This August hurricane Dean swept through Jamaica with winds well over 100 miles per hour. The very poor people were hit the hardest as their houses, little more than salvaged wood and sheets of tin, were easily destroyed. One young woman with two small children said she literally didn't even have a plate to eat off of after the storm blew everything away.
Dennis and Mary Herko, missionaries serving Jamaica, sent an urgent plea for help. The next Sunday the Miamitown Church of Christ was challenged to send help. Ten men from the church quickly made arrangements to go to Jamaica September 22nd through 28th to help rebuild some of the houses destroyed by the hurricane. Church members generously provided the funds needed for travel and supplies for the trip.
Herko Family Mission provided sleeping and eating facilities in Kingston. There we joined more volunteers from IDES (International Disaster Emergency Services) and other U.S. churches who had responded to the plea.
Our target, Old Harbour, was about an hour's drive west of Kingston. Each day we loaded up a van pulling a large trailer filled with equipment, food and drinking water and drove from Kingston to Old Harbour. The commute took us past sugar cane fields and many extremely poor communities.
Despite the intense heat and logistics challenges, the volunteers were able to get two houses in a livable condition and a third one framed and ready for a roof. The new owners now had a house designed to withstand the high winds from the next hurricane. Similar homes previously built by Herko Family Mission survived hurricane Dean with almost no damage, so we felt confident that the new ones would provide many years of protection from the elements.
Herko Family Mission and the Church of Christ at Old Harbour also provided beds and household items for those living in the new homes. Supplies were provided to complete the third home with local workers.
The community can see the love of Jesus as the church at Old Harbour helps to rebuild homes. But they need help in rebuilding their lives also. Besides the extreme poverty, they are surrounded by crime and violence. Soon after we returned we got the tragic news that Chris, one of our Jamaican workers, was shot and killed not too far from the rebuilt homes. Please pray that Old Harbour will turn to Jesus, not just to rebuild homes, but to rebuild lives.
The team from Miamitown was Joby Anders, Kenny Boatright, Logan and Ryan Borntrager, Alan Burck, Larry Cramer, Ken Croll, Bob Jacobs, Bo Sharp and Terry West.
Photo Album of trip.
Monday, November 19, 2007
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