Published Saturday, February 06, 2010

Coweta churches reaching out to Haiti in many ways

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

The Moreland Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be having a special fast for the people of Haiti on Sunday.

Members of the branch will be bringing gifts to help Haitians at the noon service at the Newnan Ward, LDS building on Old Atlanta Road, next to the Newnan Country Club. "Latter-day Saints have a custom of fasting two meals on the first Sunday of each month and contributing the cost of those meals to the needy," explained member Connie Craig.

Members are being asked to contribute to the welfare of the Haitian people along with their regular fast offerings.

The LDS Church in the Atlanta Area has a large Bishop's Storehouse in Tucker, one of many throughout the United States, that provides assistance to its members in times of need. "Truckloads of food and hygiene kits have been shipped from the storehouses to Haiti already," Craig said.

Gifts given as part of the fast will enable the LDS Church to continue to send needed items. All monies collected will be used for assistance, there are no paid employees at the warehouse, only volunteers.

The Moreland Branch is inviting others from the community to join with them Sunday or to hold a fast meeting in their own church for Haiti.

The LDS church is one of many in the community offering help to people in Haiti. St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. George Catholic Church both have longstanding relationships with ministries in Haiti, which was struck by a major earthquake on Jan. 12.

Both churches are reaching out through their contacts in Haiti, and a group from St. Paul's has visited Haiti since the earthquake.

Checks can be sent to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 576 Roscoe Road, Newnan, GA 30263, or to St. George Catholic Church, 711 Roscoe Road, Newnan, GA 30263. Checks to St. Paul's should have "Haiti" in the memo line.

Checks to St. George can be designated "Haiti project" to provide school supplies and other school needs or "Haiti orphanage."

Many other churches have helped in various ways. Providence Baptist Church on Providence Church Road received a special collection for Haiti on Jan. 24 -- collecting $1,002.

Churches in the Western Baptist Association are taking part in Buckets of Hope, an effort spearheaded by the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board. The buckets will be sent with SBC Disaster Relief workers headed for Haiti.

Buckets will be collection at the Western Baptist Association office on Jefferson Place weekdays through March 8 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. People bringing buckets are asked to call the association at 770-253-2118 before bringing them.

There are specific packing instructions for the buckets at http://www.namb.net/site/c.9qKILUOzEpH/b.5768073/k.8D46/Buckets_of_Hope.htm . An envelope with a check for $10 made to "Georgia Baptist Convention" should be taped to the top of each bucket to cover shipping costs.

Only correctly-packed buckets can be accepted.

Stuart Lang, disaster relief consultant with the Georgia Baptist Convention, sent an e-mail message to leaders in associations across the state. Dr. Wayne Jenkins, Western Baptist Association missionary, shared the message with local pastors.

"The first wave of SBC volunteers will be comprised of four medical teams over the next few weeks. These teams have already been identified and made ready for deployment," Lang wrote.

Efforts are being made to find churches outside the hard hit Port-au-Prince area that might be able to house volunteers. "We want to partner with the local churches so that they can have the greatest impact in reaching their communities for Christ," Lang wrote. "As these new sites are identified and as logistics improve, the opportunities for more groups to respond will begin to rise quickly."

Lang repeated comments from other churches and aid groups that security and transportation remain "major obstacles in Haiti" for groups traveling from the United States. Gasoline, which was completely unavailable for days after the earthquake, is still scarce, and Haiti's roads were extremely poor by American standards before the disaster.

Lang emphasized there are "opportunities to serve here at home" -- urging churches to prepare buckets, to pray for Haitian congregations and communities in Georgia, and to be prepared to listen and minister to those returning from mission trips to the island nation.

Hundreds of thousands of American teens will go hungry in an effort to help Haiti quake survivors and to fight global hunger through World Vision's 30-Hour Famine this month. This year, a portion of funds raised by 30-Hour Famine groups will go toward Haiti's long-term recovery.

Several church groups from Coweta County have participated in the 30-Hour Famine in recent years.

"I'm really excited and grateful that teens here can have a direct impact on teens and children in Haiti. Many wish they could go there and help the people of Haiti. This is a way to directly help them, even if they can't make the trip," said Pat Rhoads, World Vision's 30-Hour Famine manager.

Money raised in the annual event goes to such locations as Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe "and other targeted spots where famine, conflict and other crises make children vulnerable," according to spokesperson Gardi Wilks.

World Vision has been working in Haiti for more than 30 years.

This year, in addition to addressing immediate relief needs, 30-Hour Famine funds will be spent on long-term needs.

World Vision's 19h annual 30-Hour Famine is set for Feb. 26-27. Since 1992, students have raised more than $130 million worldwide for World Vision through the annual event.