Faith Meets Academia

Episode 53: A Prayer for the Survivors of Hurricane Melissa

• Dr. Adrian Reynolds

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The wind has stopped, but the hard work begins. We open our hearts in prayer to the reality on the ground after Hurricane Melissa (blocked roads, ruined homes and schools, farm fields washed bare) while acknowledging  mix of grief, fear, gratitude, and resolve that follows a storm. We speak courage over survivors, rescuers, medics, and leaders, and we name the simple truth many feel: It’s okay to weep, to doubt, and to hope all at the same time. together, we will rise again--stronger than ever before. 

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SPEAKER_00:

The category five winds of Hurricane Melissa have passed. But I realize today that there are hundreds of thousands from Jamaica to Cuba to Haiti who now find themselves caught in a storm of grief, a storm of devastation, a storm of distress, hunger, fear, trauma. Yes, unfortunately the storms of life are raging today. Roads are still blocked. Homes, hospitals, schools, houses of worship, supermarkets, business places have been completely destroyed in many towns and villages, communities. Yeah, I grew up in Jamaica. I've been to St. Elizabeth, I've been to Manchester, I've been to St. James and Westmoreland, and it's heartbreaking to know that these familiar places that so many of us have visited, have enjoyed, are now left almost unrecognizable. While so many have lost almost everything, we're comforted to know that their spirit remains strong and resilient. And so today this prayer is for everyone who, by the grace of God, is still standing after this horrific hurricane. This prayer is for all the hands that are helping to restore, to comfort, to rebuild, to feed, for all the feet that are running to the rescue of those who are just hanging on by a thin thread, who are just fighting to survive, to make it through, to restore hope. This prayer is for all the hearts that are grieving, that are hurting. This prayer is for those who are still hanging on to the hope that refuses to die. And so we come to our Heavenly Father in the stillness after this storm. God, you are still, you are still our refuge, you are still our rock, you are still our fortress. As David reminds us in Psalm 91, 1 and 2, he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Lord, we are still abiding in you. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. My God in him will I trust. Lord, you are still our secret hiding place. Lord, you've been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Lord, you were, you are, and you will always be our rock, our refuge, our peace, our hope. Because you're the unchangeable God, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yes, from everlasting to everlasting, and Lord, we trust you. We trust your saving strength in this phase of recovery, rescue, and rebuilding. For those who have survived and are also grieving at the same time, Lord, we thank you for every life spared, for those who reached out to their neighbors and rescued them and pulled them from the rising flood, for families that have been reunited, all those who were lost, who had been wandering the streets without a place to sleep or a meal to eat, but are now found, rescued, and are being fed. Lord, we thank you. And while we are thankful and grateful for the lives spared, we also mourn with those who have lost loved ones. We we empathize with and are on our knees in prayer for those who have lost all earthly possessions, their homes, their crops, their businesses, their entire livelihoods. My, my, my. And that sense of safety they once knew, they once cherished. Lord, remind us that it's okay to feel what we feel. It's okay to feel shock. It's okay to feel fear. It's okay to feel doubt and despair and still hold on to hope. In Psalm 42:11, David he cries out to God and he speaks to himself in the form of a question, encouraging himself. The scripture says David encouraged himself, and he says, Why art thou, why are you cast, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope thou, hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. It's okay at the same time to feel gratitude, even while we're grieving. David affirms this in Psalm 34, 18, when he declares that the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Lord, we ask that you hold the grieving families close. Let your compassion cover them and wrap them in your everlasting shelter. Remind them that they're not forgotten, and make us to understand that it's okay to weep before you and pour out our hearts and our complaints. It's okay to complain to you, Lord. As we weather this storm of life together, for the search and rescue mission, the security personnel, we pray for every rescue worker, every police officer, the firefighters, the community volunteers and builders and searching through the debris and the mud, the flood waters, and Lord, strengthen their bodies and sharpen their minds and keep them focused on the journey ahead, on the long road of recovery. Lord, we ask you to guard their minds and guard their well-being. Protect them, Lord, from exhaustion, injury, from despair. Allow courage, bravery, and clarity to guide every single mission in every village, every neighborhood. Lord, remind them that their work matters, that they are being used as your instruments of mercy, and they are living witnesses and signs of your abiding presence and hope. Yes, we say this morning in the words of Isaiah, Isaiah 41, 10, fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Lord, strengthen the weak. Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For the hospitals, the medical teams, the Lord bless and cover the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospital staff who are working tirelessly round the clock, under broken roofs with limited supplies, little rest, little sleep, but amidst an endless need. Keep those generators running and Lord, multiply every supply, ivy fluids, oxygen tanks, bandages, medicines. Lord, all the health care providers, grant them calm amidst chaos. Grant them patience, gentleness, and hope amidst unimaginable heartbreak. Let your peace fill every hospital corridor, fill every hospital room, every tent. Lord, grant us your peace which surpasses all understanding. We stand in Philippians 4 7, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds. Through Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. Lord, we lift up in prayer the relief workers and those who are distributing aid, the relief agencies, the government ministries, the NGOs, the church organizations and networks, our international partners all across the world. Lord, guide them, help them to move swiftly, strategically and wisely. Protect all the truck drivers on the narrow roadways and the pilots flying in the relief aid, the volunteers sorting through the food and the clothing. Keep the supply lines open, Lord. Keep the hearts united for one mission, for one purpose. Lord, make a way, open roads, open doors that every package of food, water, medical supplies will reach and get to the right hands at the right time. Use the service of these missionaries, Lord, as living proof that compassion, your compassion that fails not, is stronger than any chaos. Let each we pray that each sincere act of outreach and help will rebuild not just the brick and mortar homes, but the dignity of humanity. Father, O dear most heavenly and gracious Father, ruler of heaven and earth, our help when we feel helpless. Lord bless the farmers who have lost their livelihood, their livestock, their fields which were flooded, all the crops washed away, destroyed, the vendors whose stalls were blown away, the distributors struggling to restock their shells. We ask God that you make a way, open the distribution lines quickly. Use us as instruments to serve these your people, dear God. We pray that the waters will not be contaminated with disease, bacteria. Bring nourishment, God to every hungry child, to every person. Bring calm and peace to every fearful child, every anxious parent. Sustain the elderly with your strength. Lord, as you fed five thousand with just a few loaves and some fish, do it again, Lord. Multiply what remains and remind us that your provisions still can still work miracles. We say in Philippians 4 19, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Lord, we pray right now for shelter. We pray for safe temporary housing until we can restore and rebuild permanent ones. For the thousands who are homeless, whose roofs are gone, walls have been torn down. Lord, we pray that the shelters that have been provided for them are safe, supplied with food and water, and with human dignity. Lord, strengthen the hands and the hearts and the minds of the carpenters, the masons, the electricians and volunteers, clearing the rubble and rebuilding and raising up new foundations from the ground up. Give wisdom to the engineers, the local leaders, those working to restore entire towns and cities and parishes. Lord, replace despair with determination. We recall the words of Isaiah in Isaiah 61 for they shall rebuild the old ruins. Yes, hallelujah. We see it by faith. They shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the ruined cities. Lord protect the peacekeepers and those who are guarding our communities, the security personnel, the soldiers, the police officers, those who are watching out for the safety of everyone, so that help can come in without harm. Protect your people, dear God, from those who are using this dire situation as an opportunity to steal, kill, and destroy. Lord, let us protect one another in peace and love. Jesus, you say in your word, Matthew 5 9, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God. Amidst the distress, Lord, let there be peace. Grant wisdom to all the local and national leaders, the mayors, the parish councils. Help them to act with compassion, with transparency. Allow every decision to be guided by justice and not for political gain. We pray that they'll distribute resources fairly, equitably, especially to the remote, isolated villages that we don't even see. Lord, there is trauma in the land. At the sound of rain, of thunder, people are flinching. Mothers waking up at night to see if the wind is back. Trauma in the land. Lord, heal these