“If It Wasn’t for the Church Taking Me In”: A Westmoreland AME Church Becomes a Clinic and Distribution Hub After Melissa

• Faith Apostolic Ministries ran a second phase of relief in Petersfield, Westmoreland
• Mother Lewis AME Church served as the medical and distribution centre
• More than 100 residents of Shrewsbury and Logwood were helped
• Nearly 80 volunteers provided food, clothing, screening and pharmacy services

Almost two months after Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28, 2025, a church building in the Shrewsbury and Logwood districts of Petersfield, Westmoreland, became a clinic, a pharmacy and a distribution point for its neighbours, the Jamaica Gleaner reported.

On December 13, Faith Apostolic Ministries carried out the second phase of its hurricane relief work, using Mother Lewis AME Church as its base. More than 100 residents received help. Nearly 80 volunteers were organised into teams handing out clothing, care packages, food and hygiene supplies, while medical doctors, students, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and social workers offered health screening, wound dressing and medication. Giving JA and the First Corinthians Foundation also took part. The ministry’s first phase had taken emergency aid to Black River, St Elizabeth.

Alex Johnson, head of the ministry’s health and wellness department, explained the choice of location. “We recognised that many of the residents here did not have the means to travel far for help. So we said we had to bring the services to them, right where they are,” he said. “We are not rich, but we are rich in the Lord, and we are committed to giving.”

For 70-year-old resident Edgar Bruce, the church had already been a place of refuge. “When the hurricane come, everything mash up. If it wasn’t for the church taking me in, I don’t know where I would be,” he said. “Since the hurricane, nobody really been coming like before… so to get help like this today really makes a difference.”

The story shows how much a sound church building can do in a rural district after a disaster. With homes damaged and roads difficult, a single well-kept hall with water, space and a roof becomes the community’s shelter, clinic and warehouse. That role depends on the building surviving the storm in the first place.

For congregations in hurricane-prone parishes, and for diaspora members who support home churches, investing in a strong roof, secure storage, water tanks and backup power is not only about Sunday worship. It turns the church into infrastructure that neighbours can rely on when their own houses fail.

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