In Cayman Islands, Church members team up to renovate home of elderly resident

The group of Seventh-day Adventists from the Berea and Bethen Adventist Churches pose for a picture with Ella Mae Powery (second from left), age 73 and a resident of the West Bay Community in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, before they finished the clean up and renovation of her home, Nov. 2-9, 2014. Images by John Wesley.

December 11, 2014 | West Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | Andrew Burrows/IAD

Seventh-day Adventists from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, grabbed their cleaning and painting supplies last month to transform the home of Ella Mae Powery, 73, a resident of the West Bay Community.

Joshua Lawrence, a local elder at the Berea Adventist Church paints the outside wall at the home of Mrs. Powery, in West Bay, Grand Cayman. Lawrence was one the organizers of the outreach project to paint, and repair her home.

The group of church members from the Berea and Bethel Adventist churches jumped at the chance to clean up and repair Powery’s house after the Radical Youth Ministry group visited her during a recent outreach activity.

“When we heard and saw how all 18 windows in her home were destroyed by one of her relatives who is mentally challenged, we were moved with compassion and decide that we had to do something,” said Pastor Carlin Nyack, district pastor for the Berea and Bethel churches.

Ella Mae Powery (center) was filled with emotion, as she stood next to two church members of the Berea and Bethel Seventh-day Adventist churches, who helped paint her home.

Out went the old furniture and Powery’s house was scrubbed clean both inside and out. The activity drew the attention of the Cayman27 local news station which covered the project.

Joshua Lawrence, an elder at Berea Adventist Church, said they could no longer wait on the government to do everything. “We need to understand that every person is our brother and sister, and so we think that wherever we can help, we will do our part and then if the government can, we will call up on them.”

Lawrence and church administrators from the Cayman Islands Conference solicited the help of local hardware stores for special contributions to install new windows and doors and enough paint to renovate Powery’s house.

“My faith in the West Bay community has been restored,” said Powery. “I feel loved and it feels like I am in the presence of the Lord.”

To learn more about initiatives and activities in Seventh-day Adventist Churches in the Cayman Islands, visit caymanadventist.org