[The following is a communique sent to State Disaster Relief (DR) directors. This opportunity is not limited to badged DR volunteers. Kenton Hunt, PA/SJ Disaster Relief director, is not organizing the teams, but your church may have interest in assembling a team. You must act quickly! Tell Kenton of your intent and he will get you connected with Tennessee and Florida.]

JAMAICA (SBDR) – Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) has been asked by Jamaica Baptist Union to continue their response to Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, which has been going on since early November by Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief (TNDR) and Florida Baptist Disaster Relief (FBDR) (with assistance from a couple of other states) as the lead partner states.

This response will begin in mid-January and continue through mid-March. Currently, TNDR and FBDR are opening the response for other partner SBDR states to provide teams to serve. Teams should be composed of eight members each. This limit is because of transportation, housing, and the type of work to be completed. Send Relief is providing a couple to be onsite for the duration as volunteer/construction coordinators and purchase materials, which Send Relief will be covering the costs. If your convention desires to send a team, then TNDR or FBDR would not send a team that week. Following below is information that will help in making your plans.

Weeks of service available:

  • January 24-31
  • March 7-14

If your church is interested in working with Kenton Hunt, PA/SJ Director of Disaster Relief, and the BRN Disaster Relief team to serve any of these weeks, please contact Kenton Hunt at [email protected].

Travel:

Flights can now be booked through Kingston (KIN) and Montego Bay (MBJ) airports. There are some price differences between the two, some are substantial, and some are not as much. You will need to make that determination. Any cost savings you get from flying into Kingston may be absorbed by transportation to the housing location, which is a few hours’ drive. Your state is responsible for the travel of your team. There is a document (C5) that should be completed once tickets are booked so that you don’t have to complete the form at the airport and be slowed in getting through the airport.

Ground Travel:

For the duration of the response since we began responding, Florida has had one van rented and one driver that we have paid to stay with us. We have contacted the owner of the travel company in Kingston, and he is willing to make transportation available to us for as many as we need. We also have commitments from the driver we have been using, and he has indicated that he can secure others to drive if we need them. We have paid him in cash for his services. We paid him $600.00 per week in cash, you will also need to pay for fuel for the vans. If you send a team, then you should be prepared to pay the driver(s) for the week.

Housing:

The first church property that our teams worked on and completed as Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz. This church has agreed to provide their facilities for teams to stay in as a response site. The church fellowship hall will accommodate 16 or more people. There are restrooms in the fellowship hall, 3 showers and there is a parsonage with another shower.

The first teams to serve we will be sending or asking them to bring single air mattresses and be prepared to leave those for subsequent teams to utilize. So, the teams should bring their sleeping coverings/sleeping bags.

The fellowship hall will also serve as the place for meals. The church has offered to secure some individuals to cook for the teams. This may only be one meal per day, the evening meal. Breakfast can be cold breakfast, or the team can prepare themselves and then lunches will be taken to the jobsite. So, you will need to be prepared to provide funds to purchase food for the week. This will be a shared responsibility between the state conventions on the ground at the time.

Work to be completed:

The work to be done is primarily all roofing, using metal (zinc) roofing. Teams should have experience and comfort working on a roof. There will be a volunteer coordinator on the ground to be of assistance to roofing teams. Matt Stickel from Ohio is the volunteer coordinator that will be on the ground. He will be making the supply purchases of material and selecting the churches, schools, or homes to be worked on and make the assignments to each team.

Your team of 8 will work together on one project and another state convention team of 8 will work on another project. The rational here is 16 people attempting to work on one roof is just too much under the conditions that they will be working.

There are some tools already available on the ground that we have left behind, but teams are encouraged to also bring any tools that they will need to complete the roofing projects. Some tolls can be bought in country, but much of what you will need in terms of battery powered tools should be brought in with the team. If you are willing to leave those behind, that would be appreciated. If a chaplain can also be part of the team that would be an added benefit to the team.

IMB Requirements:

Each team member will be required to complete the GOMethod required by Send Relief. Each week has its own sign-up link, and these will be sent to you to distribute to the team members once you have committed to serve. There are instructions that will be provided. If someone has served in the last year and completed the form, they will not have to do that again.

How to pray:

  • Pray for those impacted by Hurricane Melissa and who are experiencing crisis and deep devastation.
  • Pray for SBDR volunteers who are actively serving in Jamaica. Ask the Lord to keep them safe as they serve.
  • Pray for Gospel opportunities. Ask the Lord to grant boldness to SBDR volunteers and to soften the hearts of those who need Jesus.
  • Pray for the necessary resources to be provided to complete the jobs assigned to SBDR volunteers

Interested in knowing more about the response efforts taking place in Jamaica or how to get involved? Contact PA/SJ Director of Disaster Relief Kenton Hunt at [email protected].