ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — In the wake of the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God joined forces with Middle Quarters New Testament Church of God last Sunday for a massive humanitarian outreach initiative, offering medical care, food, home repairs, counselling and spiritual ministry to St Elizabeth residents.

Reverend Leslie Pinnock, pastor of the Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God and parish coordinator for the New Testament Churches of God in St Elizabeth, explained that the mission, dubbed Mission Rise 3.0, traditionally hosted annually in smaller congregations, was redirected to Middle Quarters after the hurricane’s impact.

“We’re responding to the cry of our brothers and sisters in not just offering care packages but offering medical and dental and psychological and just play therapy for our children…along with just giving out care packages, serving them a hot meal, washing their feet, combing their hair, just doing a number of little things to just minister to them personally and to show them that we care,” Reverend Pinnock told Observer Online.

The outreach featured a full medical team, including a lead physician, pharmacists, multiple nurses, dentists and the National Health Fund (NHF) Mobile Clinic, which provided essential medications. Lawyers were also on-site to offer legal guidance.

With the continued power outages, the team also provided charging stations and Starlink internet access, donated by Hands in Unison, ensuring residents could communicate with loved ones or access emergency services.

In addition to these services, teams from the church also repaired three severely damaged homes in the community— the residence of a church sister living alone; the home of a couple from the Middle Quarters church; and the house of a blind man whose roof was torn off during the Category 5 storm.

A significant portion of the supplies distributed on Sunday came from members of the Escarpment Road church and Spice Jamaica, a Houston, Texas-based organisation.

“That gentleman and his wife they just used their initiative and they sent something out on their page [and] people just started bringing donations so most of what you see here as packages comes from Houston, Texas,” he said.

Additional support came from Benjamins, local medical professionals, the NHF Mobile Pharmacy Unit, and the national New Testament Church of God.

Mission Rise 3.0 Coordinator Keshia West stressed that while the church conducts similar outreach efforts annually across various congregations, the focus this year was shifted to St Elizabeth because of the urgent need.

“We are a missional church so this activity that you’re seeing here, we have really just refocused our attention to St Elizabeth, but annually, we offer these kinds of services to different churches on the district, not necessarily limited to the New Testament Church of God, but other churches who may be in need of help,” West said.

The Middle Quarters New Testament Church of God, which hosted the initiative, also sustained significant damage. The roof completely caved in, forcing tarpaulin installations as a temporary measure while the church coordinates full restoration.

Bishop Othniel Watson described the damage to the church as catastrophic.

“The entire roof caved in…All that we have here [was] destroyed— our panel, our AC unit, our mic system, the PA system, everything destroyed,” Bishop Watson said. “Since Melissa, we have had service only two times. One time we had 31, the next Sunday we had 50.”

With approximately 45 members directly affected by the hurricane, Watson said Sunday’s turnout brought much-needed encouragement.

“Today we have a vast group of people and most of them is from the Escarpment Road New Testament Church of God. Our parish coordinator, Bishop Leslie Pinnock and his almost entire church is here today and we give God thanks.

“Preaching the gospel is one thing, but people want to feel you also physically. So today, what this is doing to the community, it is allowing the community to know that we care and it’s not just by preaching the gospel, but by giving them some help,” Bishop Watson said.