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.

View Larger Map

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.

(Read on …)