By Carrie Taneyhill
Carrie, LWR’s Deputy Director for Emergency Operations,is managing our response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas and is working to ensure your generosity reaches the families who need it most.
Pastor Israel Pinder of Immanuel Baptist Church runs his hand over his face as he talks about Hurricane Dorian. “I am still in shock,” he says, scanning the debris scattered around the churchyard.
Pastor Israel himself is mourning the loss of his two sisters and two nephews, whose bodies were never recovered after the waters receded.
Inside a condemned home destroyed by the storm surge.
Still, every Sunday, he and his wife Nadine assemble volunteers at what remains of the church to serve hot meals to community members who lost everything. Though his grief runs deep, he says his faith assures him that hope abounds.
“There is a purpose in why we are still here,” he told me. “It’s time to start using that purpose.”
Thank you for using your purpose to reach Pastor Israel, his family and families across Grand Bahama and Abaco islands with critical support — and hope.
The storm surge swept this boat onto land, where it got tangled in power lines and blocked a road.
Your support is providing basic health care services and establishing temporary clinics, which are vital in communities where health centers, doctors’ offices — even emergency services — were completely wiped out.
You’re providing supplies and outreach to promote handwashing and prevent cholera.
And you’re supporting long-term recovery in some of the hardest-hit areas through a partnership with Our Savior Lutheran Church in Freeport, Grand Bahama.
Though the journey to recovery is long, hope is abundant: because people like Pastor Israel are tirelessly leading their communities toward recovery, and because you are walking alongside them.
Families in crisis need your support
We can't control the weather or prevent every emergency. What we can do is prepare to act quickly when crisis happens. Your gift means we'll be prepared to respond when someone needs it most.
Very few houses remain standing in High Rock. Of these, almost all have been condemned.
Main image caption
Lutheran World Relief partner Pastor Cliff Lewis (left) of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Freeport, Grand Bahama, discusses Hurricane Dorian recovery efforts with Pastor Israel Pinder of Immanuel Baptist Church in High Rock, which was hit hard by the storm in September. Pastor Israel was working on basic repairs so that services and relief efforts could safely continue at his church. (Photo by Carrie Taneyhill/Lutheran World Relief)
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