wfn.org | Newsline: Brethren leader calls for time of prayer for Haiti, Brethren Disaster Ministries prepares

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service,

>News Director Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

>800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

BRETHREN LEADER CALLS FOR TIME OF PRAYER FOR HAITI,

BRETHREN DISASTER MINISTRIES PREPARES FOR RELIEF EFFORTS

(Jan. 14, 2010) Elgin, IL -- "In the darkest times, we can turn toward the  Creator

God and admit our frailty as part of this creation," said Church of the Bre thren

general secretary Stan Noffsinger in a call for the entire denomination to  enter

>into a time of prayer for Haiti.

"It is an interim step until the way is clear for us to individually take a ction.

The call of the whole church to prayer is traditional Church of the Brethre n,

where together we discern what it is that God would have us do," he said.

Noffsinger emphasized that prayer for Haiti in the current disaster situati on

"has a new element for us.... We have members of our church family we have

not heard from and we don't know their wellbeing and safety. And so a part  of

>us is at risk."

He called church members who are eager to personally take part in a relief

effort to be patient and wait "until the right pathway to be involved emerg es,"

emphasizing that the Church of the Brethren is committed to a longterm reli ef

effort in Haiti. "We'll be in Haiti for the long haul." Brethren Disaster

Ministries executive director Roy Winter also stated that at this time volu nteers

>are not yet needed.

Brethren Disaster Ministries plans relief effort:

Brethren Disaster Ministries staff are continuing to monitor the situation  in

Haiti and consulting with ecumenical colleagues and groups including Church

>World Service (CWS).

In the initial phase of response, "we can be much more efficient working wi th

CWS and other partners," Winter said. Brethren Disaster Ministries is to

participate in the relief work of ecumenical organizations such as CWS and

local partners such as SSID (Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas), a ch urch

>organization in the Dominican Republic.

"It may be quite awhile before rebuilding begins to respond to the earthqua ke,"

Winter reported. At this time volunteers are not yet needed, he said. "We w ill

wait until we have plans in place and until understandings about travel are  much

clearer. At some time (in the future) we expect to need volunteer groups wo rking.

>That will come."

Plans for a longterm Church of the Brethren response to the earthquake incl ude

support for Haitian Brethren and the most vulnerable in the Port-au-Prince  area,

Winter said. It also may include the involvement of Children's Disaster Ser vices

in helping children affected by the earthquake learn resiliency and become

comfortable with the new situation in Port-au-Prince, he added.

Brethren Disaster Ministries will continue its ongoing project in Haiti to  finish

rebuilding homes damaged by the hurricanes that hit the island in 2008, Win ter

announced. Jeff Boshart, who is coordinating the project, concurred, saying ,

"There are still people living in terrible conditions in Gonaives." That ci ty

suffered severe flooding in the storms of 2008.

An additional allocation of $60,000 from the Church of the Brethren's Emerg ency

Disaster Fund for the current rebuilding project in Haiti was released yest erday.

The grant is expected to be the final allocation for the project, to suppor t "phase

three" of construction of homes in Gonaives. Previous grants to this projec t have

>totaled $445,000.

>Updates from the situation in Haiti:

Church of the Brethren staff and Brethren Disaster Ministries have received  a

number of updates from Brethren and others related to the church who have b een

affected by the situation in Haiti since an earthquake hit near the capital  city of

>Port-au-Prince.

However, as of yesterday evening staff have been unable to contact leaders  of

Eglise des Freres Haitiens (Church of the Brethren in Haiti), and have rece ived

reports that many Haitian members of Brethren congregations in Florida and

New York have been unable to contact family in Haiti.

Brethren congregations in New York who have a number of members of Haitian

background--including Haitian First Church of New York and Brooklyn First

Church of the Brethren--have been in prayer for family members living in Ha iti.

"They're kind of sitting on pins and needles right now," said Brooklyn Firs t

pastor Jonathan Bream, who called to check in with denominational staff

yesterday morning. "They just don't know because of the lack of

>communication."

Verel Montauban in Brooklyn has yet to hear from family members in Haiti,

he told Jeff Boshart, coordinator of the Brethren Disaster Ministries' curr ent

rebuilding project in Haiti. But one of his church members, a deacon, has l ost

two family members as a house collapsed on them.

At least one licensed minister in Atlantic Southeast District has received

word of the death of a close family member in the earthquake.

Brethren Disaster Ministries reports that the US State Department Operation s

Center has set up the following number for Americans seeking information

>about family members in Haiti: 888-407-4747.

