Don't Forget Haiti

8/11/2010

(Susan Hunt) I remember first hearing about the reports of the Haiti Earthquake through news reports on January 12. At that point I didn’t think much of it because the first reports did not and could not yet express the devastation as it really was. Within just a few hours, however, the magnitude of the destruction was more evident and the story turned tragic. Several hundred thousand people died and many more lost their homes and way of life. Then we learned that even we as United Methodists were directly affected as several top Church leaders were trapped in the rubble, two of whom would not survive.

The outpouring from United Methodists – and all people from around the world – was generous and swift. We collected thousands of health kits and more just from our own annual conference and sent them to UMCOR’s Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, Louisiana, from where they would be sent to Haiti. United Methodist congregations and individuals all over the world have contributed more than $40 million to UMCOR's Haiti Emergency fund. Of these resources, UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) has already earmarked more than $15 million for immediate and long-term relief. UMCOR is there, providing immediate assistance to survivors and laying the groundwork for a large-scale, long-term recovery effort.

Many of us have moved on and few media reports discuss the tragedy anymore, yet the Haitians are still dealing with the nightmare every day. Haitians still face many problems including:
• infrequent food and potable water distribution
• insufficient washing and sanitation facilities
• inadequate security
• minimal job and educational opportunities and
• inadequate and unsafe temporary housing structures.

On top of those deplorable conditions and more, the Haitians are now in the midst of the rainy season and an active hurricane season.

Now is not the time to forget about Haiti. Please continue to pray – as individuals and as congregations – for the many people there affected, the government infrastructure that was already in bad shape before the earthquake, and for those providing aid and relief. The relief work has only just begun and it will take many years to overcome the devastation.

Many of our churches can find a way to take a UM Volunteers In Mission team there and individuals can join UMVIM teams already planned. One team from our conference traveled there in May. A second team from our conference will travel there August 17-25. There are four of us from our conference on this 10-person team, including: Lisa Pierce, Rev. Steve MacInnis, Rev. John Fox, and myself. The other 6 members are joining us from other annual conferences.

We will bring you updates, pictures and stories from Haiti. Communication systems there are unreliable so we don’t know if we will be able to send stories back while we are still there, but we will come home with many. Watch for that to come in late August and in September.

Please pray for our team as we travel. Pray that we show and share God’s love and grace and compassion with the people of Haiti. Pray that we share with them hope in the midst of their struggles – a hope found in Jesus Christ. We don’t know what God has in store for us on this journey, but we expect to see God at work in the midst of this tragedy.

If you want to know how to get involved with Haiti and explore sending or joining a mission team to Haiti, contact Glenn Glover, Conference UM Volunteers In Mission Coordinator, at 334-703-1115 or umvim@awfumc.org.

Click here for excellent information about UMCOR’s work in Haiti.

Don't Forget Haiti

Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.