Adventsts in the East Responds to Hurricane Melissa with ‘Mission to The West’

The Seventh-day Adventist Church  in East Jamaica Conference  rallied to the call to offer assistance to people who were adversely affected by the recent passing of Hurricane Melissa in the western end of the island.  Over 500 food packages valued at approximately  2.5 million dollars  in addition to clothing, were distributed during the ‘Mission to the West’ initiative.   

 

 “We are delighted to have the team from EJC led by conference president, Dr. Meric Walker, who have come to give us assistance in the pastoral district of White House,” said Pastor Donald Hill, district pastor for the White House district of churches as as he stood in his roofless church that was terribly damaged by the hurricane.

 

A team of over two hundred church leaders, medical practitioners, counselors, builders  and volunteers left Kingston for the White House SDA Church in Westmoreland on November 4, 2025 to distribute food packages, offer counselling and medical services and provide assistance with general clean up in the area.

Hill was on location at his church to greet the convoy from the east who  came to render assistance at his church and surrounding districts.  “We have been heavily impacted by the passing of Hurricane Melissa with all the five churches  in the district being affected,” Hill said. “Truly, it has been a devastation down here. It's more like  a tornado,”  he added.

 

As the various teams sprung into action, volunteers divided themselves  into separate groups  to impact  the communities of Belmont, Cave and Petersville   served by the five churches in  the pastoral district.   Youth Ministries Director, Pastor Joel Jumpp, who led the cleanup team in Belmont said,”it almost appears as if a nuclear bomb was dropped on this community. The leaves of the trees are all gone, there are homes that have literally disappeared,” Jumpped said as he gazed upon the community littered  with  fallen trees and debris   from broken  houses, furniture and household appliances.  

Teams assisted with the cutting of trees and the clearing of  the community that was the perfect picture of a disaster zone.  According to Jumpp, the care pages that were  brought by the mission team simply “evaporated in no time.”   Many of the volunteers in the clean up team were young people who had seen the carnage of the hurricane and just wanted to chip in to help.

 

“One of the good things from this experience is that I saw young people just coming together to do something good as an army of youth” Jumpp said as he shared what his team was able to do in his group.

 

“We are the army of youth that will feed the community  when they think that God does not want to give them any food or that no one else cares. We are the army of youth that will help them to rebuild when their homes that have been destroyed and  when they have no hope, and  I believe this army of youth  will transform Jamaica, by God’s grace,” Jumpp said

 

 Marie from the adjoining Beaston Spring district  with her friends Kishma and Amanda was grateful for the  assistance  they received from the medical team that was part of the mission trip. Amanda sustained cuts to her face from  shattered  glass caused by the hurricane and Kishma sustained lacerations on her foot when she was rushing to safety as the roof of her house gave way during the hurricane.  Both were treated by medical professionals who applied bandages to their wounds.

“Many thanks for the medical help,” Kisham said with a smile. “We are so appreciative of this,” Amanda added. The ladies were grateful for the medical care they received from the team but appealed for help not only for themselves but for their community which she said has been cut off from communication. “We are homeless, there is no food, we have to walk miles to White House to get something to eat for our families back home,” Marie said.  

 

Sites and scenes of the ferocity  and destruction of the Murricane was evident all around but stories of the goodness of God even in the midst of all the atrocity abounded.

 

Church Clerk , Fushia Williams  of the White House church shared that she was among  eleven persons sheltering from the hurricane when it made landfall on  October 28, 2025  and recounted the near death experience as the roof, windows and doors of  her church were blown away as the hurricane ripped through the church.

 

 “God, is this how you show your love for us and are you going to let us perish  like this?” Williams recounted, with tears welled up in her eyes. “You shall not let us perish like this,”  she continued as her faith in God increased by the minute.” Williams was thankful that God speared their lives and no one received even a scratch during that tramatic experience.

 

Community Services Director, Pastor Sheldon School who led the welfare and and represented  ADRA on the ground,    expressed appreciation  to the many persons who made the mission trip possible through  their donations  in cash and kind.  He was also grateful for his committed team of community services team members and ASI  youth volunteers who worked  for long hours to put the food packages together that  all included tin food  (beans, fish, peas), crackers, waters, rice, flour, sugar, bath soap, washing Soap,  cornmeal, tissues, oil,food drink and snacks for children.

 

At the end of the day, Pastor Meric Walker made a call for other members of the faith community to play their part in extending the ministry of Christ  to those in need. “I call upon not just all Christians, but all persons who have a heart of care to reach out and help  the West on  their path  to recovery.”

 

The Mission to the West initiative will continue  and other mission trips will be planned in the future. Members are asked to continue to donate non-perishable food items, bottled water, canned goods, toiletries along with sanitary & hygiene products  at the Conference office loacated at 74 Constant Spring Road, Kingston 10 between the hours of 10:00 am and 3:00pm Monday to Fridays.