Grenada is this weekend playing host to hundreds of athletes from many Caribbean islands who are visiting our shores for the 53rd version of the Carifta Games.
THE NEW TODAY expects a full house at the Kirani James Athletic stadium on each day of competition as our people come out to cheer the future stars of athletics in the Caribbean and in particular our own local athletes.
These games have produced over the years a host of athletes who have advanced to become Olympic gold medalists in their event.
The athletics stadium is named after Kirani James, the local golden boy who brought home Grenada’s first Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Games held in London, England.
The most decorated regional athlete, the great Usain Bolt of Jamaica is a product of the Carifta Games which he used to announce to the region and later the world that a track star is in the making in these small islands in the English-speaking Caribbean.
The games can also become a life-changer for many of our athletes who can go on to earn a more than comfortable life as one of the top global athletes whether on the track or in some special field event.
Anderson Peters, widely regarded as among the three top Javelin throwers in the world, first made his mark at the Carifta Games.
There is no doubt that some of the major athletic coaches in North America will be at the Games to look out for all those promising athletes to offer some scholarships to attend universities, especially in the United States.
The Games provide a major boost to our tourism sector at this time of the year.
The hotels should be getting more than their fair share of numbers from the influx of athletes and visitors to our shores for the event.
The hundreds who will be in attendance are also coming at a time when the Winter Cruise ship season is just about to end.
The Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) and the Government Treasury will get some extra dollars in taxes from the overseas contingents that will be in the Spice Isle over the next few days.
THE NEW TODAY is making an appeal to all Grenadians to give a hearty welcome to all and sundry for the Carifta Games.
It is also a time for the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) and all the other arms of law enforcement to be out in numbers to provide maximum security and safety to our visitors.
Those in charge of National Security will be mindful of the unfortunate stain placed on our tourism sector by the recent downgrade given by the U.S Department of State.
This action of Washington has not stopped the influx of visitors to our shores as Grenada is still seen by many as among the safest islands in the entire Caribbean region.
Our crime statistics are way below those of islands such as Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent & The Grenadines.
It is our hope that athletics emerge in the end as the victor over the next few days of fierce competition at the Kirani James Athletics stadium.
As we enter the Easter holiday period, as a Christian nation, let us not forget that all of who believe in the Lord know, that in order to redeem us, the Lord Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified for our sake, and then three days later He resurrected and appeared to His disciples.
The first thing that Jesus did after His resurrection was to allow everyone to see Him, to confirm to them that He does in fact exist, and to confirm the fact of His resurrection.
It is our belief that the Lord Jesus did resurrect from death after being nailed to the cross.
The Bible tell us that when Jesus was captured by the Roman authorities and flogged and mocked by the soldiers, many of those who followed Him began to have doubts about His identity, and their faith in the Lord grew weaker and weaker.
This was so because when Jesus died after being nailed to the cross, many people were disappointed in Him because they believed that if he was indeed the Christ then he should have saved himself.
The Lord Jesus returned from the dead and appeared to His disciples many times and even spoke with them and showed them His spiritual body after the resurrection, and He ate with them and expounded on the Scriptures to them.
His purpose in doing all this was to allow those who followed Him to be certain from the bottom of their hearts that the Lord Jesus had truly returned from the dead, that He was still the same Jesus who had loved mankind and was the Messiah prophesied in the Bible who would come to redeem mankind.
By resurrecting and appearing to man, Jesus strengthened people’s faith to believe in and follow the Lord and this is one of the reasons why Christians celebrate Easter.
Let’s give thanks to our God as believers in the word of the Bible!!!