Jamaican gospel artiste Croswell Daily was the major act at the recent annual gala fundraising dinner of the Bronx-based Vincentian group, St. Matthias Charities, Inc.
The event, held on April 28, at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center in Brooklyn, attracted other Caribbean nationals, such as Jamaicans, Guyanese, Barbadians, Grenadians and Nevisians.
Daily – who performed during the two segments — provided much spiritual food to patrons through his uplifting songs.
They included: “He was There,” “Surely Will Deliver,” “Run Him Out,” “Behold,” “Blessed Assurance,” and “A Wonderful Savior.”
Bishop Aaron Moore, of the St. Jude Baptist Church in Brooklyn, exhorted patrons to “examine yourself.”
“Every man who invests in anything will like to see growth,” he said. “So, you have to know when to invest, how to invest.
“Examine yourself,” he urged. “Think about it. What’s in my heart’s condition. How do you respond to the word of God?
“You must put in the work to reap a good crop,” Moore continued. “You must prepare the soil to receive the seed. Check your heart. My word tonight is to prepare your heart to meet the Lord.”
Pastor Robert McBarnett, president of St. Matthias Charities, Inc., lauded patrons for contributing to event.
“Everywhere I go, I tell folks — even in St. Vincent and the Grenadines — [that] it’s the folks in New York why we’re able to do this,” he said. “Your contributions make us do this.”
Since the group was founded in 2012, McBarnett said members have made annual pilgrimages to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, distributing medical and other supplies to hospitals and clinics, and delivering food, clothing and books, among others, to communities and schools in the length and breadth of the country.
In response to McBarnett’s appeal for contributions for EKG machines in every hospital in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, patrons contributed US$791.00 on the spot.
“This is the biggest [single] donation thus far,” McBarnett said. “So, it means we are going to get an EKG machine.”
During a missionary trip to St. Vincent and the Grenadines last December, St. Matthias Charities, Inc. distributed four commercial washing machines, one commercial dryer, three television sets and recreational games to the Mental Health Rehabilitation Center and the Lewis Punnett Home (a home for the aged) — both at Glen, about five miles from capital, Kingstown.
Over the years, the group has also conducted missionary trips to neighboring Grenada, distributing medical and other supplies to hospitals, clinics and communities.
