Churches Respond to Haiti’s Plight

Convoy of Hope provided food and water to those in need following the earthquake in Haiti. (Convoy of Hope photo)

About Noon on Thursday, January 14, Davis issued an e-mail: “Pastor Elysee Joseph’s sister had communication with him and he is doing fine. Pastor Eddy Bazin, one of our ministry partners in Port-au-Prince, survived the quake in good shape as well as his family and the ministry facilities.”

The memo also contained sad news. “Our teams are acquainted with Yvonne (Volvo) one of our valuable staff members in Cap Haitien,” Davis noted. “We have received word that Yvonne’s little sister, who was in Port-au-Prince, has died during the quake-she was with our team just last week.”

Davis’ update on January 15 noted that volunteers were pouring into Haiti and the Dominican Republic from a number of agencies and he noted that the country was “being overrun” by civilian and military personnel, all of whom required food, water, housing, and health care. As a result, Caribbean Vision Ministries decided to let the major organizations do the first responder tasks
that are required for immediate life-saving actions.

It pledged to support the effort financially and in whatever other ways possible.

Sending Supplies
Later, Caribbean Vision Ministries and Eglise Evangelique de la Paix, a Grace Brethren church in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., announced they were sending a 24-foot truck full of supplies to Haiti. The truck was to be shipped to Cap Haitien and then driven to Port-au-Prince.

Meanwhile members of the Los Altos Grace Brethren Church in California (Phil Helfer, pastor) were closely watching for news of and praying for Dan Woolley, the son of a sixth-grade teacher in their school. Dan Woolley was working with Compassion International in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit and his wife and family had not yet heard from him.

The first news was that Woolley was found alive, but was trapped in an elevator with relief workers seeking to get him out. The next dispatch contained a link to a YouTube video of Woolley being pulled from the rubble of the Hotel Montana with only minor injuries. The family was interviewed by the CBS affiliate television station in Los Angeles, which aired the piece that evening under the heading “A Mother’s Prayers Answered.” Later Woolley and his wife appeared widely on network and cable television as he was
interviewed about the experience.

Meanwhile Davis said that Pastor Elysee Joseph was “exhausted” and would soon leave Haiti, having been there since the middle of December. Pastor Joseph went to Port-au-Prince to claim the body of Yvonne’s sister, but discovered that she had been buried in the mass grave of 7,000 people.

In Winona Lake, Ind., Grace Brethren International Missions (GBIM) was working on a partnership with Convoy of Hope and Caribbean Vision Ministries to assist those affected by the disaster in Haiti as well as the Haitian population in the U.S. In addition to urging prayer, GBIM said that gifts to Relief Agency Brethren would support emergency aid and recovery efforts.

It had already released $10,000 to purchase a container that was on its way to Haiti. Financial donations were encouraged, and as of press time, Dave Lewis of GBIM reported that nearly $53,000 had been given for relief efforts through Relief Agency Brethren.

Sean Spoelstra, whose young congregation in Dublin, Ohio, joined the Grace Brethren network of churches last year, announced that the leadership team of his Encounter church voted to give its benevolence fund of $3,800 to the effort and also took a special offering at the end of the next Sunday service. The Dublin church had a linkage with missionary Matt Storer, who works with VisionTrust International in orphan care ministry in neighboring Dominican Republic.

Crisis Update
Pastor Dan O’Deens, of Gateway Church, a Grace Brethren congregation in Parkesburg, Pa., is a trained first-responder in crisis situations. O’Deens began issuing update briefs on Friday, January 15, to keep individuals informed of the joint efforts of the FGBC with Convoy of Hope. On January 16, he noted that Convoy of Hope “should have a distribution site and clinic up and running in the middle of the city in one of the worst-hit areas” within a few days.

By Sunday, January 17, Caribbean Vision Ministries transmitted the good news that “Pastor Herlin Celicourt reports that his brother and sister and his sister’s baby in Cap Haitien have been found and they are safe. Herlin also reports that two sisters, a brother and a baby nephew in Port-au-Prince are safe though their house was destroyed.”

In response to an update and funding plea sent to all Grace Brethren churches by Fellowship Coordinator Tom Avey, Stephen Joyce, pastor of About My Father’s Business, a Washington, D.C., Grace Brethren congregation, responded, “Our team took a special offering for Haiti relief last Sunday.”

Joyce also noted, “I talked with one of our members who runs a basketball camp. He told me last night that he is going to set up a Haitian relief basketball tournament with all the proceeds going through the linked sites as well.”

By Monday, January 18, Convoy of Hope reported that 164,696 meals had been distributed at nine distribution points, and 10 more containers were ready to ship. Water filtration units were being set up in Haiti, which by now had confirmed about 70,000 deaths from the quake.

The Grace Brethren family is encouraged to continue praying for the people and needs in Haiti, and updated prayer requests will be posted on the BMH Editor’s blog, fgbcworld-blog.com, and on gbim.org. Links may be found there or on fgbc.org for making financial contributions to the relief effort through Relief Agency Brethren.

Links to Grace Brethren agencies who are helping in Haiti