Hurricane Melissa National Days of Prayer to be held on November 15 and November 16

The Ministry of Culture says National Days of Prayer will be held on Saturday, November 15, and Sunday, November 16 as the country continues to recover from Hurricane Melissa.

The Ministry says this was one of the outcomes of a meeting with religious leaders, where a National Religious and Faith-based Hurricane Task Force was set up.

The body is tasked with identifying the needs of religious and faith-based organisations and their members, as well as coordinating hurricane relief efforts.

The ministry says that during the days of prayer, an Hour of Lament will be observed to mourn the loss of lives that have occurred and to acknowledge the devastation and suffering that have engulfed the nation as a result of Hurricane Melissa.

The task force emerged from a meeting between Culture Minister Olivia Grange and representatives of several faith-based organisations at her ministry on Tuesday.

The body will be coordinated by Dr Bishop Herro Blair, President and Founder of the Deliverance Evangelistic Association Inc., and will collaborate with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).

In attendance at the meeting with Grange were representatives of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches (JUGC).

Grange said these will be joined by the Revival Churches, Mansions of Rastafari, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the United Congregation of Israelites in this national initiative.

The JUGC has seven umbrella groups: the Jamaica Council of Churches, the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches, the Jamaica Pentecostal Union (Apostolic), the Independent Churches of Jamaica, the Jamaica Evangelical Alliance, the Jamaica Union of Seventh-day Adventists, and the Church of God in Jamaica.

“The task force has started to streamline and coordinate requests for support and assistance from individuals and groups, primarily in the five parishes that have been severely affected by Hurricane Melissa — St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St Ann, and St James — and will align the requests with the distribution systems and protocols of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and ODPEM,” said Grange.

The minister said that requests for relief assistance from religious and faith-based organisations will be channelled through her Ministry of Culture for onward submission to ODPEM for distribution.

Grange said the ministry, incorporating the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, will coordinate fundraising initiatives such as the I Love Jamaica Telethon and Concert series, which will include a gospel concert.

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