wounds. Calm the nervous system of an entire nation. We stand in the words of Isaiah forty twenty nine. He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might. He increases strength. Lord, breathe your your peace into the restless, anxious hearts and minds. Lord, we thank you for the community of people who have not forgotten those who are struggling right now. Thank you for all the acts of love and kindness all across the world that are running to the rescue of those who have lost it all. So Lord, even in this, even in this devastation, we give you thanks still for life. Every morning that we live to see, we remain thankful. We stand on your promises, we stand on your word. We know you will be with us. You will never leave us alone. Psalm ninety one fourteen through sixteen, we say in the words of David, Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him, I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Lord, I believe these people in Jamaica, in Cuba, in Haiti, anywhere else that may have been severely impacted by this hurricane, that they will rise stronger than ever before, and that whatever was lost will be restored. We declare that, we prophesy that in the name of your holy son Jesus Christ, hope will rise higher than the flood waters ever did, and the faith of the faithful, the faith of the faithful will stand far taller than the rubble and the ruins left behind. We stand firm on Psalm twenty nine eleven. The Lord will give strength to his people, the Lord will bless his people with peace. For assuredly, Jesus says, I say to you, I say to you, friends, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, what things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. In this time of loss, grief, devastation, the words of the Jamaican national anthem come to mind. And it's interesting that this national anthem is really a prayer for Jamaica. It says, Eternal Father, bless our land, guide us with thy mighty hand, keep us free from evil powers, be our light through countless hours, to our leaders. Great defender, grant true wisdom from above. Justice, truth be ours forever. Jamaica, land we love. Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica, land we love. Teach us true respect for all. Stir response to duty's call. Strengthen us the weak to cherish. Give us vision lest we perish. Knowledge send us. Heavenly Father, grant true wisdom from above. Justice, truth, be ours forever. Jamaica, land we love. Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica, land we love. I'll close with the all-encompassing prayer of Saint Matthew six, nine to fourteen, in teaching his disciples how to pray. Jesus says, After this manner, therefore pray ye. I'm repeating this prayer from the King James Version, by the way. After this manner, therefore, pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory ever. Amen. Dear Lord, all these things we ask in all humility and sincerity, faith and hope and trust in you, the only wise God our Savior, all these things we ask in your name. Amen. If you would like to assist with the rebuilding, recovery, really survival efforts in Jamaica, if you'd like to help these communities get back on their feet, if you'd like to help provide meals, clothing, shelter, medical treatment for tens of thousands of survivors who are really struggling right now. There are two organizations that I would recommend that are already there on the crown doing this type of outreach. There's one called Global Empowerment Mission. They use the acronym GEM. Global Empowerment Mission. It's a disaster relief organization that mobilizes logistics and supplies and volunteers in major cities around the world. They already have a team in Jamaica on the ground providing help where it's most needed, coordinating shipments of emergency supplies, shelter materials, and you know, assisting with the cleanup and rebuilding efforts. The other organization is one that you may or may not be familiar with. It's called World Central Kitchen. World Central Kitchen. It's a food relief organization founded by Chef José Andres that sets up these mobile kitchens and distributes meals in disaster zones. They are in Jamaica right now, on the ground, serving hot meals to families who have been displaced by Hurricane Melissa and working with local partners to reach the hardest hit areas. I'll put the link for these organizations in the show notes. These organizations are transparent, they're credible, very minimal overhead cost. The majority of their funds go directly into meeting the dire needs of communities across the world. In fact, in fact, my local in fact my local church has partnered with Global Empowerment Mission in Doral, Florida. In fact, my local church is partnering with Global Empowerment Mission in Doral, Florida, helping to package supplies to send off to Jamaica. Yes, we believe that prayer, faith, and work all go hand in hand. So these folks really need your help. No donation is too small. It will go a long way. Thanks for tuning in today. For those of you listening in from Jamaica, remember we will rise again. Together, we will get through this, and we're gonna come out stronger and greater. God bless you.