RECENT NEWS AND UPDATES FROM HAITI!
An Excerpt from the Presbyterian News Service
The Haitian government estimates there are 230,000 people dead from the earthquake, but the numbers continue to grow, said Randy Ackley, PDA coordinator. More than 1 million people are thought to be homeless, and there have been more than 1,000 amputations because of earthquake-related injuries, he said.
In addition to the damage in Port-au-Prince, surrounding communities are feeling the impact of the earthquake, Ackley said. Many people are leaving the city for rural areas, putting a huge strain on those communities’ resources and infrastructure.
Unemployment is also a big concern, Ackley said. Because many businesses have been destroyed, people aren’t able to go to work. The same applies to farmers.
This is an excerpt from a Weslyan Missionary's blog about Haiti's first National Time of Prayer February 12th-14th
The last two nights we have gone to bed to the sound of Creole hymns, and the last two mornings we’ve woken up to the same sound. In the afternoons, the mission compound has been silent, the usual bustle of boys working in the yard and wash women yelling bonjour strangely absent. And since Thursday evening, the stores, the market, and the wharf have all been closed. What’s the reason for these services and this silence?
A few weeks ago, the Church in Haiti asked everyone in the country to pray February 12th, 13th, and 14th, and it seems like the whole country listened. Churches everywhere have been holding services that started early Friday morning and will continue until tomorrow. In Anses-a-Galets, we have been able to hear church services all over town. Even the town square is filled with worshipers who have gathered to sing, pray, and listen to speakers.
Leaders called for this prayer time in response to the desperate post-earthquake needs of this nation. The country still lies in shambles and the violence and anarchy of Haiti’s history seem close at hand, but the Church is reacting against the past and looking forward to a more positive future. Churches here have seen a large number of people turning away from sin and back to God since the events of January 12th. They are continuing to ask people to turn to God and pray that He’d heal this nation.
This kind of declaration is monumental in a country with a heritage of voodoo and ancestor worship. And this Haitian initiated, Haitian led national time of prayer is a testimony to the strength of the third, fourth, and fifth generation Christians in this country. Please pray with the Haitian Church that God would use this time to change the hearts of people of Haiti and that He’d bring His redemption in a place facing so much devastation.
This is an update from the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti Website.
January 21, 2010--Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ
The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, Anglican Communion, is facing one of its worse catastrophes in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010.
A special Crisis Commission established by the Bishop of Haiti, the Rt. Rev. J Zaché Duraçin, is working under his guidance to help manage this crisis.
Millions of people are now homeless. College St-Pierre, one of the best high school in Port-au-Prince, is unfortunately completely destroyed is being used as an emergency shelter for approximately 3,000 displaced people coming from all over the capital without any consideration given to religion, creed and social class.
As a direct result of the earthquake, eighty-five (85%) percent of the Diocesan institutions have been destroyed or severely damaged for instance, Léogane, one of our largest deaneries, sustained about 90% damage. The following institutions within the capital are destroyed:
The Bishop’s Court; Holy Trinity Cathedral; Holy Trinity Complex (Elementary, Music and Trade Schools; St-Margaret’s Convent; Foyer Notre Dame; Universite Episcopale d’Haiti; St Vincent Centre for Handicapped Children; St-Martin’s kindergarten, Secondary school and rectory; Episcopal Theological Seminary.
In Leogane and the surroundings: Ste Croix’s Secondary School; St Mathias’ church and institutions, Grande Colline; St-Etienne’s church, Buteau; St Marc’s church and institutions, Trouin; Annunciation church’s Elementary and Trade School, Darbonne
Among the severely damaged, figure Church of the Ascension, Bainet; and St Matthew’s church in Matthieu, Leogane.
A complete list of all the institutions around the Diocese will soon be published.
Emergency such as food, medicine, water, transportation, generators and so on is urgently needed to care for the displaced.
The purpose of this note is to request your overall support as well as specialized engineering assistance on a mid-term basis in order to rebuild our institutions.
We thank you in advance for your daily prayers and your anticipated support in our time of need.
God is good all the time.
The Special Crisis Commission.
A Lenten reflection from the Bishop of Haiti
'I look at this as a baptism' By Jean Zaché Duracin
January 12 was a terrible day for the Haitian people. The earthquake left not a soul untouched. There is not a single family that did not lose a close friend or member: Mothers, fathers, siblings, in some cases entire families disappeared.
As for resources, we have next to nothing. The wreckage is beyond imagination.
However, this situation delivers us into faith. I look at this as a baptism. We who are still alive have had the blessing of survival, but in many ways we have died to the ways of the past. We have the opportunity to rise up and start anew. In this moment of grief and mourning, life must continue.
During this Lenten season, it is important for us in Haiti to turn inward and rediscover all that is just within us. It is imperative that we be reborn in this moment. We will live without the physical trappings of the church because we still have the same spiritual guidance, the confessions, the conversations, the reflections.
We need faith. We must go forward with confidence and hope. The Haitian people are fighters. We will not give up. We must see within this situation the possibilities that exist. Jealousy, anger, hatred – this is not the time for these. We turn to Jesus Christ, who did not fall into temptation; though he was in hard situations, he overcame death in victory.
We await the resurrection of Christ as we explore what is found in this wreckage. Dear ones were lost, houses, clothes, possessions, memories – lives are reduced to nothing. The church lost precious belongings, and the physical foundation of the state is in ruins.
Yet, we Haitians are speaking to each other in new ways. We can look at each other with new eyes. We can create a society of respect and love so that we may truly live as children of God. This is how we can rebuild our country.
We have also seen how other people – other nations – love us. The people of this Episcopal Church have sent countless messages witnessing sympathy. Knowing we are not alone gives us confidence in new life. We receive comfort and consolation in our relationships.
My wife was injured in the earthquake and left to seek medical care. I cannot visit her. I miss her and wish she were here with me. It is difficult to be separated. But this separation has given me solitude and has enabled me to reflect in a new way about how to proceed in a life founded in God as a Christian.
It is natural to question, but we hold on in faith to God – God who is always good, the God of infinite compassion. That we were struck by this tragedy does not mean God is not with us. He is here. We must always remember that God lives in this world. There is pain, but there is also joy. He gives us assurance not of the life that ends, but the life that is eternal.
The earthquake did not diminish our worship, though it altered the places where it takes place. The church has not faltered and must now rise to a new role. Belief in Christ and love for our Lord carries us into a new phase of construction. We will raise new places to worship God.
We are looking forward to a celebration of Easter; familiarity of religious practices sustains us. We give glory to God. We sing within the church of the world. We celebrate life with the same spirit we were given it. In the middle of all the deaths, there is a God of love and of life, and we must shout Alleluia with the living.
—From an interview with Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin of Haiti, conducted in French and translated by Cecily Hutton, assisting the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and Episcopal Relief & Development in relief and recovery efforts in Haiti.
Post and Courier video about St. Philip's involvement in Haiti though interviews of George and Molly Greene, Tommy and Rees Johnston, and Gerry and Suzanne McCord can be seen at http://www.postandcourier.com/videos/2010/jan/31/1021/
The Miami Herald has complete Earthquake coverage at http://www.miamiherald.com/haiti/
Great videos of Haiti can be seen at The New York Times site http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/world/americas/1194811622209/index.html#1247466770509
