ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — For Janet Chambers, the devastation of Hurricane Melissa was not just about losing her home, but also the overwhelming sense of powerlessness that followed. After the October storm tore through Middle Quarters, St Elizabeth, she was left uncertain of how she could rebuild.

“I wasn’t here [when it hit],” she recalled. “One of my sisters called me and told me that I must pack up and leave the house because she’s not sure my house is secure.”

Her sister’s judgment proved sound.

“After the storm blow, my next door neighbour come up…and say, ‘Janet, your house gone,” Chambers said.

She said when she arrived at her property, the damage was beyond belief.

“Around that side, it gone, the kitchen gone, the veranda gone…[It] take off the top, not even leave the zinc, it take off the whole entire top carry go put it over suh,” Chambers said.

With no immediate help in sight, she turned to God in her desperation.

“So mi seh, ‘Then how me a go manage now, Father God?’…And mi nuh have no money to put on back the top, nor nothing…So mi say Lord, you see God, mi no have nobody but you.”

Though she received some relief items from a person she described as her stepson, Chambers was still without the funds and support to repair her home. But, fortunately, she wasn’t alone. As a member of the Middle Quarters New Testament Church of God, she had a community that rallied behind her.

When Reverend Leslie Pinnock, parish coordinator for the New Testament Churches of God for Saint Elizabeth, visited Chambers, he didn’t just offer words of sympathy; he brought a plan of action.

“We went and visited the house, looked at the house and we couldn’t leave the house. We one had to get back to the car and in the pouring rain put a tarpaulin over her house because she was outside washing. The rain was falling we told her to go in and she said inside is wet so it’s okay and so we put on a tarpaulin and decided that was one of the house,” Reverend Pinnock shared, adding, “She doesn’t have a husband, she don’t have any children, she lives alone.”

The church member of 20 years found comfort in Reverend Pinnock’s visit.

“It come in like somebody said, ‘You can’t pray? And believe in a God?’ And I pray and I cry. And I cry and I pray. Until one of my church sisters bring the pastor down here…and he said, ‘Don’t worry yourself. I’m going to take care of you’ and he look through the house, and then said, ‘I’m going to fix it and make you feel comfortable again,” Chambers recounted.

That promise turned into action. Pastor Pinnock and the church community, including those from Escarpment Road, Middle Quarters and other districts, spent the last weekend repairing her home. As Janet watched them work, she could only express her deep gratitude.

“Thank you, Jesus. You’re so worthy to me. How can I leave you, God, when I know I love you? And I know, God, that you love me too. And my aim and my desire is to continue to press on with Jesus because he’s so wonderful to me because I didn’t know where the first cent a come from,” she told Observer Online.

“If God never show up for me, I don’t know how I would manage. Mi can’t stop serving God, he’s so good to me. In everything, God stand by me and don’t leave me,” Chambers added.

Sixty-nine-year-old pensioner Wilbert Peart was also grateful for the support from his church.

“Oh God, I can’t explain [how grateful I am]. It’s really needed. Not want, need,” he said.

Peart and his wife’s house was one of three selected by the Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God to receive repairs as part of their Mission Rise 3.0 project in Middle Quarters.

The Category 5 storm left them with a damaged roof, cracked walls and destroyed belongings.

“Mi piece of deck roof, I just run inside there, closed the door, let it pass. That’s what it was for real,” Peart shared.

“I didn’t lose my clothes. I make sure I take them out and secure them before the hurricane. I knew it was going to be rough so I make sure I secure a couple of necessary things, personal documents and clothing. But the one room couldn’t take all the furniture I have, so some are going to have to perish,” he explained.

However, like many in his situation, Peart still faces a long road to full recovery.

“I’m a pensioner. I survive on $14,000 per month. Pay light bill, water bill so that’s almost nothing…I still give thanks for the support but I’m going to need some more,” Peart said.

Janet Chambers (Photo: Gavin Jones)

Chambers’ home was one of three selected by the Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God to receive repairs as part of their Mission Rise 3.0 project in Middle Quarters. (Photo: Gavin Jones)

Wilbert Peart (Photo: Gavin Jones)

Peart’s home was one of three selected by the Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God to receive repairs as part of their Mission Rise 3.0 project in Middle Quarters. (Photo: Gavin Jones)