Bahamian natives support ‘Love First’ Hurricane Dorian Relief Drive

By LINDA CHION KENNEY

At the Love First Christian Center in Riverview, fear and sadness have given way to prayer and action for the people of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, where a lifetime of tragedy unfolded in a matter of days in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

Photo by Linda Chion Kenney
Senior Pastors Jomo and Charmaine Cousins, pictured on the Love First Christian Center truck, are the backdrop to a photo featuring, from left, Nassau native and pastor, Zhivago “Vago” Lightbourne; Thunder Bay Volleyball Club player Olivia Hart; and her father, Nassau native Valentino Hart, who, with his wife, Karla, oversees the church’s children’s ministry. The church is spearheading an ongoing Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Relief drive for the Bahamas.

Church officials are set to collect from parishioners and community members donations to be sent directly to the Bahamas by boat and plane, for as long as it takes, to ease the unimaginable hardships. Drop-off donations are being accepted during business hours at the church at 12847 Balm Riverview Road.

With direct input from islanders about what’s needed most, church officials are set to collect batteries, flashlights, water (cases or gallons), baby products (diapers, wipes, formula), and personal hygiene products (toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine products and latex gloves). New and gently worn clothes also are on the list, as many people survived with only the clothes on their backs.

The tragedy strikes home for church members who have friends and family living in the islands most affected — Abaco and Grand Bahama, where Freeport is the main city. Regarded as the nation’s worst natural disaster, Hurricane Dorian struck as a powerful and stalling Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 miles per hour.

Photo Courtesy Love First Christian Church
Volunteers at the ready-to-load donated Hurricane Dorian Relief Drive contributions at Love First Christian Center in Riverview on Sunday, Sept. 14. Church officials are working with volunteer groups to arrange transportation of the donations directly to the Bahamas via boat and plane. The drive is ongoing.

“We do have a lot of church members who have family there, and some have lost loved ones,” said Senior Pastor Jomo Cousins. “The church is a body, and a part of the body is hurting. It’s part of our mission as a ministry to help.”

Zhivago Lightbourne, pastor for outreach, missions and the arts, was born and raised in the Bahamas. A Nassau islander, he lived through Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and watched his country battle through Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Bahamians are trained for hurricanes, he added, which is only part of the reason why warnings to leave went unheeded.

“You’re on an island; where are you going to go?” Lightbourne said. “It’s not like in the states, where you can drive to another state. Not everybody was in a position to go, unless you had resources to pick up your family, find transportation, catch a flight and stay at a hotel.” Once the airports closed, “it was too late to leave,” he added. “Your choices were either to go to a shelter or ride it out, and many of the shelters themselves were destroyed with people in them.”

Photo by Linda Chion Kenney
Meeting to discuss the Hurricane Dorian Relief Drive at Love First Christian Center in Riverview, from left, Jomo Kenyatta Cousins; his parents, senior pastors Jomo and Charmaine Cousins; Olive Hart and her father, Valentino; and Zhivago “Vago” Lightbourne, pastor for outreach, missions, and the arts.

hotos and videos shared with loved ones in Florida show islanders in turmoil, with bodies floating in raised waters amidst a background of shattered buildings. “It made me put my life in perspective,” Lightbourne said. “Made me realize certain things are not as important as I thought they were. What do you say to a family that lost not just things but family members? There’s nothing you can say or do but just be there for them.”

Heeding the call to help, parishioners Walter Perkins III, co-founder of the nonprofit Thunder Bay Volleyball Academy, and Valentino Hart, a volleyball parent and team director, have been asking players and their families to contribute to the Hurricane Dorian relief drive. Both men have roots in the Bahamas.

“These kids in the Bahamas, just like our girls in our club, they’d like to be playing volleyball, but they won’t have the opportunity to do that because of the devastation on their islands,” Perkins said. “Kids can’t be kids because of what’s happened, and this will be a mark on them for the rest of their lives. We’re just trying to ease the problem and make it a little better and put a smile on someone’s face.”

Hart, like Lightbourne, hails from Nassau and has many loved ones in the hardest hit areas. “When one Bahamian hurts, we all feel it because we’re a very close-knit community,” said Hart, who, along with his wife, Karla, oversees the church’s children’s ministry.

As a senior juvenile probation officer with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Hart has helped to arrange it so juveniles on probation will receive community service hours for approved drive donations.

“No donation is too small because in the Bahamas, we need everything,” Hart said. “Most important we ask that you say a prayer for the Bahamas because through prayer, God will answer our prayers as a Bahamian nation.”

It’s not uncommon in times of tragedy for a pastor to be asked why bad things happen to good people, and Pastor Cousins said he is no exception, having tackled the question again in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

“Once sin came into the world, so came sickness, disease and tragedy; that’s the Bible answer,” Cousins said. The layman’s answer? “It’s life,” he added. “If you’re in life, you’re going to go through things, and none of us are exempt from the bad days.”

For drive information, visit Love First Christian Center at lfcc.tv/hurricane or call 813-671-2009.