After Hurricane Melissa- Light in the Darkness

What does Christmas look like after a devastating hurricane? As the Caribbean enters the fourth week of Advent, communities there are facing enormous challenges in the wake of Hurricane Melissa—but also holding onto hope that Christ’s light shines in the darkness.

The Scale of Devastation

Hurricane Melissa has left a trail of devastation across Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba. Entire communities have been uprooted—homes and belongings swept away, hospitals in Jamaica severely damaged, and farmland in Haiti and eastern Cuba destroyed. Thousands of Cubans are still living in government shelters, and heartbreakingly, more than 100 lives have been lost across the islands.

Hope in Action: A Methodist Response

Amid the devastation, the love of Christ and hope shines brightly through our partners in the Caribbean. In Jamaica, part of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas, Methodists have rallied volunteers and organised convoys to deliver crucial aid to those hardest hit. Thanks to your generosity to the World Mission Fund, a £25,000 solidarity grant from the Methodist Churches in Britain and Ireland is enabling Jamaican Methodists to reach even more communities. Local Methodist Circuits aren’t just sending aid—they’re adopting devastated congregations, walking alongside them spiritually and practically as they rebuild their lives.

Impact of Joint Appeal: Clean Water for Communities

And the impact doesn’t stop there—thanks to your generous support for the joint appeal by the Methodist Church in Britain and All We Can, vital funds are reaching Water Mission in Jamaica. This incredible partner is bringing life-saving clean water to the hardest-hit parishes—St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and Trelawny—by trucking water into remote communities and prioritising churches and schools in rural, mountainous areas. They’re also making sure families can store water safely by providing jerry cans to disaster-affected households. It’s practical help that brings hope—and dignity—when it’s needed most.

MCB and All We Can continue walking alongside the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) who are developing a further response—turning appeal funds into real hope for devastated communities in western Jamaica and southwestern Haiti.

Courage and Compassion

Meanwhile, in Cuba, the Methodist Church sprang into action immediately after the storm. Convoys loaded with food, clothing, blankets, and hygiene kits reached communities in eastern Cuba—sometimes even government shelters where local aid hadn’t arrived. In places cut off by flooding, volunteers waded through rivers to deliver help. And beyond physical aid, the church is offering trauma therapy for children in shelters, bringing comfort where it’s needed most.

Your generosity has supported this response in Cuba.  A £15,000 solidarity grant from our World Mission Fund enabled MCB to support The Methodist Church in Cuba’s relief efforts.

Light in the Darkness

As we approach Christmas, let’s keep praying for Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba—and for our partners carrying Christ’s light into the darkest situations, remembering the word of John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it” (NRSVUE)