Soon after Hurricane Beta hit the tiny Caribbean island of Providencia on Oct. 28, ripping the roofs off thousands of homes and shutting down the airport and all communications, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency [ADRA] moved into action, offering aid.

The hurricane, which lashed the island with heavy winds, rains and high surf, left 90 percent of the island’s wooden structures and homes damaged, the Colombian government reported.

Pastor Alejandro Veloza, president of the Adventist Church in the Colombian Islands, was in Providencia on church business when the storm hit. He said the two Adventist churches there were damaged extensively. He also said church members’ homes received damage, but reported no injuries.

Days later, Pastor Veloza traveled back to the nearby island of San Andres and contacted ADRA Colombia for assistance, and began organizing a group of church members in the purchasing and packaging of supplies.

Captain Ortiz, head of the Colombian government’s military recovery operations in the islands, applauded the first-hand efforts of the Adventist Church and ADRA for aiding the people of Providencia.

So far, ADRA was able to provide mattresses and food bags to some 164 families. Aboard the ship carrying relief supplies were 28 senior students from the Adventist school in San Andres who volunteered to help. They unloaded, distributed and helped clean roads and beaches on the island during their five-day stay.