Following Hurricane Melissa’s destructive impact on the western portion of Jamaica after the storm’s Oct. 28 landfall, Send Relief disaster response leaders arrived to begin damage assessments and deploy resources this past weekend.
“Jamaica has not experienced a storm like this in its modern history,” said Jason Cox, Send Relief vice president for international ministry. “Jamaicans are a resilient people, but there aren’t a lot of people who have endured a storm like this. There are still areas that remain flooded, and some basic supplies have already started running low.”
Send Relief Vice President for International Ministry Jason Cox (center) prays with pastor Jacob Powell (right) and Matthew Waldraff, Send Relief’s Area Director for the Americas (left), after surveying the damage to Powell’s church and the parsonage by Hurricane Melissa. Powell pastors Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, Jamaica. (Send Relief photo by Rob Witzel)
The death toll throughout the Caribbean has risen above 65, and numerous people are still reported missing while communications have been hampered by the damaged infrastructure.
Cox described scenes of downed power lines and spoke with residents who described how the storm had changed the landscape, felling trees and washing homes away.
“People are hurting right now. It is terrible out there,” said Robert Campbell, mission agency secretary for the Jamaican Baptist Union. “People are hungry. People just want to get help with basic food items, nonperishable goods, help get their houses back together. A lot of roofs are gone.”
Jacob Powell, pastor of Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, shared that many in the surrounding community are still missing. One individual connected with the church died in the storm.
“A young lady’s body had been found and identified. Pastor Powell was heartbroken over that,” Cox relayed, following a meeting with the pastor. “I was struck with the weight on his shoulders as a shepherd, a leader in his community. He is not the only pastor, the only Christian, who is carrying the burdens of their communities.”
Powell said the devastation was “more than we would have imagined taking place.”
“Our churches have been destroyed,” he said. “Here where I’m living, the parsonage roof is gone. The fellowship hall roof is gone. A section of the sanctuary roof is gone also.”
The neighbors and other members of the church faced similar damage to their own homes, rendering many of them uninhabitable, Powell said, and without assistance, recovery will take a long time.
Send Relief is readying shipments of materials, including tarps and generators, to send to help create hubs for ministry through the local churches in Jamaica.
Hurricane Melissa devastated the infrastructure in the Southern and Western regions of Jamaica. Buildings and homes had the roofs torn off by the Category 5 storm, the strongest hurricane to hit the island in a generation. (Send Relief photo by Rob Witzel)
“Pastor Powell is representative of a lot of pastors and Christians whose communities have been hit by Hurricane Melissa,” Cox said. “Send Relief is eager to come alongside those churches, to help them minister to their neighbors during this time of great need.”
The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), including Send Relief global and regional leaders, as well as Florida Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers, is continuing assessments and developing a comprehensive, long-term, church-based response to the hardest-hit areas of the island.
“Florida Baptist Disaster Relief is grateful for our partnership with Send Relief and appreciative of the opportunity for ministry to join in the effort of responding to this devastating storm,” said Florida SBDR director David Coggins last week.
“Our volunteers are eager to minister to the people of Jamaica and beyond with all that we can do to help in this tragic time,” Coggins said. “They are eager to serve and to help bring the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ to these countries.”
Send Relief expects trained SBDR volunteers will continue to be able to assist in the recovery as sites become established, but it will take a few smaller teams to build out bases of operation that will support the Jamaican Baptist response.
Cuba, other Caribbean islands suffered Melissa’s wrath
A few weeks before Melissa’s landfall, Send Relief had delivered 50 generators to Cuba to equip Cuban Baptist churches to be disaster ready.
“They’re serving as a hub of compassion, as a hub of relief and ministry in their communities,” Cox said. “One small but significant way they’re doing that is they turn on the generator for a couple of hours and let everybody come and charge their phones. Little things like that matter so much when you’re not able to reach loved ones. It lowers the stress for survivors.”
Some of the Cuban churches have begun serving meals, providing food for 100-200 people a day in a nation where many communities were dealing with food insecurity before Melissa arrived.
Several other islands in the Caribbean sustained losses from Melissa’s winds and rain. Send Relief is coordinating with partners in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti to bring tangible help and share the eternal hope of the Gospel.
Learn more at sendrelief.org/melissa.
— Brandon Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board.