Park Hill Evangelical celebrates anniversary in service to the community

THE PARK Hill Evangelical Church (PHEC), a member of the Evangelical Church of the West Indies (ECWI), was founded in Park Hill in early 1958. This month, July 25, the church will celebrate 63 years of ministry in Park Hill and surrounding communities. The church’s theme for 2021 is, “Experiencing His Prosperity in our Lives”; text 3 John 2.

VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZING packages in Mt Greenan

Following the April 9 volcanic eruptions, the leaders of the church began to pray for ways in which they can serve the communities in the orange zone on the windward side of the Island. Several individuals from Park Hill who live in the Diaspora reached out to the leaders of the church to find out ways in which they can help the community. The ECWI churches in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Lucia shipped supplies to the local body, for the affected local churches in the respective communities, a release from the church states.

The PHEC has been facilitating the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines with relief distribution, through the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), of which there exists a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The church is a designated Emergency Shelter and a designated Relief Distribution Centre for the communities of Park Hill.

The church has been assisting the state with relief distribution as a result of the impacts on livelihoods in the community. To date, the church has conducted several relief distributions for the state during May and June 2021 distributing over 1,070 food packages to more than 500 families of the community from the state.

The church has also received relief supplies twice from the Tzu Chi Foundation of Taiwan and shipped to the church by the Tzu Chi Foundation of St. Marten in May and June 2021 respectively. In May, the foundation sent five pallets of food supplies and cleaning products for 250 households in Park Hill. On June 25 the church received a 20 foot container of Volcano Relief Supplies valued at EC$81,600.00 from the Tzu Chi Foundation. These supplies were distributed to 800 families in Park Hill, South Rivers, Mt. Greenan, Bellevue, Colonarie, Byrea and Gorse. To date the church has distributed over 1200 packages to the community from contributions received from the foundation, individuals, and churches from the North American Diaspora, and from individuals and churches from the Caribbean and locally. Within the past two months the church along with other volunteers in Park Hill, have distributed over 2270 food packages and cleaning supplies to over 1000 households in the surrounding communities.

The Tzu Chi Foundation is an international humanitarian organisation whose mission is to relieve the suffering of those in need and create a better world for all. Putting compassion into action is at the heart of Tzu Chi’s mission. The Foundation was established in 1966, in Taiwan, by the Dharma Master Cheng Yen.