Wednesday 20 January, 2010

World
UK

A street scene amid the devastation

By Charles Gardner

It was heart-warming – amidst the grim terror of the earthquake in Haiti – to hear a local pastor enthusiastically shouting “Hallelujah, Hallelujah” to a congregation who had lost their church in the disaster and were holding a service in the open-air.

Interviewed on BBC Radio, the preacher explained that though they had lost everything – including faith in their government – they had not lost their faith in God whom they trusted would continue to provide for them in their hour of need.

Jesus taught his disciples to build their lives on the Rock – that is, on the words and on the person of Christ – which would prove a sure foundation against the storms of life, even on this gargantuan scale with an estimated 200,000 dead and some one-and-a-half million left homeless amidst the rubble of this impoverished Caribbean island.

It is a disaster comparable to the Indonesian tsunami of five years ago. And it all seems so unfair as Haiti was hit by a devastating hurricane only two years ago. But the refrain of the well-known hymn still applies: “On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

Christian missions already had bases on the island and were thus perfectly placed to offer immediate help, except that they too were caught up in the horror of the ’quake which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale.
Joanna Seibel, a staff member of Christian Aid Ministries, was in a village close to the capital of Port-au-Prince when she and colleagues were suddenly startled by violent shakings.

Realising a dangerous earthquake was about to strike, she ran to the next room to grab her baby Kiana before escaping from the crumbling house. But a bigger shock awaited her as she witnessed the chaos of wailing people amidst the dust rolling toward the mountain from the massive shaking.

Joining with members of the Global Outreach mission at a nearby clinic, Joanna was greeted by the sight of a colleague cleaning up burn victims of a flour mill set on fire along with the sounds of terrified children with deep gashes on their fragile bodies. One little girl cried out, “Jesus! Help me!” as a gash on her head was stitched without the benefit of anaesthesia while tremors continued to shake the room.

The streets were littered with the dead and many were trapped under the rubble while trucks just backed off the road and dumped their load of bodies – and up to 70 children were found buried alive in a collapsed school building.

Meanwhile those involved in rescue missions eventually became exhausted and drained. And Joanne pleads: “Please pray for emotional and physical strength for those helping.”

Mission Aviation Fellowship also has a permanent presence on the island and is currently playing an essential role in co-ordinating the arrival and distribution of relief through its hangar at the Port-au-Prince international airport.

Founded in 1945, MAF is a Christian organisation involved in 31 countries where they transport missionaries, medical teams and relief supplies while also providing communications, technology and education specialists to support missionary efforts and humanitarian needs in remote areas of the world. And disaster response has become one of their areas of expertise.

The world does perhaps also need to be reminded (even if Christians do not) that the increasing occurrence of major earthquakes such as this is indeed apocalyptic in that they are a sign of the imminent return of Christ. (See the Gospels of Matthew chapter 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21)

(With thanks to Danielle Miskell and Michael Ireland of the ASSIST News Service)

Photo: ASSIST News Service