FALMOUTH, Trelawny — For Bishop Maurice Clarke, Jamaica is not simply home — it is “my heartbeat.” And when Hurricane Melissa tore through sections of Trelawny, particularly Falmouth and its surrounding communities, the senior pastor of Central Light Grace Chapel in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, felt compelled to act.

“We took over 34 generators and distributed them,” Bishop Clarke said.

Five of them were donated to shopkeepers.

His motivation, he explained, is rooted in a lifelong bond with the parish.

“I’m a product of Falmouth, Trelawny. I was raised in Falmouth. I was baptised in the Falmouth New Testament Church of God, April 15, 1976. This April coming will be 50 years since I’ve been baptised in the Falmouth New Testament Church of God,” he disclosed.

That same church, he recalled, shaped both his faith and future.

“After five years being a part of that church, I sensed a call into my life for ministry, but my mother did not have the means to give me the tuition to go to seminary. So the church assumed that… the church gave me a full scholarship,” said the man of the cloth.

Decades later, that investment returned in the form of action.

“So Falmouth has been my backbone… I feel obligated to the church and to the community of Falmouth,” he said.

When news of the hurricane’s devastation reached him, the response was immediate. “Listen to me man, I had like an out of body experience… I am here (America), but I’m in Jamaica. I felt it… the whole community,” the clergyman said.

From Florida, Bishop Clarke mobilised his predominantly Jamaican congregation — “98.9 per cent Jamaican” — to raise funds, purchase supplies, and ship aid to the island. In addition to generators, the shipment included 10 airbeds, food, aclothing and linen, among other items, with the New Testament Church of God on Market Street, Falmouth serving as the main distribution base.

The operation, however, was far from simple.

At a shipping cost of nearly US$8,000, the project appeared beyond reach until help came from fellow congregant, philanthropist Cynthia Baker, whom Clarke described as “an awesome woman.”

“She said, ‘Bishop, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to come together and we’re going to get this done.’”

A container was secured, packed, and shipped, navigating logistical obstacles from the US to Montego Bay. When the vessel arrived, over 200 containers were on the barge — yet remarkably, theirs was the only one cleared that night.

“That was our container,” Clarke said.

Distribution took place the following day through the New Testament Church of God in Falmouth, while Baker coordinated relief for her native Bounty Hall community.

For Clarke, the effort was never about recognition.

“It is our love for country, the passion for the people that motivated us. The fact that we are here (America) doesn’t mean that we have forgotten where we came from,” he noted.