Michigan Church collects relief supplies
Many members of West Church of the Nazarene, a predominantly Haitian American church in Grand Rapids, Mich., have not yet heard from relatives in Haiti. While they wait, they’re collecting goods to ship to their homeland.
“Many of the people that attend the church here from Haiti, either come from Port-au-Prince or they have very close relatives in Port-au-Prince,” says Pastor Mathieu Pierre. “Almost every one of them has lost some loved ones in this tragedy.”
Gratitude in Brooklyn
New York is home to more than 100,000 Haitian-Americans. Kemberly Richardson, ABC, reported from Haitian churches in Brooklyn:
All they have left is their faith in God. There’s also a sense among parishioners that from the ashes in Haiti, a new country will rise – one that is built on the blood, sweat, and tears of people from around the world.
Evangelical Crusade of Fishers of Men church in Brooklyn, with 2,500 worshipers, is one of the largest Haitian churches in the city. Almost every member has family in Haiti either dead or missing.
Reverend Samuel Nicolas still offered hope.
God has given us a new start, an opportunity to rebuild our country, a new vision to eventually have tourism back in our country, new airports, couple new ports, hospitals, new roads.
The congregation is donating to Haiti’s tomorrow.
Dartmouth pastor expresses need for compassion and understanding
South Coast Today wrote of Pastor Yves Montinard of the Evangelical Church of Jesus Christ in Dartmouth, Mass., who has family in Haiti and started a school there.
Pastor Montinard expressed concern about news coverage that lacked compassion. “What we have to do first is pray,” he told his church. “And second, we’re going to act, move – everyone, every organization, every newspaper, to make sure that people are more sensitive to the Haitian situation.”
New Jersey pastor begins planning of first of many funerals. Others wait.
Pastor Therman Evans of the Morningstar Community Christian Center Church in Linden, N. J., is preparing a memorial service for a Haitian-American family that lost loved ones.
“We can collect the pictures and we can gather and do the same ceremony that would have been done had they made it back home,” he said. Evans predicts many more services as families find out who did not survive.
Not everyone is sure they want to hear.
“Is it better to know they are dead or not to know?” asked Valencia Herold, whose grandparents are missing. “Every time the phone rings we’re on edge because we don’t know.”
