Brighton Heights Dutch Reformed Church

REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA
FOLLOWING CHRIST IN MISSION
REV. JAMES L. SEAWOOD, PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL SYNOD

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

One Dollar A Day for The Forty Days of Lent for Haiti Relief

I bring you greetings from Santo Domingo/Haiti.  Most of you may know that I was in Haiti during the earthquake.
I have returned to Haiti to take food and other medical supplies to Pastors and congregations.  Attached is a reflection written just after we survived the earthquake. 

On this trip back into Haiti, February 9, 2010, I have met with the pastors that hosted my delegation and risked their lives to make sure we were safe.  Please keep them in your prayers!  Many people felt that it was too dangerous for me to return at this time because of the mosquitoes, the diseases, the robbers, the problems with the water and the threat of tuberculosis. But I’ve felt compelled by God to come back to personally say thank you and bring food to starving families.
 
I came to the Dominican Republic on January 5th to teach and preach in congregations that had become a part of the reformed tradition two years ago, Iglesia Reformada Dominicana (IRD). The journey into Haiti, January 12, 2010, was to see the condition of the people for myself so that I could challenge The Reformed Church in America to do missions and develop mission partners in Haiti. God placed us in Haiti in the middle of the earthquake and spared our lives. Why? Only God knows. Now, we must respond to the urgent appeals for help from people who are desperate.  Haiti is in trouble!
The IRD has been central to the success of our humanitarian relief initiative in Haiti. The February 12, 2010 delivery of food will be the third to this group of 18 pastors and 16 congregations with over 3000 members. Each truckload of rice, beans, salami, water, cooking oil, masks, hand sanitizers, and other supplies costs from $5,500 to $6,000 US.  Because the need is so great the amount of the third distribution to families has been increased to $15,500.  While in Haiti, I will also meet with NGO’s, the USAID and other international agencies to determine if food and medical supplies can be secured from their warehouses.
Today, I’m sending out a message to all our members in the US and Canada asking for prayer and a sacrifice of
One Dollar A Day for The Forty Days of Lent for Haiti Relief.  Some will say “but I’ve already given, and others,
I’ve given more than once.”  “Or, why Haiti?” The horrific humanitarian disaster of January 12, 2010 which resulted in over 200,000 deaths has already become old news.  But here on the ground, my heart breaks as I see human beings begging for food, sleeping on the ground, mourning the dead, and holding on to that last sliver of dignity and a hope that God has not turned His back and that people still have compassion. My eyes burn and my nasal passages singe not from sadness but from the stench of decaying bodies, the smoke of burning trash, and the ever present dust that reminds me of coal mines or asbestos. There is a spirit here, however, that will not give up. People in Haiti long for a future and need a plan.  We do what we can do to save lives now, knowing that our resources also must be directed towards sustained development and advocacy. Please join me in giving sacrificially to assist our brothers and sisters in Haiti. One Dollar A Day for The Forty Days of Lent!

Please pray for the people of Haiti and their family members around the world!

Rev. James L. Seawood, President
Reformed Church in America

On the day of the earthquake in Haiti, our RCA delegation that was in Port-au-Prince to observe conditions, visit churches and report back to the General Synod what we experienced while in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The delegation consisted of me, James Seawood, and my wife Emra; Brigido Cabrera, coordinator for the RCA’s Hispanic Ministries; RCA pastor Andres Serrano; and Yeral Ogando, secretary for Iglesia Reformada Dominicana. On Tuesday morning before the earthquake, we were introduced to Pastor Joseph Yvon and his wife along with members of his church and local ministers. Pastor Yvon had agreed to be our guide and introduce us to Haitian ministers interested in learning more about the Reformed Church. Our first stop was a church in the rural town of Acayin, about one hour away from Port-Au-Prince. Reportedly, Acayin is known as the central place for the practice of voodoo, people come from many miles to this town to have their rituals and ceremonies. But in this little village is a Christian church with over 200 members. After a brief meeting and fellowship with the pastor and church leaders in Acayin we all got into the van on our way back to Pastor Yvon’s church for the scheduled meeting with leaders from twelve churches in Port-au-Prince, however, he insisted that we go to his home for a luncheon prior to the meeting. We had no warning or thought of the events that would unfold in a matter of minutes.

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At his home his five year old daughter, Faran, sang “This is the day” in Creole, English and Spanish. About five minutes after we left Rev. Yvon’s home, there was a terribly loud sound the van we were in shook from side to side I thought I had felt the impact of a bomb and heard small arms fire as I saw large dust clouds coming from all directions and people running and screaming covered in white dust. Cars were stopped along every street, panicked people got out of their cars and began running in all directions. The traffic was jammed as far as the eye could see with abandoned cars. People were coming from every direction toward the center of town. Telephone poles and electrical wires were falling as we heard the crash of building after building. The dead and dying, the panic, the screams, the confusion, the chaos of that moment will forever inform my understanding of desperation, despair, disaster.

Moments after Haiti Earthquake from Phil Tanis on Vimeo.

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