The Baptist World Alliance and its partners must help rebuild Caribbean communities devastated by Hurricane Melissa and speak up about the human causes of catastrophic storms, said Karl B. Johnson, chairman of the Baptist World Alliance.
“We have to commit to recovery and rebuilding with a greater degree of resilience because we are in part of the world where the behavior of others is placing us at increasing risk,” said Johnson, a resident of Jamaica.
Karl B. Johnson
The Category 5 storm made landfall in that country Oct. 28 before slamming into Cuba as a Category 3 on Nov. 1. The United Nations estimates 6 million people were affected overall, and NBC News reported at least 67 deaths and tens of billions of dollars in damage throughout the region.
“Much of what has happened to us here is irrefutably a manifestation of the damage being done to the gift that God has given us in the environment and the climate,” Johnson said.
But having the global Baptist family immediately show up in the wake of the hurricane has been a huge morale booster for communities and congregations still emerging from the devastation, he added. “To see the world rally around us holding our hands, praying for us, coming among us, standing with us, crying with us, has meant more to us than words can communicate. It reminds us we are not forgotten, nor are we alone.”
Much of the Baptist world has united to provide immediate and long-term assistance to Jamaica and other Caribbean communities ravaged by Hurricane Melissa, said Marsha Scipio, director of BWAid, the global aid agency of the BWA.
The response is being coordinated through BWA’s Baptist Forum for Aid and Development, a global network of Baptist entities dedicated to providing humanitarian and financial disaster response anywhere in the world. Participating groups include American Baptist Churches in the USA, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Canadian Baptist Ministries.
“Many of our individual organizations are responding, the Cooperative Baptists, the American Baptists. But collectively, we are also responding together. And that’s the beauty of it — we are all working together as a global Baptist family,” she said.
Scipio recently returned from a 10-day tour of Jamaica to help assess the needs of the towns and rural areas most affected by the storm.
“It was devastating to see entire communities that are completely destroyed, including churches and the individuals whose homes were destroyed,” she reported. “Many of the churches still standing lost the roofs, and their sanctuaries continue to be exposed to rain.”
The consequences of damaged or destroyed churches are felt across the country because those facilities typically double as schools, health care sites and community centers, Scipio added. “They are huge resources for the community, and it’s going to take time to help repair and rebuild. It will require a year or two, maybe even more, before many of these communities are restored. Some of the places I visited still do not have running water.”
Marsha Scipio
In response, BWA and its partners have established hubs across Jamaica from which local churches are providing clothes, food and hygiene kits, Scipio said.
CBF announced it is helping with the establishment of community support centers in Jamaica: “Two local Baptist congregations in Jamaica have been heavily impacted by the storm. We are committed to helping them restore their facilities so they can serve as operational hubs to support their communities during this critical time.”
The Fellowship is helping establish soup kitchens in Cuba “to help address immediate food insecurity and bring hope to those most in need.”
ABC-USA recently released $20,000 in emergency disaster relief funds to help its missions partners provide food and supplies in the Caribbean.
“In the coming days and weeks, we will work with our partners to assess the evolving needs in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti and expand our support where it is needed most,” said Adalia Gutierrez Lee, area director for Iberoamerica and the Caribbean for International Ministries
Fundraising is essential to support ongoing actions but also for the long-term jobs of rebuilding homes, churches and infrastructure, Scipio said. “We have estimated it will cost somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000 to fully repair a church, so we are encouraging our churches outside the Caribbean to partner with churches in Jamaica.”