Samaritan's Purse Provides Relief Aid to Jamaica Following Hurricane Melissa

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Samaritan's Purse, the Christian charity organization led by evangelist Franklin Graham, deployed an Emergency Relief Hospital, a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), and materials to Jamaica after the island country was severely struck by Hurricane Melissa last week.

Samaritan's Purse announced on its website that their Emergency Field Hospital was airlifted to Jamaica on Sunday (Nov. 2) and will be established in the devastated coastal town of Black River. The Emergency Field Hospital contains more than 30 inpatient beds, plus an operating room, intensive care unit, emergency room, obstetric ward, laboratory, pharmacy, and blood bank.

The organization also plans for future relief flights, following two airlifts with relief supplies on October 30 and 31, which included community water systems, shelter materials, household water filters, solar lights, hygiene kits, and other supplies.

"The community water systems can serve 10,000 people per day. We are in regular communication with more than 200 church partners on the ground in Jamaica," Samaritan's Purse stated.

As reported by Christian Today, at least 19 people were confirmed dead by the hurricane, which made landfall as a category five storm, the most powerful on record for Jamaica. Meanwhile, the storm also killed at least 30 people in Haiti.

"Hurricane Melissa has pummelled Jamaica and left tens of thousands of families in urgent need of help. We are heartbroken for the lives that have been lost and are grieving with those who woke up without their loved ones today," Graham, the son of late evangelist Billy Graham, said.

"Our teams began preparing before the storm even made landfall, and we are now on the way with life-saving aid. Please join me in praying for the people of Jamaica and for our staff as they respond in Jesus' Name."

Other Christian organizations that have also provided relief aid to Jamaica include Convoy of Hope and Operation Blessing, the humanitarian arm of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.