BERMUDA’S FIRST FEMALE POSTAL CARRIER

Today is the last day of our BLACK HISTORY AND EDUCATION MONTH we celebrate Bermuda’s First Female Postal Carrier.

Mrs. Evadne Colleen Paynter is a household name among many Bermuda’s. A gentle and loving person, who understood the importance of an honest days work. She was the wife of the late Lionel ''"Spookey'' Paynter Sr. She was the devoted mother of Lionel Jr., Howard, Keith, Sonia and Wanda Paynter and Paulette Ball.

Her siblings where the late Burt Smith and the late Deloris Adams. Her home was located on 143 South Shore Road, Smiths Parish Bermuda.

As it was in most neighborhoods during those days, the postal carriers were part of the family in the neighborhood. They knew the neighbor’s and the neighbor’s knew them.

Looking at the postal history of Bermuda. There is a book entitled, "The Bermuda Post Office Bicentennial — 1812 to 2012. This book unveils the history of Bermuda as, "one of the few countries in the world to officially record its postal history.

"The Bermuda Post Office is the oldest international business in Bermuda,” said Dr Simmons. “We are (over) 200 years old. There is so much to its story. The post office’s story is about far more than just delivering and sorting mail. This has a legacy that is linked to the United Nations’ Universal Postal Union which is the second oldest agency under the UN. It is tied to the premise that the right to mail and communicate is a universal human right...

During the Second World War, hundreds of British postal examiners stationed in Bermuda helped to uncover Nazi spy rings operating in the United States...

Sometimes the mail could take three weeks to cross the ocean to Bermuda if the winds were strong or it could take four months. There where a few times, the mail didn’t make it due to a ship sinking.

Although Mrs. Evadne Colleen Paynter would be long remembered for a long happy life, she passed away in the Lord in her 80th year. Her family, friends, and the community of Bermuda will celebrate her as the first female postal carrier.

Speaking about the first postal carrier sent by God to His people. The Bible makes it clear that, "Enoch" in Gen. 5:18-24 was a preacher of righteousness sent from God. He was the seventh generation from Adam by inclusive count.

Enoch was well-known and regarded very highly for his work. The book of Jude 14-15 says, "Enoch, was the seventh from Adam, who prophesied about the future and the second coming of Jesus. The Bible says, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners ..."

"The Lord opened more fully to Enoch the plan of salvation, and by the Spirit of prophecy carried him down through the generations which should live after the Flood, and showed him the great events connected with the second coming of Christ and the end of the world (Jude 14).

Enoch was troubled in regard to the dead. It seemed to him that the righteous and the wicked would go to the dust together, and that would be their end. He could not clearly see the life of the just beyond the grave. In prophetic vision he was instructed in regard to the Son of God, who was to die man's sacrifice, and was shown the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, attended by the angelic host, to give life to the righteous dead and ransom them from their graves. He also saw the corrupt state of the world at the time when Christ should appear the second time—that there would be a boastful, presumptuous, self-willed generation arrayed in rebellion against the law of God and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and trampling upon His blood and despising His atonement. He saw the righteous crowned with glory and honor while the wicked were separated from the presence of the Lord and consumed with fire....

Enoch continued to grow more heavenly while communing with God. His face was radiant with a holy light which would remain upon his countenance while instructing those who would hear his words of wisdom. His heavenly and dignified appearance struck the people with awe. The Lord loved Enoch because he steadfastly followed Him and abhorred iniquity and earnestly sought heavenly knowledge, that he might do His will perfectly. He yearned to unite himself still more closely to God, whom he feared, reverenced, and adored. God would not permit Enoch to die as other men, but sent His angels to take him to heaven without seeing death. In the presence of the righteous and the wicked, Enoch was removed from them. Those who loved him thought that God might have left him in some of his places of retirement, but after seeking him diligently, and being unable to find him, reported that he was not, for God took him." Genesis 5:21-24.

"This scripture brings to view the fact that there is a most earnest work to be done, and we need divine intuition that we may know how to work for souls ready to perish. There are souls to be plucked out of the fire, there are souls who are to be treated with the tenderest compassion. Workers are needed who have learned in the school of Christ His method of saving souls."

Are you ready to be a postal carrier for God today? If you say yes and need a helping hand to guide you, reach out to a spiritual leader, or you can contact me. It is my prayer that God will give you the tools you need, to deliver His heavenly mail to the world like Bermuda's first female postal carrier.

Have a wonderful day.

By GARDEN MINISTRY