NEW Deacons for T&T and Barbados Published by Twitter: @kaelanne1 There’s a saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’; it took a “global village” to produce three deacons last Saturday. Newly ordained deacon Omaris Jenner Valmond shared this sentiment, as he, along with fellow ordinands, Peter Clinton St Hillaire and Moses Kabuga Gikandi were ordained to the diaconate on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saturday December 12 at the St Francis of Assisi RC Church, Sangre Grande. Ordaining prelate Archbishop Jason Gordon called the occasion an “international event” as the congregation—both physical and virtual— comprised of persons from Paramin (Trinidad), Barbados, Kenya and the US. St Hillaire was ordained for the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, while Kenya-born Gikandi and Dominica-born Valmond were both ordained for the Diocese of Bridgetown, Barbados. Commenting on the deacons’ journey to ordination day, Archbishop Jason Gordon, in his homily, opined, “It is no little bit of grace that got us to this day”. He observed one commonality among the trio—the pre-eminence of grace working in their lives. “That the way was long and crooked at times, with many a twist and a turn that you could not understand or even interpret at times, but you got here ….” Saturday’s ordination, the Archbishop said, was a moment not to be missed, even amidst the present pandemic.