"Don’t forget
Haiti"
by Dr. Frank MoodyOn January 12,
Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere,
experienced a devastating earthquake, where around 200,000
people perished.
By the time the dust settles, and
the death toll from the countryside are accurately known, this
may be one of the deadliest quakes in world history. Even before
the quake, many mission organizations were in Haiti endeavoring
to meet the needs of this poor nation.
On February 7, Eastside City
Church along with Partners in Christ Fellowship presented the
Help Rebuild Haiti Concert. The concert featured groups, bands
and solos from 10 different churches and fellowships. The
musical performances were worship in dance, solos, ethnic
flavored worship, and plenty of audience participation.
The concert was also attended by
two MLAs, the Honorable Wayne Cao, Deputy Speaker of the House
and the Honorable Manmeet Bhullar, Parliamentary Assistant for
Municipal Affairs. Also there were a number of Pastors from
various churches involved.
Pictured (L-R) are Nicole Monyuer, Anu Manni and Stawan
Wankahedi leading in worship
at the Eastside Church Help Rebuild Haiti Concert.
(Inset) Lisa Honorat, co-founder of HaitiArise.
— photos by Dr. Frank Moody
As the name of the concert
reveals, the objective was to raise support for the rebuilding
of the quake-ravaged nation. Actually, according to Lisa Honorat,
co-founder and spokeswoman for HaitiArise, "we were already
doing this type of rebuilding work long before the quake." She
said that many of the small long term missions groups have the
pulse of the nation and know the conditions and needs of Haiti’s
people. She wanted to encourage people to continue to support
these small groups that are well established and who will be
there when many of the foreign governmental agencies and larger
aid agencies have left Haiti.
Marc and Lisa Honorat, graduates
of Evangel Bible College were sent out by Eastside City Church
to Haiti, Marc’s native country, in 2003. For the past seven
years, they have been working with relief aid and education so
that Haitian’s can be developed to help themselves.
When HaitiArise built their
compound and buildings in Grand-Goave they built to
international standards, so the quake damage to their compound
was minimal compared to the rest of their city. Grand-Goave
suffered 90 per cent destruction. They will have to rebuild
their own technical school and the compound walls, but their
first priority is now the Children’s’ Home Village, where house
parents will take care of up to 40 children.
HaitiArise is also seeking land
from the national government to build a new housing development
for 90 per cent of the local residents who lost their homes.
HaitiArise was already involved
with construction of support systems in the country through
their church, day school, technical school and orphans’ village,
and were dealing with 80 per cent unemployment and a great
number of orphans before the earthquake. Now, it is time to
double efforts and energy to tackle an even more mammoth task.
They know that with the wonderful support they have received
from Canadians and the Canadian government, they can do the
impossible.
Right now, HaitiArise is working
in cooperation with Samaritan’s Purse for the distribution of
temporary shelters for the homeless. They are also are cleaning
up the rubble for the compound wall that fell during the quake.
For the near future, the
immediate goals are to increase food distribution in their area
and to dig two new wells on their property to meet the need for
clean water for their community.
The Honorat’s would like to thank
everyone who has given so generously and sacrificially for the
rebuilding of Haiti. "Don’t forget Haiti. Work with small
established organizations, who are in Haiti for the long run and
have already been doing relief work." Feed the hungry and help
those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the
darkness around you and your night will be as bright as the
noonday. — Isaiah 58:10
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