If I’m correct, the last weather disaster to have destructively ravaged my homeland with hurricane force winds was hurricane David thirty-eight years ago on 29^th August 1979. It hit with a force of about one hundred and fifty miles as a category four, claiming a number of lives.

Tropical Storm Erika hit two years ago in August 2015 without winds but with a least expected amount of rain that resulted in huge overflowing of rivers and ravines, landslides and loss of lives (one of whom was a biological sibling of two of my worship members) causing much shock, damage and destruction.

Slowing down in forward speed to nine miles an hour, the greatest shocker to date in this twenty-first century thus far is the recent hurricane Maria which hit us head-on as a category five with force winds of about one hundred and sixty miles and twelve to twenty inches of rain on the night of just last month Monday 18th September 2017 causing catastrophic destruction and devastation throughout the country. This includes my home and the homes of three of my worship members are among the many homes it blew flat down. Some of my worship members, who didn’t altogether lose their homes, lost their roofs as well as those who experienced just flooding and severe impact of the force of the hurricane right in their homes.

The river in the capital city of Roseau crossed over its banks to such an immense height and proportion that it was up to the height of our Yahweh’s New Covenant Assembly (YNCA) concrete building in the Savanne Park area, braking through the eastside wall of the building, smashing off the four doors, totally destroying ninety-nine percent of the ceiling fans, packing sand in the building to such a height looking to be more than halfway the height of the interior of the building, compromising all of the three back pillars beneath the washroom section and the sand packed in the yard is enormous. Much more work to be done than after the passage of Tropical Storm Erika two years ago in 2015 to get the building back usable again for worship, if it is of worth remaining in that same location bounding on the south side with the Roseau river.

It is breath shortening to see the amount of work that has to be undertaken on a number of houses of worship after this past hurricane Maria before a number of these buildings can continue to be used as congregational worship sites. It is left to be seen if it worth the effort to again fix and continue on our present YNCA worship site, after having learnt for the first time after the passage of Tropical Storm Erika two years ago in 2015 that we are actually located exactly where the river originally once passed many years ago. The saying is a river has its way of returning to claim where it originally once passed from which it had been diverted, no matter how long it might take before it does so. This has been proven to us two years ago in August 2015 during the passage of Tropical Storm Erika and even worse yet during last month 18th September 2017 passage of category five hurricane Maria with a direct hit of the eye. That diversion was before the similar river disaster in the same Savanne Park area during the ravaging hit of a hurricane exactly one hundred and one years ago in 1916.

The recorded lost of lives to date throughout the country as a result of the passage of hurricane Maria, at time of writing, stands at twenty-six deaths and thirty-four missing as per the last updated official count I heard newscast via the media on Friday 20^th October 2017. This official updated count includes a female cousin-in-law of our YNCA Deacon Russell Bertrand and two grand children of one of the Elders at Qahal Yahweh Ministries, as far as I’m presently aware.

The First Moon after the Passage of Hurricane Maria

Category five Hurricane Maria blasting through with a direct hit for a number of hours three nights before the visible appearing of the new moon during last month September by no means turned us off from remembering to look out for the visible appearing of the biblical seventh new moon three evenings later when Thursday sunset 21^st September 2017 arrived. An over forty hours old new moon which I saw from the concrete floor of my hurricane destroyed wooden home at 6:20pm and observed it for as long as I could that lasted until it descended behind a tree at 6:40pm. It was tilting to the south. Bro. Mathias Francis and Elder Ophar confirmed to me that they had sighted the new moon along with their families, bringing the total amount of us who’ve sighted the new moon to seven in total I’m so far aware of that sighted it. This made the first Friday after the passage of hurricane Maria the biblical new-moon-first-day of the seventh month Ethanim and the annual Sabbath Feast of Trumpets on 22^nd September 2017.

The observance of Yahweh’s appointed annual dates during this past seventh moon Ethanim in the usual way that both we YNCA and also Qahal Yahweh were planning for, were completely hurricane scrapped, blown and river washed away and so, we in both these sacred name assemblies faced inability to gather on a grand scale as individual groupings for the Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement due to including mostly landsides, blockage of roads and no means for our YNCA building to be used for probably some time on YNCA side.

