Florida-Bahamas Synod

On January 12 at 4:53 p.m., a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked the island country of Haiti, primarily impacting its capital of Port-au-Prince and its nearly two million residents. It is believed that over three million citizens of Haiti are affected. The epicenter of the quake was centered approximately 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince. Offices, hotels, houses and shops have collapsed. Over 30 aftershocks ranging from 4.2 to 5.9 have already been recorded.

Louis Dorvilier, originally from Haiti, is the Director of ELCA Disaster Response. In this letter, Louis talks about the disaster in Haiti and the progress of ELCA Disaster Response working in partnership with Eglise Lutherienne d'Haiti and the Florida Bahamas Synod:

Earthquake Tragedy

Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti Response

By Louis O. Dorvilier

Background

Most people wonder how Haiti has gone that far. The earthquake of January 12^th that killed more than 120,000 and left more than 1.2 million people homeless brought to light a human, political, social and economic disaster that was already buried in the Haiti wide spread poverty yet visible to the state and the international community. The quake just woke up those who were blindfolded and refused to see the devastations of landslides and repeated tropical floods, the results of two consecutive hurricanes and 20 years of political unrest, as well as 80% of unemployment couple to a poor social and economic infrastructure.

Haiti Update: A Message from Pat Hansen, Haiti Task Force Co-Chair

Several of us will be traveling to Haiti on August 23. The group which will include Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla (Executive Director), Louis Dorvilier(Director of International Development and Disaster Response) and Rev. Raquel Rodriguez(Director of Caribbean and Latin America Team) all representing the ELCA Global Mission Unit. Pastors Paul and Denise Benjamin from churches in Blissfield, Michigan and I will join this group. Another group from the Synod including Ms. Mary Delasin (Co-Chair, the Haiti Task Force), Pastor Tom Snapp (Chair Global Mission Committee) and Ms Raeann Purcell (President of the WELCA of the Synod) will leave August 30. The primary mission will be to see first hand what is happening with Eglise Lutherienne D'Haiti and to attend the first Assembly since the acceptance of the church as a companion with the ELCA.

Haiti Disaster Response: 6 Months Later

Six months has past since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. Much has been done to assist the Lutheran Churches of Haiti (Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti) communities, but there continues to be a long road ahead of us. Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti has been working in partnership with the Florida Bahamas Synod and ELCA Disaster Response to strategize and implement a plan for the churches and communities in the recovery in an unprecedented collaborative effort. Here is a summary of the accomplishments thus far, and an overview of the vision and plan to be implemented over the next few years. Both the Florida Bahamas Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have pledged to continue to walk together with the people of Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti for many years to come.

Mary Delasin and Pat Hansen
Co-chairs of the Florida-Bahamas Synod Haiti Task Force

Pat Hansen and Mary Delasin, co-chairs of the Florida Bahamas Synod Haiti Task Force, traveled to Haiti for the first time since the earthquake on June 9-16, 2010. While there, they toured congregations devastated by the quake, spent time with the people of Eglise Luthereinne d’Haiti and rejoiced and celebrated with the congregation of Jerusalem Lutheran Church near Les Cayes at the wedding of 8 couples and the baptism of two children. Their time was also spent in strategy meetings with the pastors of Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti and with Louis Dorvilier, director of ELCA Disaster Response.

We thank you for helping us improving the life of our brothers and sisters in Haiti that has been devastated after the earthquake on January 12. These are the pictures of the food distribution in Petit-Goave which is a place where one of our Lutheran churches is located. People were all excited to have this food brought to them after two months of food scarcity. Each family gets a bag of rice, a pack of spaghetti, a gallon of oil, and 10 pounds of dry beans. All this families have food for almost a month depending on the number of the people in each family. This happens all because of your love and good will!

Peace, love and many blessings!

Rev. Livenson Lauvanus

Meeting with Louis Dorvilier, Director ELCA Disaster Response

On February 26, 2010, Louis Dorvilier of ELCA Disaster Response met with Pat Hansen and Mary Delasin, co-chairs of the Florida Bahamas Synod Haiti Program to discuss the unified Haiti relief response of the Florida Bahamas Synod and ELCA Disaster Response regarding efforts to assist Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti, the Lutheran Church of Haiti. The ELCA has made our brothers and sisters of the Haitian Lutheran Churches a priority in the relief effort and will be working in partnership with the Florida Bahamas Synod to meet the emergency relief needs of Eglise Lutherienne d’Haiti’s congregations, as well as looking to developing sustainable long term solutions for the communities of ELH’s congregations, as well as the citizens of Haiti as a whole. Louis Dorvilier was on his way to Haiti where he will be staying and working with Pr. Joseph Livenson Lauvanus on relief efforts for the month of March.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion…

"Oh! My gosh" were the only words I could say when someone called Mrs. Winemiller (the wife of Rev. Paul Winemiller an ELCA retired pastor) and ask her to turn the television to CNN to see what was happening in Haiti. I did not know what else to say. I remember a few weeks prior to the earthquake, people were telling me how happy they were because this year we were exempt from hurricanes. Unfortunately what we did not know was that the worst was yet to come.

As I sat down trying to comprehend what I was seeing, the book of Isaiah and Psalm 137 came to mind and I begun to get insight from them. Seeing how some of the people were evacuated from the island for safety, and me abroad feeling helpless, psalm 137 begun to make sense to me. By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, when we remember Zion…