RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Baptists have given more than half a million dollars for relief efforts in Haiti since the Caribbean nation was struck by a devastating earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010.
Those funds will support the completion of several Virginia Baptist projects on the island, including an orphanage and about two dozen houses, Dean Miller, disaster response coordinator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, told board members at their April meeting.
“Throughout all our work we are hiring local labor and thus providing critically-needed employment for the Haitian people,” Miller said. “Volunteer teams are encouraged to travel to Haiti and work alongside these Haitian workers. This provides incredible opportunities to share with others about our faith in Christ while laboring alongside of them and making a difference in their communities.”
The first story of the Delmas 19 orphanage is complete. The floor of the second story is being poured.
|
Already completed is the first of three floors of the orphanage, called Delmas 19 for the suburb east of Port-au-Prince in which it is located. When finished, it will provide accommodations for between 50 and 60 children and space for a school with 150 additional children, said Miller.
He said the facility should be completed in August or September, in time for the children to settle in before the school year begins in October.
Once the main building is complete, work will begin on an adjacent community building, to provide job training and clinics to the neighborhood. Haitian Baptists also will use the building for Bible study.
In March Miller traveled with four other Virginia Baptists to Haiti to review the work and discuss with Haitian Baptists plans for the future.
“An engineer with us on the trip surveyed the work and was glad to see construction was being done at a very competent level,” said Miller. “He believes that the construction is very solid and will provide a safe and secure location for the children.”
Plans call for the orphanage to be financially self-sufficient in three to five years, he said. That will make it the only orphanage in the country not receiving assistance from abroad, he added.
Meanwhile eight houses — each of solid block construction, 16 feet square — have been built and three others are underway. Virginia Baptists hope to provide at least 25 such houses for families still living under tents in refugee camps 15 months after the earthquake, said Miller.
“Our partners in these endeavors — the Haiti Baptist Convention, the Baptist World Alliance and Hungarian Baptist Aid — are walking alongside us and together we are making a difference in the lives of Haitians,” he said. “It is so great to share in this ministry with others and work together to change our world for Christ.”
Currently, volunteer teams are focusing exclusively on construction, Miller said. “Children’s ministry teams, medical personnel, church planters and such may be needed later in the year but not at the present time.”
But he added: “The current work is block construction but skilled labor is not required. Anyone willing to work in the heat, carry blocks, clear debris, pour concrete and simply provide ministry to our Haitian brothers and sisters is encouraged to consider volunteering.
Three Virginia Baptists teams have traveled to the island so far and another nine or 10 are expected to go between May and July, said Miller.
Among those is a 10-member Baptist campus ministry team representing eight colleges and universities in Virginia, scheduled to be in Haiti May 19-29.
“After the trip the team members will be sent to churches and campuses to speak,” said Cheri Wise, Baptist campus minister at Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College, who is coordinating the trip. “The goal is not only to share about the trip but to increase awareness about poverty and how we can all be part of the solution.”
Photographs and additional information about disaster relief ministry in Haiti can be found on the Virginia Baptist Disaster Response’s Facebook page.