Send Relief assessment teams are preparing to go into Jamaica and other affected areas from Hurricane Melissa no later than this weekend, said Jason Cox, the organization’s vice president for International Ministry.
“We began communicating with our partners in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean early on,” Cox said in an interview with the BBC. “… We’re ready to move whenever it’s feasible.”
Melissa made landfall yesterday as a Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, bringing widespread wind damage and flooding while knocking out power to more than half a million customers, reported the Associated Press. The storm continued over Cuba Wednesday morning, as Melissa’s 105 mph maximum sustained winds brought it to a Category 2.
Cox told the BBC of Send Relief’s ability to “respond fast and stay long” when such storms hit.
“We’re able to do that, primarily, because of the network of local churches that we have around the world, including in Jamaica and [affected areas],” he said. “That ensures the response is long-term as well because it’s a church-based response. We will be invested long-term because of our partners on the ground.”
Cox told BP on Monday (Oct. 27) that Send Relief had been working for months to get generators to Cuban churches, with those arriving in recent weeks. Coordination with state Disaster Relief groups is ongoing to send in a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) for assessment in conjunction with Baptist groups in Jamaica and Cuba as well as the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship.
“Our area director has been in constant contact with them,” Cox said.
Responding to storms since its 2016 launch has increased Send Relief’s footprint, and thus, the organization’s ability to initiate long-term responses. The devastation brought by Hurricane Maria in 2017 to Puerto Rico led to the establishment of a Send Relief Ministry Center in that country.
“The strength of that center is due, in large part, to the collaboration with churches there,” said Scott Knuteson, Strategic Communications director for Send Relief. “Now, churches and volunteers in that country have been trained and are ready to go nearby and be a part of the response. The legacy of Maria is that we’re on a better footing to respond to storms now.”
“We have a strong bias to serve local churches,” Cox added, “and we’re going to find ways to work alongside Cuban and Jamaican partners, as well as others, to respond to this disaster. We’re able to respond quickly, but the long-lasting impact is going to come through those churches. When we leave, they can continue to minister in evangelism and church planting. We approach every disaster around the world through those lenses.”
— Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.
