Baptist Updates on Haiti Disaster
Dear American Baptist,
The news from Haiti has been grim: the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere is now struggling with the aftermath of an earthquake that has destroyed its capital city, killed thousands, and left thousands of others without shelter, food, or clean water. American Baptist International Ministries has been working to contact our Baptist brothers and sisters in Haiti, coordinating our response and urging American Baptists to give generously. You can keep updated on the situation by referring to their link on this website, internationalministries.org website and the BWA website. To our brothers and sisters in Haiti and our brothers and sisters of the ABC Haitian Alliance within the United States, we pledge our continued prayers and support now and throughout the recovery.
The longer term redevelopment efforts, as in New Orleans, will stretch into the future and will require us to “not grow weary in well doing.” For some persons, this terrible tragedy will raise theological issues. We reject the suggestion that this earthquake was God’s punishment for a pact made with the Devil. Jesus, himself, when confronted by his disciples concerning the situation of the man born blind, rejected the notion of a punitive God who had imposed this affliction in retribution for sin. In a broken world of tragedy where natural and human-generated disasters such as war are a part of our lives, we believe that our crucified Lord is ever-present among those who suffer through the presence of the Spirit and through the presence of the church serving as the hands and feet of Christ.
Our hearts and our prayers are with Haiti and our dear brothers and sisters in Christ there and here in the United States.
Centered in Christ and United in Mission,
Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary, ABC