Hurricane Iota barreled through the Colombian Islands of San Andrés and Providencia with 160 miles-per-hour winds on Nov. 16, 2020, downing powerlines and trees, and destroying streets and buildings. The Category 5 storm destroyed 98 percent of the homes in Providencia Island, according to Colombia government officials, leaving persons in need of shelter and basic necessities. One person was reported dead from the storm. Church officials reported no deaths among the membership, while dozens of Adventist families lost everything.

“The hardest hours were between 3:30 and 7 in the morning,” says Pastor Adrian Villamizar, leader of the ADvnetist Church in Providencia. “It was very despairing--the sound and the shaking was so strong that we didn’t think we were going to survive it.” He, along with his family, spent the storm taking cover at home. The island has never experienced such destruction before, he says.

Pastor Jonathan Gallego, president of the church in the Colombian Islands Mission headquartered in San Andrés, says Iota hit San Andrés on a lesser scale but the brunt of the storm totally devastated Providencia. “Even though you see some walls standing, everything was destroyed,” he explains.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Colombia and its GARSA Rescue team arrived as quickly as possible on Nov. 18 to San Andrés to clear roads, remove debris, and begin assisting displaced people, reports Jair Flórez, ADRA country director. “The team cleared 33 different areas on the island and they stayed until Nov. 23,” he says.

So far, 50 Adventist families have been affected and 3 churches completely destroyed in Providencia. In San Andrés, there are 30 families with damaged homes, and two churches were destroyed out of the eight Adventist churches which sustained damage.

Even though there were difficulties reaching Providencia and no communication, the ADRA team traveled toward the island to distribute an initial 300 hygiene kits and 40 portable gas stoves on Nov. 20. The ADRA Colombia team and Gallego arrived on a vessel with a team of pastors and volunteers to provide assistance on Providencia.

“After traveling eight hours on a ship to Providencia, we could not disembark because we got there at night and the authorities did not allow entrance until daylight,” explains Gallego. Besides, there was no way to get to the dock, he adds. “I went ahead of the church team to the shore via a small boat and found a church member who is a counselor on the island.” 

He was able to ride on the member’s motorcycle to visit church members on the island that night.

“It was amazing to see the joy of so many church members who were overtaken with tears of joy when they saw us come with aid because for days the power and cellphone towers were down,” says Gallego. “We prayed, sang, and heard miraculous stories of survival. They would all say they were only alive because of the grace of God.”

In addition to the humanitarian aid given to church members and the community in Providencia, the rescue team shared 40 Bibles and hymnals.

The church and ADRA Colombia will continue assisting affected families in the days and weeks to come, church leaders say. In early December, 1,300 hygiene kits and 500 portable gas stoves were distributed in Providencia.

Even though ADRA Colombia has an agreement with the Delivering Shipping Line S.A.S company, shipping supplies to San Andrés is complicated because the space is limited, said Flórez. “We opened a new account at the national level to collect funds to assist the islands,” he said.

For more information on ADRA Colombia projects and initiatives and to donate to assist victims of the San Andrés and Proviencia Colombian Islands disaster, go to adracolombia.org/emergencia.

This article was originally published on the Inter-America Division’s website