Prayer Update–June 21
Filed under Prayer for Haiti
• On the day of the earthquake, 20-year-old Pierre stepped outside for a moment while the rest of his family ate dinner inside. A few seconds later, he was the only one of them alive. The other seven members of his family – parents, siblings, grandmother – were crushed to death as their home crumbled on top of them. Please pray for Pierre.
• Recently, a team from Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin traveled to Haiti to comfort earthquake survivors and train local church leaders in trauma counseling. Please pray for churches engaged in trauma counseling, that the Lord would give them strength and the words of comfort and life to share.
• Nearly six months after the quake, Haiti has largely slipped off the world’s radar screen, but hundreds of thousands of Haitians still struggle and much of Port-au-Prince remains in ruins. Ask God to place Haiti on the hearts and minds of His people around the world.
The Church at Work
Filed under Uncategorized
Within hours of the most cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti’s history, the Tabernacle of Glory Pentecostal Church in Port-au-Prince became a place of refuge for thousands.
The church – an impressive half-completed mini-amphitheater – became a central food distribution point for World Relief.
Inside, thousands of bags of rice and beans – enough to feed more than 100,000 people – were readied for distribution to the neediest families.
World Relief set up a system with the church to distribute the food in bulk, primarily to trusted local pastors.
Word soon got out.
Hundreds of pastors and others lined up in the sun in the hope of receiving some rice to take back to their families and their churches.
Meanwhile, children were served hot meals of rice and beans at the church’s feeding station – a lifeline for many families struggling to find any food.
Pastor Louis Ricot came to the church every day after the quake, looking for food. “My people have nothing,” he said with a slight shrug. “We have no help from anywhere else…”
Pastor Ricot was just one of thousands of pastors desperate to help his people who were living in tents made out of sticks and torn sheets.
“It’s very difficult because there are many people in Port-au-Prince who are hungry right now,” said Michael Jean Baptiste, a church mobilization officer with World Relief, working alongside the church. “I thank God that we’re able to serve Christian and non-Christian alike, because everybody needs help.”
Like many quake survivors at the Tabernacle of Glory, Baptiste questioned God: ‘Lord, thousands have died… why am I not one of them?’
God gave him the answer: ‘I have given you the opportunity to live to help your brothers and sisters in this hour.’
“Pastors come to us and say: ‘I have to feed 500 people… can you help me?’” explained Baptiste. “These people love Jesus… Jesus taught us to give to those who are hungry and it is a grace for me to serve them.”
Meanwhile, in the church grounds, hundreds received medical care at a clinic set up under a shelter.
Moms with their babies in their arms waited patiently, while a doctor and nurses from Colorado treated and bandaged wounds, checked eye infections and gave out vitamins.
“I feel that God is at work here,” one mother said. “Who else would do this for us?”
–Article from World Relief and used with permission. Original can be found here.
From the Ashes
Filed under Uncategorized
Pastor Gerald Bataille looks weary. His voice cracks with the hoarse edge of someone who has not slept well for some time.
In the weeks following the January earthquake, the leader of the Tabernacle of Glory Pentecostal Church in Port-au-Prince has been working around the clock every day.
But Pastor Bataille is not in the frame of mind to give up. His name means “fighter.” And that, say those who know him the best, is exactly what Pastor Bataille has shown himself to be.
In the face of massive – even overwhelming – odds, Pastor Bataille has rallied his people to respond with energy, with compassion, with grace.
Less than three weeks after the quake, Pastor Bataille led a funeral service for 30 of his church members killed in the disaster. Some of their bodies had not even been recovered from the rubble.
There were moments, he admits, that he felt like dissolving into tears. But he kept it together – not just for himself, but for all those looking to him for strength and leadership.
With such a heavy weight on his shoulders, it is remarkable, perhaps, that Pastor Bataille can stay buoyant. Yet he exudes genuine optimism, genuine hope.
“People are seeing the love of Christ in us,” he says, barely pausing to talk as he helps to unload rice and beans at his church.
“With World Relief’s help, we’re showing people the love of Jesus, not just telling them… and their hearts are touched. The love of Christ is something that everybody needs and I believe this love can draw people to find hope and peace.
“I pray: ‘Lord, this is the time… it is the time for change for Haiti.’ If we will turn to God, He will hear us. We have known so much pain, so much sorrow, but I really believe this is the time for a big change.”
–From World Relief, used with permission. Original article can be found here.
Haiti Update–June 11th
Filed under Updates
Tomorrow marks 5 months since the 7.0- magnitude earthquake shattered Haiti on January 12th, killing hundreds of thousands and leaving millions homeless. When Covenant World Relief (CWR) made a commitment to serve in the relief efforts for Haiti, we made a commitment to continue work through not only the emergency phase but into the recovery and development phases as well. It is easy to forget that the debris, destruction, and danger continue for the people of Haiti as news of the relief effort have disappeared from our television screens. However, CWR has partnered with two primary organizations who share this vision for long-term, sustainable, and effective disaster response: World Relief International (WR) and Medical Teams International (MTI).
Disaster Phase
World Relief has met immediate needs by providing emergency shelter (tarps and tents) to 48,000 families, 4,570 hygiene kits, and food distributions to the most vulnerable.
Medical Teams International has sent 17+ volunteer teams with doctors, nurses, and health professionals. MTI rehabilitated King’s hospital with staff and supplies, sent mobile medical units to tent cities serving 21,000 people, provided medicine and orthopedic supplies and transported the critically injured to the US for lifesaving treatment.
Recovery Phase
Both of our partners in Haiti are now transitioning out of the emergency phase and into the recovery phase for the next 6 to 36 months. Medical Teams International will serve those left disabled from the disaster by providing prosthetics, equipment, rehabilitation, and advocacy. World Relief is working on an economic recovery program providing labor opportunities for local community members, an agricultural recovery plan for local farmers, and the construction of 12 well sites for permanent, clean water. WR plans to address the larger gaps in international response in agriculture, school reconstruction, health, shelter, water and sanitation in four cities of Haiti.
Thank you to all that have remembered the people of Haiti through generous donations and lifting the crisis up in your prayers. We urge you to remember that although the disaster has left the water-cooler conversation in our homes, churches, and workplaces, Covenant World Relief continues work in Haiti and we pray and implore you to begin or continue your partnership with the people of Haiti as well.
–Written by Katie Burzynski, CWR intern
