During the recent earthquake in Haiti, HCJB Global sent an emergency medical response team from Ecuador. Working in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse, the team spent 10 days in Haiti and returned to Quito on January 26. Based at the 100-bed Baptist Haiti Mission hospital in Port-au-Prince, they brought medical aid and clean water to the injured. The team worked alongside local chaplains and pastors and other volunteers who comforted the grieving and shared the news that God is love, even in times of trial.
Water engineer Martin Harrison wrote of his experience there: “Many [Haitian] staff have lost family members and close friends. Yet they have not downed tools since the first day, as they seek to help others live. The surgeons, doctors, nurses, water engineers and caretakers each play their own vital part, tirelessly working from dawn until late into the night, improvising with whatever comes to hand as certain medical supplies run low…. I was able to go to a Haitian church. It was wonderful to see the church so full…. I was truly struck by the strength which God has given this congregation to carry on despite loss of family and property. One of the pastors had lost four of his children and another his eldest son, yet they stood up to lead the service and to preach the Word of God.”
“The sermon was on the theme of suffering and how we should respond to it, based on passages from the book of Job. The pastor brought up several interesting points: Suffering is part of the Christian life. Those that say Christians don’t or shouldn’t suffer have a poor theology. Don’t be accused of being lacking in faith or of having offended God, that this disaster has come upon us. God is bigger than us and we do not have to ask the questions of why. It is part of his grand plan even if we in our human capacity cannot fathom it. God can and is bringing good out of this.”
“That a pastor can stand up and preach this after losing some of his children is faith put into practice indeed,” Martin concluded.
If you would like to read further firsthand accounts from Haiti go to http://www.hcjb.org/General/haiti-landing-page.html or http://calloftheandes.wordpress.com/.