Update: Haiti Disaster Relief
ByA Letter from Pastor Joshua:
Dear Bridge Church,
It appears that the route to helping Haiti lies through prayer and financial giving in the short term. The longer term picture will still require volunteers who are willing to prepare and train for working and labouring in the disaster zone. I have several important updates to communicate to you in this letter.
CALGARY DISASTER RELIEF TRAINING
If you feel that God is leading you to serve in Haiti you will need to be trained in surviving and working in a disaster zone with limited or no modern amenities. our denomination is offering the following Disaster Relief Training:
When? Saturday, February 27, 2010
Where? Richmond Hill Baptist Church, Calgary, AB
Time? 8:30 am -4:00 pm
Cost? Free and includes lunch
How? To register call: 403-242-1256
Accommodations? Two rooms have been reserved at the CNBC Mission Centre for shared overnight accommodations on the Friday evening before the training (no charge if attending training event). 1-888-442-2272.
FINANCIAL GIVING UPDATE
Any giving for Haiti through the Bridge Church will now receive matching funds from the Canadian Federal Government. This policy was first approved for the REd Cross and several other charitable relief organizations. The Canadian National Baptist Convention has now also been approved to receive these federal matching funds. Every dollar you give through the Bridge towards Haiti will now receive exactly one dollar in matching funds from the Canadian Government. This is a limited time offer from the Government. I ask that the Bridge Church remember the instruction found in Titus 3:13-14, “Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.” It is a good work to do everything in our power to help speed relief workers on their way to the disaster zone.
NEWS FROM THE FRONT-LINES: Report from the Assessment Team
The joint Southern Baptist response the January 12 Haiti earthquake will launch in the coming week with four “strategically selected” medical teams, leaders of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Network decided January 26 at the Florida Urban Impact Center in Hialeah, Florida.
Plans to respond to the urgent, intermediate and long-term needs in Haiti were addressed by assessment teams that had just returned from the quake-ravaged nation, along with representatives from Baptist Global Response, the Southern Baptist International and North American Mission Boards, the Florida Baptist Convention, and other Southern Baptist disaster relief representatives.
The group wrestled with logistical arrangements and how to send mission teams and respond to needs in a country where transportation and in-country support for teams is practically impossible. Access to airports and shipping docks are extremely restricted, the teams reported.
“At this point, all we can sleep in Port-au-Prince is 55,” said Cecil Sagle, director of the Mission division of the Florida Baptist Convention.
The group decided the next step will be to send four “strategically selected” medical teams through the Dominican Republic to Haiti next week, along with two representatives from the Florida Baptist Convention, who will continue to make arrangements for trained disaster relief teams to travel in adn out of the country. Another meeting to discuss the logistics of getting additional response teams into Haiti will be held February 11-12 in Atlanta, the group decided.
“Once we get teh mechanisms in place, we will have numbers of teams in there, week in and week out,” said Mickey Caison, who directs disaster operations for the North American Mission Board. Caison added, “Through it all, our efforts will be touching lives, changing lives and giving hope. Our purpose is to carry the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.”
The Assessment Group acknowledged that many in the Convention are passionate about responding to the immediate needs in Haiti. The Assessment Group hoped to reassure many churches within the Convention that the response in Haiti will be long-term, but in the meantime they can minister to Haitians in their own communities and pray for people in Haiti who are afraid to return to homes that are still standing because of the danger posed by aftershocks.
The Assessment Group pled for patience as they try to solve logistical nightmares. Partnering Baptist churches in the US are asked to purchase and contribute “Buckets of Hope” to send to Haitian families: five-gallon buckets packed with rice, cooking oil, black beans, flour, sugar, spaghetti noodles and peanut butter. Even after Haitians use the supplies, the bucket can serve multiple uses for a family. However, it will be very difficult for Canadian National Baptist Churches to transport these buckets and supplies to the USA and then to Haiti, so the CNBC is finalizing a plan whereby Canadian Baptist Churches can fund raise specifically for these buckets. More information will be available very soon.
While our Convention will mobilize to meet urgent needs, they also will be very focused on long-term assistance to help Haitians rebuild their lives and communities. This is where the Bridge Church comes in.
What does The Bridge need to do? Already we see that News reports of events in Haiti are beginning to taper off. Already, the world is beginning the gradual process of forgetting the Haitians as other more urgent news begins to consume us. However, the dire situation facing the Haitians is not quickly forgotten by them. Many still fear aftershocks and will not return to the fragile homes that are still standing. We must remember our friends in the south so that we can help them. All of us are able to pray. I ask that you begin praying now for God to sent His people to help the hurt and suffering in Haiti. Also, I ask that you start praying right now about whether or not God may be laying it on your heart ot go and serve. If so, you will need to attend the Disaster Relief Trainng in Calgary. If you have an interest in attending this training, be sure to speak to one of the Elders this Sunday. Pray for Haiti.
In Christ,
Joshua
