The aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s passage through Puerto Rico has created a humanitarian crisis that aggravated existing problems in the island’s economy, health, and education systems. At the moment, 34 deaths related to this phenomenon of nature have been reported. This has been the worst catastrophe of the century leaving the Puerto Rican people without water, food, electricity, health services, transportation and communications. There are people who were stripped of their homes, their jobs and most of the people were in communication with their loved ones and the outside world. In addition, animal deaths and near total loss of crops have been reported. The Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, estimated that the total losses will ascend to more than $95 thousand million.

The US government has been criticized for not doing more to respond on time and serving the more than 3.4 million American citizens residing on the island. However, we have witnessed how the Puerto Rican people, the Puerto Rican diaspora, celebrities, government officials and countless supporters have come together to collaborate in the midst of this crisis.

The People of the United Methodist Church are people “rooted in our hope” and committed to our church being a “tree planted near the waters.”  The verse of Job 14: 7, which says: “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that its tender shoots will not cease;” inspires us to labor knowing that our hope is that Puerto Rico will be reborn again. [Read more…]