VALLEY FORGE, Pa. (ABP) — American Baptist Churches USA sent an initial contribution of $15,000 to fight Haiti's cholera outbreak, the denomination's news service reported Nov. 11.
The money, from an interdenominational relief program called One Great Hour of Sharing, was sent to IMA World Health, a longtime ministry partner that provides health care in developing countries, and to Steve and Nancy James, medical missionaries in Haiti jointly appointed by American Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
The funds will purchase medical supplies to slow the spread of cholera and save lives in Haiti. Those supplies will include antibiotic bottles, oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets, latex gloves for health care workers and antibacterial soap.
CNN reported Nov. 12 that the death toll in Haiti's cholera outbreak reached 796, with another 12,303 sick from the intestinal infection.
American Baptist International Ministries put out a call Nov. 10 for volunteer nurses to serve alongside physician Steve and nurse Nancy James overwhelmed by patient volume in North Haiti.
A small community health center where the Jameses work saw 85 cases of cholera in two days early last week, according to International Ministries worker Nzunga Mabudiga.
Nzunga, who teaches theology at the Christian University of Northern Haiti and also visits and preaches in churches, said the clinic hadn't lost a patient yet, but its stock of serums was running low.
The Jameses posted an Internet update Nov. 3 describing their work as "a three-ring circus of ministry these days."
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.