A Message from The Brethren Church National Office
Dear Prayer Warriors,
The message below is from Pastor Jim, (Oasis Church, Arizona) was brought to my attention this morning and I thought I would share it with you all. Let's be in prayer for the hurting nation of Haiti. If you or your church would like to help, you may make your donations directly to WORLD RELIEF. Information for direct on-line donations are available on our website CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
You may also send your checks to World Relief marked "Haiti Earthquake" Please send them directly to:
World Relief
Atte: Donor Services
7 E. Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
There is such an urgent need in Haiti right NOW, Please know that if checks are sent to the National Office it could take weeks to turn the money over to World Relief.
Blessings and praying with you!
Jenn Pinto
Message from Pastor Jim from Oasis Church, AZ:
Dear Oasis Family,
All of us have been deeply affected by the tragedy in Haiti this week. We're looking for various ways to respond, but we can quickly do so financially. We'll take an offering this Sunday to join with our fellow Christians across the world in responding to this crisis. I'm also copying here a message our friends in Tucson received from a missionary doctor friend who lives there and her experience form the past two days.
Jim
Prayer warriors:
I am safe in Port au Prince. I watched my walls crack and crumble during the quake and had 2 of my kids with me. I got them off the floor, onto my bed and laid on top of them. We started praying out loud, more like screaming out to Christ for our safety, our family’s safety and the people of Haiti. Kids’ prayers are so sweet during times of terror.
I seriously thought the 2nd floor was going to fall on us and my last breaths would be full of dust and tears… but it didn’t. Somehow the house is still standing. It isn’t safe to be over there so my Haitian family, the Livesays, are housing me and my roommate for now.
Since the earthquake happened in the afternoon, night came very quickly and we had no electricity anywhere. It was pitch black. Around 10pm a Haitian friend came and got me because she knew I had medical knowledge… I hopped on a motorcycle and went down the neighborhood to a soccer field. Full of people laying and moaning on the ground. Some praying. “Mesi Jezi, mesi Jezi, mesi Jezi.” Others dying before any aid could get to them. I sutured and cleaned out wounds and took off beyond-repair fingers and toes. Came home around midnight and went to a different clinic up in Petionville, which was the hardest hit portion of Port au Prince.
My church is up there, so I knew the streets pretty well. People were everywhere. Dead people on the side of the road, covered by blankets or sheets. People with eyes glazed over because no one understood what had happened. People walking somewhere, anywhere away from the devastation… only there is nowhere to go. Buildings that I have seen every Sunday since August are completely grounded. People trapped inside.
Got to the clinic and immediately started stitching up a 15 yr old girl’s head. It was a 10inch gash from her house collapsing on her. She was also missing her left hand, but I had to stop the bleeding from her head first. I worked on her head and hand, stitching in the dark, for about 2 hours. Then I moved on to the pile of people outside the gate. People kept coming and coming.
The sun came up around 6, and a rush of people started pushing themselves into the clinic for help. Everyone that we saw was covered in rubble and had been trapped in houses, buildings, churches, schools all night. Gravel is not easy to remove out of Haitian hair.
Troy came to pick me up at 12pm-ish and I had 4 more people in line to suture. Didn’t end up leaving until 2 or something. Don’t remember really. Hadn’t slept, at that point, in 3 days, due to staying overnight in the airport and a crying visitor at my house the first night back. Anyway, I came back to the Livesays and played with kids until around 8 and slept until 2am, when the last major aftershock happened. I thought the house was going to fall down. But we are safe and blessed to still be here.
We have internet somehow this morning so we are using it as long as possible. I’m doing alright physically, but emotionally and spiritually it’s getting pretty rough down here. I have already seen so much, and it’s only day 2 after the disaster.
There have been offers to get me out on a cargo plane back to the states tonight, but I turned them all down. God has me here and I know why. I’m not going to turn and run, even though part of me desperately wants to be home. All the Livesay kids (5 of them at least) are getting out tonight and going to their grandparents, so the house will be much calmer and quieter without screaming 2/3 yr olds around!
We are in need of diesel, water and food… and I realize none of you can give us those things. So I am asking for prayer for those provisions and for stamina for the long days ahead. Know that I feel the prayers and have read all the warm wishes and am very thankful for each of you. Until I have internet/electricity again - Vivien
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