I met with the closest family I could have met with at the home of Elder J. Felix Thomas family for the annual Sabbath Feast of Trumpets and the weekly Sabbath day that immediately followed, as well as the weekly Sabbath day 30^th September 2017 that immediately preceded the annual Sabbath Day of Atonement fast. YNCA Brethren living in the village of Morne Prosper, joined with the Qahal Yahweh brethren of that same village at the Qahal Yahweh worship site there for the Feast of Trumpets celebration. Sis. Sonia Austrie-Allan, her husband Errol and Deacon Russell Bertrand were successfully able to traffic their way through on the Sunday 1^st October 2017 annual Sabbath Day of Atonement fast to the home of Elder Thomas family. The four of us Day of Atonement gathering at their home saw the laying on of hands and anointing in prayer by Elder Thomas on the four of us present and on his wife as well. This was where I fellowshipped also for the annual Sabbath first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the weekly Sabbath day that immediately followed. Other brethren, who could have, would have done likewise where and with whom they could have. After fellowshipping and lunch, I accompanied Elder Thomas family in visiting Bro. Joseph Wayland family and Sis. Cheryl Sandy family on the annual Sabbath first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and saw with our naked eyes that the roof of their homes too were blown away by hurricane Maria that we were already aware of, upon enquiring. Our visiting them was not without hands being laid on them with anointing in prayer by Elder Thomas as they could not have been present in some minimal fellowship at least on the Sabbath Day of Atonement fast when they would have been a part of the laying on of hands and anointing in prayer, considering the obstacles and congestions caused by the passage of hurricane Maria.

As roads were gradually becoming motorable once again, there was also the travelling of YNCA brethren in Morne Prosper on the Friday 6^th October 2017 annual Sabbath first day of the Feast of Tabernacles to the home of our YNCA Deacon Russell Bertrand family in Salisbury for fellowship. It was not a possibility to have camp for the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles this year 2017, as the passage of hurricane Maria made the planned site for us YNCA that was in preparation at Chez Ophelia in CoptHall, unusable for that purpose. On Qahal Yahweh side was most of all the lost of their Feast of Tabernacles camping materials to the river adjacent to where they had already secured as their campsite at a location in Canefield which too was overrun and made unusable for the time being by the river having overran its banks.

The first grand gathering that became a possibility for us YNCA, after the island wide devastation of hurricane Maria, was on the Friday 13^th October 2017 annual Sabbath Eighth Day or Last Great Day at the home of Deacon Russell Bertrand family in the west coast village of Salisbury on an unusual low scale but nevertheless indeed quite uplifting and joyful in our recovery efforts, with food and drink fellowshipping after the worship service.

Elder Joseph and Sister Maria Francis were finally successful in being able to migrate back to homeland from the USVI after experiencing two hurricanes Irma and Maria there and to join us in time at the home of Deacon Russell Bertrand family in Salisbury, straight from the airport, before the annual Sabbath Eighth Day or Last Great Day had sunset-ended.

We are for now continuing to gather at the homes of brethren which were at the home of Elder George Jno. Baptiste family in Morne Prosper on the weekly Sabbath day that immediately followed the annual Sabbath Eighth Day (Leviticus 23) or Last Great Day (John 7).

Looking for What Could Have Been the Reason

Entering this past seventh moon Ethanim and the observance of Yahweh’s commanded annual appointed times occurring during this past moon with an island wide hurricane disaster of such magnitude on our hands could be similar to the weather conditions the Apostle Paul, his companion Dr. Luke and the rest of those on that ship voyage to Italy were faced with at sea from a south eastern storm in Acts 27. This was apparently after the Sabbath Day of Atonement fast (Acts 27:9), a time period that appears to have included the annual seven days Feast of Tabernacles and the Sabbath Eighth Day or Last Great Day that followed in that fourteen day period that saw no one being able to eat and drink not even during such a grand feasts of Yahweh. This is the same south eastern direction from which category five hurricane Maria made its Monday evening 18^th September 2017 chaotic entrance to Dominica, giving us a direct hit on its north western journey through the whole country and disenabling the observance of Yahweh’s commanded annual observances for this past seventh moon in the usual grand way we’re accustom to.

The Acts 27 experience from a hurricane for the Apostle and those on that ship with him was during the biblical seventh moon Ethanim at sea. For us in Dominica was three evenings before the new moon evening arrival of this past seventh moon by way of the passage of this past hurricane Maria which left so much devastated and smashed to pieces with the lost of a number of lives just as the rear of that ship on which the Apostle Paul were, was smashed to pieces but no lives were lost.

