Faith
Jamaican Christians Respond to Hurricane Melissa
Faith Facts
- Hurricane Melissa is the first Category 5 storm to strike Jamaica, bringing winds of 185 mph and widespread devastation.
- Church leaders like Carlton Graham and Gladwyn Kiddoe are leading prayer and relief efforts for storm-impacted communities.
- Ministries and church members are uniting to serve, rebuild, and demonstrate Christ’s love in the aftermath.
On a calm day in Barbados, minister Carlton Graham’s heart remained with his native Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa brought destruction and uncertainty to his homeland.
This powerful storm made history as Jamaica’s first Category 5 hurricane, prompting believers across the Caribbean to lift up urgent prayers for mercy and protection.
“They are going to be battered. There’s going to be devastation,”
Graham shared, placing his trust in prayer that God would spare lives and diminish the storm’s blow.
Graham’s family in Faith’s Pen, including his 90-year-old father, braced for the impact.
He knows the ache of being separated from home as disaster strikes, yet remains steadfast in his calling to serve from afar, standing in faith for his loved ones and all Jamaicans.
In Kingston and across Jamaica, believers—including Gladwyn Kiddoe and Francis Yorke—mobilized to fortify churches and homes, then to lead recovery efforts.
Heavy winds, flash floods, and tragedy swept the island.
The faithful pressed on, embodying the call to love their neighbors in crisis.
“Heavy winds, heavy rains, flooded roads, some deaths … and Melissa arrives later today!”
Kiddoe wrote from the capital, underscoring the seriousness of the situation.
Drawing from their experience after recent hurricanes like Beryl, church teams rushed to serve hard-hit areas such as Bull Savanna.
They were determined to build back better and shine the light of Christ in dark times.
Christopher Fong, a native Jamaican now studying in the U.S., voiced a conviction shared by many:
“We should be there. The first thing they should see is us.”
In the face of disaster, Jamaican Christians are proving that steadfast faith, compassion, and unity can overcome life’s fiercest storms.
Let us continue to lift them up in prayer and support, and remember the words of Scripture:
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”