GLOBAL PARTNERS

How your gifts to Lott Carey make God’s love real in Grenada

You were there when the people of Grenada were struggling to recover from a devastating hurricane. Not only were you there, but you were there in a way that empowered the island’s own people, allowing them to set their own agenda and priorities for recovery.

The island of Grenada is small. Its 120 square miles rise like a beacon out of the Caribbean, not far off the coast of Venezuela. Hurricane Ivan, however, destroyed or severely damaged more than 90 percent of the houses on Grenada. The effect was horrific. Tens of thousands of people were instantly homeless. Helplessness seemed to be written on everyone’s face.

Some well-meaning Christian groups in the U.S. responded promptly to the disaster—but on their own terms. They picked out food and supplies, trying to imagine what would be needed. Some of what they sent was indeed helpful for the first stage of the crisis, but parts of the process felt deeply disempowering to people in Grenada.

Other religious groups dispatched emergency work teams. But because they hadn’t consulted enough with those whom they were expecting to help, when they arrived, they found that there wasn’t much that they could do. Few building materials were yet available. So the experience proved challenging—and frustrating—to all concerned.

Your efforts through Lott Carey were different. Hearing about the plight of people there, you sent an immediate contribution of $20,000 to the Grenada Baptist Association.

Along with the money, Lott Carey sent freedom—and a large dose of dignity.

“Here’s twenty thousand dollars,” you said. “We trust you to know how to use it. You’re there. You’re involved. No one knows better than you what needs to be done. So take the money—and use it however you think Jesus would want you to use it.”

What a difference your money made! Baptists across Grenada were challenged to “wade into the water” and find the neediest of the needy. Then they stretched that money in every way that they could, doing as much as possible to respond in Jesus’ name to crying needs wherever they might be.

Merril, a mentally disturbed single mother, had tried to reconstruct a home for her nine children from broken-down partitions that she tore out of her old house. Tattered cloths served as her windows, and the only roof was fashioned from small plastic grocery bags tied together.

But thanks to the empowering, unfettered money you sent to Grenada through Lott Carey, Merril and her children now have a twenty-foot-square, two-bedroom house of their own.

Devastated by the hurricane, Douglas was living under tattered tarpaulins, sleeping in an equally tattered hammock. The remains of a suitcase served as his reminder of the “wardrobe” he once had. He was cooking primitive meals in a small can on an open fire.

But thanks to the empowering, unfettered money that you sent to Grenada through Lott Carey, Douglas now lives in a twelve-by-sixteen-foot wooden house.

After the storm, Rita, a deeply arthritic seventy-eight year old, was found living under some concrete steps, the only place that gave her a little protection from the cold nights.

But thanks to you—and the money that you sent through Lott Carey—Rita’s nightmare came to an end. Carefully piecing together various resources, Grenadan Baptists built Rita a small house of her own.

The recovery work from the hurricane is finished. But Lott Carey’s mission partner in Grenada is still ministering, upholding the full integrity of the Christian faith, demonstrating God’s redeeming love, a love that touches all of life.

Through Lott Carey, you make God’s love real in Grenada — and around the world.