"God Uses Our Storms"

Pastor Asha LaRonde and family at their destroyed home

In August and September of 2017 some of the most devastating hurricanes hit the Caribbean and the southern regions of the US. Harvey, Irma, and Maria left hundreds dead, thousands homeless, and cost the US and many islands hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Our own church members in Florida suffered greatly from the winds and rains of Irma that came in the last days of August. 

Destroyed homes by the hundreds along the road in Dominica

Good and generous church members rose to the occasion and gave hundreds of dollars worth of supplies and dozens of man hours to help clean up the mess left behind in our state. We helped some in our own region clean their flooded homes and help salvage part of their valuables. We carried supplies to the Florida Keys, 8 hours away, to show the love of Christ as well. 

Kim playing with girls in a shelter in Canefield, Dominica

Then in the last week of September, Kim and I boarded a plane with other needed relief and traveled to the islands of Barbados, Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. We spent 14 days visiting shelters and sharing Christ in churches and schools. It was amazing to see the enduring spirits of the people who had lost so much. Dominica was the island that was affected the most. Most houses were either roofless or a total loss. 

A wonderful group of school kids in Bridgetown, Barbados

While in Dominica, we visited shelter with Pastor Suprian George. He was a young pastor of a church in Canefield. The church in which he served had much of it roof completely ripped off and the damage was extreme. The parsonage where Pastor George and his wife lived was in the upstairs and their narrowly escaped death as 160 mph winds nearly destroyed them and everything they owned. 

A 103 year sweet lady in a shelter in LaPlaine, Dominica

We also, were blessed to cross to the other side of the island and see Pastor Asha LaRonde and his sweet family. They were in despair as their entire house was blown from its foundation. They were and are still currently holed up in the back of their church property which sustained great damage, but was still habitable. Our church along with some nearby sister churches sent chainsaws, tarps, food items, and hundreds of dollars to help both of these men of God and their families. 

While on this trip, Kim and I were blessed to help in a revival on the island of Barbados with our new friend, Pastor Roger Paul. He and his family and members are great people who love the Lord. We were treated with such care  and affection. God blessed in the four islands as I preached 14 times and had 934 souls saved. God is good. He uses even the storms of our lives to help people find shelter under His everlasting wings. 

Kim and I before heading home from Barbados