spirit that Marie-Louise and I, wish you and your family a most blessed, safe and hope filled Christmas!
God bless you and May God bless Sint Maarten and protect its coast.
The Governor of Sint Maarten
Eugene B. Holiday
