wfn.org | Montserrat Recovery Efforts

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (258
notes).

Note 257 by UMNS on Aug. 4, 1997 at 15:41 Eastern (4014 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                          445(10-21-71B){257}
          New York (212) 870-3803                     Aug. 4, 1997

Methodists in Montserrat
still struggle after eruption

               by United Methodist News Service 

     Methodists in Montserrat continue to struggle with property
damage, homelessness and the economic fallout caused by
destructive volcanic activity.
     They also have been affected by the loss of life from the
June eruption and by the fact that others have left the Caribbean
island, according to the Rev. Joan Desol Meade, pastor of several
churches there.
     So far, she said, the United Methodist Committee on Relief
(UMCOR) has sent two shipments of food and given a $10,000 grant
to assist displaced farmers. Donations can be made to UMCOR
Advance No. 982450-1, earmarked "Montserrat".
     The volcano destroyed Bethel Methodist Church, "the largest
and loveliest" of the nine churches, she told United Methodist
News Service on Aug. 1. Also destroyed was the Bethel Manse, the
old school used for Christian education programs, along with land
earmarked for an agro-food processing project.
     Homes in communities near Bethel church -- Bramble's Village,
Bethel, Spanish Pointe, Farms, Trants and Lower Harris -- were
completely destroyed, except at Spanish Point, Meade reported.
Those communities also are inaccessible, so that whether or not
homes were destroyed, members from Bethel and two other Methodist
churches, Long Ground and Beulah, "are, correctly speaking, now
homeless."
     Bethel Church has 178 confirmed members and many adherents.
Long Ground has a confirmed membership of 38 and Beulah has 72.
Trinity Methodist Church in the capital of Plymouth has the
largest membership at 317.
     Only three churches, she said, currently are available for
worship -- Salem, Cavalla Hill and Bethany.
     Ten people are presumed buried underneath the volcanic ash in
the village of Farms, which was served by Bethel. Although none of
the missing were confirmed members, they were closely affiliated
with the church, according to Meade.
     The Methodists and Church of God had a memorial service for
the 10, in addition to the island's national day of mourning on
July 8 for all 19 people missing after the eruption. "It was a
time of mourning, healing, thanksgiving, all in one," she said.
     Since the volcanic alert, 52 Bethel members have left
Montserrat to live abroad. "This is the largest exodus as it
relates to the Methodist Church, but all congregations have been
affected by the migration," Meade explained. "Some of our most
active and committed leadership, especially in the 25 to 45 age
group, have gone away."
     Many will remain on the island, she added, "if an acceptable
quality of life can be maintained."
     To assist in that process, the church plans to construct a
building for 53 people, with dormitory living on the ground floor
and three two-bedroom apartments on the upper floor. "That may
sound like a drop in the bucket but now every drop does count,"
Meade said. "Also, we have 10 families that have accessed land in
the safe zone but cannot afford to finance the building."
     During the past year, four work teams -- two from Wisconsin
and one each from Pennsylvania and Ohio -- have helped the
Methodist Church there by building a house for a displaced family;
repairing an old chapel building that houses the children's
KonoiniaKraft program, financed by the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries' Women's Division; preparing accommodations for
future work teams; and constructing a floor for a UMCOR-donated
tent used for youth steel band rehearsal. 
     A larger UMCOR tent is used for worship services and three
smaller ones for Christian Education.
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