Seventh-day Adventists in St. Vincent sprang into action to help dozens of families displaced by the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. The category four storm through several Caribbean islands earlier this month.
Community services and the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) in St. Vincent have teamed up to provide 150 hot meals every day to dozens of families staying at shelters, church leaders said. There are six shelters on St. Vincent.
In addition, church members prepared food packages and delivered them to dozens of affected individuals in the southern islands.
Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, reported that 90 percent of homes on Union Island were destroyed and that “similar levels of devastation” occurred on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.
On July 4, 2024, church leaders visited several islands to assess members’ needs and minister to them.
“You look at it all and think where to start? Where to rebuild? When will it be possible for them [islanders] to restart their lives?” said Henry Snagg, president of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Mission on his visit to Union Island. Snagg, who is a native of Union Island, traveled with fellow administrators where they witnessed downed electrical poles, mangled steel buildings, destroyed businesses and churches, flattened neighborhoods, and debris everywhere.
Union Island Adventist Church sustained extensive damage, church leaders reported. “The church may need complete rebuilding,” said Chan Nichols, communication director of the St. Vincent Mission.
Hurricane Beryl affected the entire membership, said Snagg. Businesses owned by members, including those in the fishing industry, were also damaged. “Sustaining life in the future seems bleak and hard for them since many of them were private business owners serving the tourism sector that was destroyed,” he added.
The trip was not just about surveying the damage caused by the hurricane, said Snagg. “It was much more pressing to meet the church members and learn of their great faith in God, to understand how God saved them after they prayed for protection.”
Although the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) tried to get persons to leave the island, many residents, especially in the village of Ashton, chose to stay to secure their properties and endure the re-building process, explained Kenan Cain, pastor of Union Island Adventist Church. Among those who stayed include church members, he said.
Members volunteered their time, as well as a generator and kitchen appliances, to get the project up and running.
Susan Charles, first elder of the church on Union Island, volunteered her home to serve as the hub of operations while Fitzgerald Hutchinson, a church member has opened his home to hold worship services.
“It was critical to establish a hub managed by an ADRA representative to service the needs of the members of the church and the community who remain,” explained Cain.
Aldon Ambrose, ministerial secretary of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Mission, said he and Veronica Ambrose, women’s and children and adolescent ministries director have been assisting in counseling the displaced families in the shelters.
Franklyn Joseph was among those staying at a shelter in St. Vincent after he evacuated from his home in Union Island once the hurricane passed. Miraculously, his house, which was built by the Seventh-day Adventist Church there, did not sustain any damage like the rest of his neighborhood, church leaders reported. Joseph who is 60 years old will have to remain in St. Vincent for the time being.
Church leaders in St. Vincent are making arrangements for a group of pastors to be able to minister to the people’s needs in the coming days and weeks.
The Caribbean Union Conference’s ADRA Office will continue to assess the pressing needs on the islands and provide guidance and assistance in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, said Isaac Alexander, ADRA director of the Caribbean Union.
The original article was published on the Inter-American Division website.