Could having not escaped hurricane Maria and the loss of lives as a result of that hurricane been due to some eternal life saving admonishment coming from the Apostle Paul that has yet to be heeded by us as a nation? It was all due to not having heeded the Apostle Paul’s advice which led to them having encountered that storm out at sea, leading to the lost of that ship and almost the loss of lives that could have been avoided. Or, is it that the percentage of practitioners of heavenly righteousness on island was found to not have been at the minimum quota at least, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, which would have caused Yahweh our Creator to change His mind from allowing such a catastrophic hurricane disaster upon us? It was a hurricane I’m being told and have overheard from conversations included tornados as well. The mountings looked as if they were being scourged by a severe burning fire during the passage of the hurricane that broke, uprooted and stripped trees bare of their leaves. Or, was it a challenge that arose between Yahweh and Satan concerning those who keep Yahweh’s appointed annual celebrations as had happened concerning Job’s righteous dedication in Yahweh which might have cause Yahweh to allow Satan to hurl such a hurricane disaster in our direction in the same way He allowed Satan to do in Job’s direction? If so, then Satan only end up seeing that Yahweh’s people remained fixed with Leviticus 23 instead of choosing to curse Yahweh and sideline His appointed annual observances in His seventh moon just as Job chose instead to not curse Yahweh and die. Some are claiming, based on sounds they said they’ve heard from the wind as the hurricane ravaged through, that it had demons in it.

“Out of the south comes the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the breadth of El frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering He wearies the thick cloud: He scatters His bright cloud: And it is turned round about by His counsels: that they may do whatsoever He commands them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy,” Job 37:9-13.

It is a witnessed fact from the behaviour of citizens that the passage of hurricane Maria is for some an embraced opportunity to examine where correction is necessary for a better lifestyle in pleasing to our Creator. While for some others, it is an embraced opportunity for an increase in their already wicked lifestyle into doing even worse, may be than Sodom and Gomorrah, rather than accepting correction unto repentance.

May we all take heed to our Creator’s warnings and repent from our evil doings against Him to escape the all time eternal catastrophic disaster He promises to unleash upon all those of us who are continuing to refuse to live the sort of live He has purposely designed us for.

The Biblical Eighth New Moon Sighted

It turned out to not have been as difficult as I thought it would have been to spot the twenty-two hours thirty minutes old biblical eighth new moon Bul this month Friday evening 20^th October 2017 which I saw with my naked eyes at 6:15 P.M. (-4 GMT/UT). This sighting was again from the same concrete floor of my hurricane destroyed wooden home that I’d sighted the seventh new moon Ethanim last month September.

A night curfew in force following the passage of the hurricane made it impossible for my usual trip to town to look for both these past two new moons, as I would have like to and accustom of doing. Also, there’s that tree behind which the seventh new moon had descended last month September I thought might have barred me from being able to sight this past eighth new moon this month October as it was younger and lower than the seventh new moon last month September. The sky also looked heavily hazy. But it happened that the location of this past eighth new moon was more southerly than last month, completely away from the location of the tree and so, there was it extremely dim but possible of me being able to see with my naked eyes, twenty-three minutes after sunset and into the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath. Also sighting this past eighth new moon Bul on Friday evening 20^th October 2017 was our YNCA Deacon Russell Bertrand at 6:25 P.M. Two of us therefore I can confirm have sighted and confirmed its visibility.

This made the weekly holy seventh day Sabbath 21^st October 2017 to be the biblical new-moon-first-day of the eighth month Bul and a double feast day of rejoicing in congregational praise, worship and thanksgiving to our Creator; in spite of the 18/09/2017 hurricane Maria’s destructive hard hit that can be so souring to all of us but giving thanks to our Creator, as we’re being commanded, in everything.

Hurricane Maria did quite much of a clearing of trees that had made it no longer possible for me to be able of sighting a number of new moons from the location of my home for years.

We thank Yah for life and survival through this past hurricane Maria and to have seen and confirm the visibility of these past two new moons in spite of the passage of the 18/09/2017 tornado-like hurricane Maria leaving such an immense destruction throughout the country behind it.

Augustus Paul Andrew

25 Emergency Housing Scheme

Balisier Lane, Bath Estate, Roseau

Commonwealth of Dominica

(767) 245-8369/316-1525

www.facebook.com/BarakYahweh

October 2017