>Mission groups in Haiti:

There have been at least three mission groups from US Church of the Brethre n

congregations either in Haiti currently, or there earlier this week or plan ning

to travel later this week. A group of young adults from Lititz (Pa.) Church  of

the Brethren are in Haiti currently on a mission trip. The group has report ed

>that they are okay.

In Shenandoah District, one church group returned from Haiti Tuesday mornin g

before the earthquake happened, and one was planning to arrive in Haiti lat er

this week, according to a prayer request from district executive Jim Miller  and

associate executive Joan Daggett. Their e-mail reported that Doug Southers  of

Rileyville (Va.) Church of the Brethren is in Haiti but has called home by  cell

phone and is safe. He had traveled to Haiti last weekend to make preparatio ns

for a group from the Rileyville church that was to travel to Haiti later th is week.

"We are glad for the safe return of Henry and Janet Elsea and volunteers fr om

the Mount Pleasant Church (in Harrisonburg, Va.) who arrived home early

Tuesday morning," the Shenandoah District leaders wrote.

They also wrote that at least one Brethren-related church building has been

destroyed; this has yet to be confirmed by denominational staff.

>Prayer requests from ecumenical partners:

IMA World Health has requested prayer for three staff who work out of the

organization's headquarters at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor,

Md.--Rick Santos, Sarla Chand, Ann Varghese--and IMA's five local national

staff in Haiti--Abdel Direny, Giannie Jean Baptiste, Execkiel Milar, Ambroi se

Sylvain, and Franck Monestime. As of yesterday evening all were unaccounted

>for in Port-au-Prince.

"Our staff were involved in partner meetings connected with our Neglected

Tropical Disease Program and working from our offices in Port-au-Prince,"

said the prayer request from Carol Hulver, assistant to the president of IM A

World Health. "IMA has been actively reaching out for additional informatio n

on our staff's well-being and safety through various channels but have rece ived

no confirmation as yet. We would appreciate the prayers of our Church of th e

Brethren community for the safety of our staff members and for comfort, hea ling,

and restoration for the city of Port-au-Prince and the entire nation of Hai ti."

SERRV president and CEO Bob Chase has passed along word from Gisele

Fleurant, a former member of the SERRV Board whose CAH artisan enterprise

in Port-au-Prince has been a long-time producer for SERRV. SERRV is a

nonprofit alternative trade and development organization originally begun b y

the Church of the Brethren with warehouses and a store at the Brethren

>Service Center.

Fleurant spoke last September at the 60th anniversary celebration of SERRV

at the Brethren Service Center. A work group of Brethren visited her operat ion

>in Port-au-Prince in November.

She wrote from Haiti: "It is total chaos! CAH has only fence walls that are

down! My house same thing with a lot of crackling which makes it impossible

to live in unless major repairs! ...So far most of cell phones are working  but

with a lot of difficulties. I know only of two CAH employees that lost thei r

houses completely and are with their families in public places.... In my

neighborhood we had a lot of deaths, mostly children trapped when the house s

were falling. Please pass the news to all as I do not know how long that In ternet

will work. I will try to keep in touch! Thanks for caring and keeping us in  your

>prayers!"

UMCOR (the United Methodist Committee on Relief) is expressing concern

for Sam Dixon, its top executive, who has been in Haiti along with Clinton

Rabb, head of the United Methodist denomination's Mission Volunteers; and

James Gulley, an UMCOR consultant "No one has been able to reach the three

men since the earthquake occurred and communications with Haiti have been

difficult," said the United Methodist release today.

In news from other denominations, the Roman Catholic Church has reported

to CNN that Joseph Serge Miot, the archbishop of Port-au-Prince, died in th e

>earthquake.

How to contribute to the Church of the Brethren relief effort in Haiti:

The Emergency Disaster Fund is now receiving donations toward earthquake

relief work at www.brethren.org/HaitiDonations.

A special web page "Prayers for Haiti" has been created at www.brethren.org /HaitiPrayers.

An online page offers updates on the Brethren relief effort at www.brethren .org/HaitiEarthquake.

Donations of relief supplies also are needed. Brethren Disaster Ministries  is

requesting donations of Gift of the Heart Hygiene Kits and School Kits, whi ch

will be in large demand in the area affected by the earthquake. The kits sh ould

be sent to the Brethren Service Center, P.O. Box 188, New Windsor, MD 21776 .

For instructions to make the kits, go to www.churchworldservice.org/site/Pa geServer?pagename=kits_main.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to

continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its

faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist

faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebr ated

its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 125,000 members across the

United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nige ria,

Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford

>Director of News Services

>Church of the Brethren

>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120

>800-323-8039 ext. 260

>cobnews@brethren.org