Friends, colleagues and supporters of evangelist pastor Alexander Wurm have been paying tribute to him and his daughter Serena, who were both killed in a plane crash Monday while delivering hurricane relief supplies to Jamaica.
Wurm, 53, founder of the Ignite the Fire Ministry based in Cayman, and his 22-year-old daughter Serena died when the small aircraft he was piloting crashed into a lake in a gated community in Coral Springs, Florida.
Premier André Ebanks said, “We are all shocked and dismayed by the unexpected tragic loss” of the father and daughter.
He described Wurm as having made a “remarkable contribution to the Cayman Islands community”, for which expected he would always be remembered.
Sylvia Wilks, who first met Wurm at an outreach event in West Bay several years ago and who went on to join Ignite the Fire’s executive board, said he had wanted to extend his evangelical mission across the Caribbean and had established his ministry in Cayman with that in mind.
She said she considered him “not just a leader and a colleague, but a friend as well,” and would miss his “love for people” and his passion to reach young people.
Describing him as “very intentional, very passionate, and a go-getter”, she said, “Whatever he felt could be done, would be done.”
This was the attitude he’d adopted when purchasing and outfitting his Beechcraft King Air B100 plane, which he bought last year with the intention of using it for missionary work, disaster relief and humanitarian efforts across the region.
Wilks said Monday’s ill-fated flight had been the third of three immediate planned trips to bring relief supplies to Jamaica, following two flights made last week.
She had flown with him, as he piloted the plane, to an evangelical training event in Orlando, Florida, in August this year. “It’s so surreal,” she said, “because, in my mind, I’m thinking of the other trips that he wanted to make for missions and to serve people.”
‘Genuine, caring individual’
James Whittaker, founder and CEO of GreenTech Solar, who had communicated with Wurm recently about sourcing portable solar panels and Starlink communications systems, said he would miss him.
“I had gotten to know Alex over the last few years after he moved to Cayman,” he said “You would be hard pressed to find a more genuine or caring individual and he quickly became part of the fabric of the island.
“I’m heartbroken for he and his daughter and their entire family. They will be missed.”
In an online post, Health Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks paid tribute to Wurm, writing, “Evangelist Alexander Wurm came to our country with a mission to ignite a fire, and he certainly succeeded! I truly appreciated the kind of pastor he was. He would often reach out to me, asking what he could pray for, and he consistently offered encouragement.
“His willingness to help made him a true example of a servant evangelist. I pray that the fire he sparked here in Cayman will continue to burn bright and that his legacy will endure. My deepest condolences to his lovely wife, children and church family.”
Sean Malone, of Crisis Response International, with whom Wurm and Ignite the Fire had been working recently to bring relief supplies to Jamaica, said, “He had a huge vision and heart for the people of the Caribbean nations and when this hurricane happened, he didn’t hesitate, he sprung into action and did what he could with what he had in his hand.”
He added, “I just want his family to know, and those who knew him, that he really made a difference to the lives of the people on the ground. By getting the resources in that he did, he saved lives and he gave his life for the people of the nations that were on his heart.”
Ferrin Cole, also of Crisis Response International, described the ceaseless efforts Wurm had been making over the days following Hurricane Melissia to help communities in Jamaica. “Working with Alexander was an honour,” he said. “He kept showing up over and over, repeatedly flying in supplies we couldn’t get anywhere else here in Jamaica. He just kept landing his plane.”
Cole said the last thing he’d said to the team was that he and Serena wanted to join them when they distributed water filters at Tower Hill on Monday.
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Sending love and prayers to the family.