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HAITI TRAGEDY
Sisters & Brothers
We write with heavy hearts on account of the terrible tragedy that befell the people of Haiti yesterday afternoon. In fact, news of the earthquake filtered through to some of us as we met in a meeting of the Jamaica Baptist Union’s Executive Committee. Before we terminated the meeting we offered a prayer for Haiti and her people, but little could we imagine the magnitude of the devastation, such as the region has not seen for some two centuries.
As you can well understand, news and hard data out of Haiti have been, at best, sparse which has served to compound the feeling of anxiety and helplessness we are all experiencing at this time. Notwithstanding, we wanted to share with you the little information we have, as well as, some ways we can respond, at least initially, because many of you have been aware of our partnership with churches in Haiti for some years now. It was as recently as November 2009 when our Mission Agency led a team of professionals to Haiti and returned with the wonderful news of their interactions and interventions among our sisters and brothers there.
And how can we respond? We appeal to you to consider:
1) Sending a financial contribution to assist with the recovery, life saving, survival and rehabilitation efforts. This can be deposited to any National Commercial Bank to account number 304533943 or it can be sent to the JBU Centre, 2B Washington Boulevard, Kingston 20.
2) Contributing in kind by sending bottled water or non-perishable food items, clothing or other supplies to the JBU Centre, 2B Washington Boulevard, Kingston 20.
3) Dedicating time for special prayer either in one of our regular services or arranging one for that purpose. In this regard we ask you to pray especially for the families of Jean Rony Bataille and Franz Camille, two Haitian brothers closely aligned to our denomination, who have members of their immediate family unaccounted for, up to the time of writing.
These are just some preliminary initiatives we offer for your consideration and urge you to respond with dispatch as you are able to. Let us do everything in our power to bring relief in the wake of this unspeakable tragedy.
Sincerely,
Karl B. Johnson (Rev.)
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Haiti Tragedy - Advisory 1