wfn.org | [LCMSNews] LCMS begins Haiti earthquake response

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>1.14.2010		
>	LCMS News	 	
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>THE LUTHERAN CHURCH Missouri Synod  	 	
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	January 14, 2010 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 4

LCMS World Relief to assist Haitians; mission teams, missionary OK

>By Linda C. Hoops

As estimates of the loss of life and destruction in Haiti emerged
following Tuesday's magnitude 7.0 earthquake, LCMS World Relief and
Human Care (WR-HC) began responding, while members of LCMS congregations
prayed for the safety of their mission teams who were in the Caribbean
nation at the time of the quake.

"The unfolding drama in Haiti calls for unlimited mercy on the part of
the people of the LCMS. The needs are urgent and overwhelming right
now," said Rev. Glenn F. Merritt, WR-HC director of disaster response.
"I appeal to God's people to respond as generously as possible during
this most difficult time."

Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital,
Port-au-Prince, on Wednesday after the strongest earthquake to hit the
nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from
schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping
headquarters. An untold number of people were still trapped.

Haitian President Rene Preval said the devastation was so complete that
he estimated the death toll would run into the thousands. International
Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said an estimated 3 million people
may have been affected by the quake and that it would take a day or two
for a clear picture of the damage to emerge..

Safe after the quake is a missionary family, Alyssa Stone and her two
daughters, who live west of the capital where the shaking wasn't as
strong. Stone is a deaconess intern from Concordia Theological Seminary,
Fort Wayne.

Also reported as safe are at least three short-term mission teams in
Haiti from LCMS congregations and mission organizations in Minnesota,
Nebraska, New York, and Wisconsin.

Jason Christ, director of Christian education at First Trinity Church in
Tonawanda, N.Y., was glad to receive text messages Tuesday evening from
14 members of the church's mission team who had arrived in Haiti on
Monday.

"They are all OK," he said. He also said the group, which includes Rev.
Chuck Whited, are in Les Cayes, about 120 miles away from the hard-hit
capital. This was the sixth time a team from the church had visited
Haiti to work at an orphanage there.

News of the quake triggered numerous calls and e-mails to LCMS Life and
Health Ministries Director Maggie Karner, who had been preparing to send
the first LCMS WR-HC Mercy Medical Team (MMT) to Haiti in March. The day
before the quake Karner had sent out an MMT recruitment appeal to LCMS
pastors and congregations asking for physicians, pharmacists, and other
medical professionals to volunteer for the team that is scheduled to
serve in Haiti March 11-21.

"Our preliminary legwork for the first MMT team to Haiti in March will
serve us well as we prepare to respond," Karner said Tuesday night.
"Perhaps now, because of this tragedy, people will see the desperate
need in Haiti and prayerfully consider how they can use their gifts and
talents."

To learn more about the MMT trip to Haiti, contact LCMS WR-HC's Jacob
Fiene at 800-248-1930, ext. 1278, or jacob.fiene@lcms.org
<mailto:jacob.fiene@lcms.org> .

To donate to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, click here
<https://catalog.lcms.org/givenow/Gift_Input.asp?ID=800> .

Linda C. Hoops is a freelance writer and a member of Lutheran Church of
the Resurrection, Sunset Hills, Mo.

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If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release, contact
Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org
<mailto:joe.isenhower@lcms.org>  or (314) 996-1231, or Paula Schlueter
Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org <mailto:paula.ross@lcms.org>  or (314)
996-1230.

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