Sunday, January 24, 2010

My church is amazing. Because of our area we have a very connected congregation. We have media people, government people (from the lowest echelon (like me) to more high-falutin’ types, doctors, lawyers, etc. You name the industry and it is probably represented in our church. And we are generous - there are a lot of local missions to which our church supports, not just financially but with volunteers as well. And then there are the global missions that we support, including an orphanage in Haiti.

Since we have a long-standing relationship with them as well as our denomination having missions in Haiti, this is one disaster where we felt we could have both an immediate and long-reaching impact. It has been cool to read the Facebook updates of our global missions pastor in the past couple of weeks as he worked to find out the needs in Haiti and then to put together a response team. That team left today and you can read about it here.

The team is composed of 7 people. Our global missions pastor is leading this team of medical personnel that includes the Chief of Orthopedics from a local hospital, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, the former Chief of Surgery at Walter Reed (he’s in private practice now), a physician’s assistant, an anesthesiologist, and the local hospital’s Disaster Response specialist. From what I’ve heard on the news, medical care is the most urgent need (aside from food/water/shelter, of course). There are people with open compound fractures and other wounds that have not received any treatment because there aren’t enough doctors, not enough equipment/supplies, not enough medicines. I know that these few people will be greatly used, not just to provide the practical care, but also to minister, to share God’s love and grace and mercy. I am excited for how the Lord will use them.

Updates from a couple of the people while they traveled today included:

1. US Airlines waiving fees for extra and heavy bags. Seven people took 16 bags that were overfull with medical and other supplies. Thank you, USAir.

2. A cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale (where they flew to today before leaving for Port-au-Prince on a chartered flight) was Haitian and had family in Port-au-Prince. He wouldn’t let them pay the fare and took them wherever they needed to go (I think they were getting more supplies).

They have already taken off and should land in Port-au-Prince sometime around 10pm. Will you join me in praying for them? Pray for the logistics of the rest of their travels tonight. Pray that they are able to get some good rest tonight so that when they hit the ground running in the morning they are rested and ready for the things they will face. Pray that they won’t lose any of their equipment and supplies and that they will have enough for the week that they will be there.

And pray for the teams even now being assembled for future trips. Our church is committed for the long haul in Haiti. I know there are already plans to send more medical teams as long as they are needed and then we will send teams to help rebuild.

I will post updates as I get them, if you’re interested…