Faith to Restore a Nation
The Haitian city of St. Marc is more than 60 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake which hit the nation on January 12. Still, the YWAM Haiti centre there felt the devastating shock of tremors running through the ground. YWAM lost one member of staff who was in Port au Prince at the time. In St.Marc, buildings were generally undamaged, but the city they call home saw its share of destruction and victims have been flooding in from Port-au-Prince.
With the government struggling to organize itself, hospitals flattened and public schools cancelled for the remainder of the year, YWAM Haiti has taken a leading role in relief efforts in the province. Terry Snow, national director of YWAM Haiti, has been working with established connections with other agencies and churches to coordinate refugees and the flow of aid supplies.
Though the situation is desperate and the tasks daunting, Snow says his staff sees the opportunity to help the Haitian people as they build from the ground up. “Foundations are being shaken for a new foundation to be formed,” he declares.
All public schools have been turned into shelters and Snow has been asked to work through the logistics of accommodating the flood of refugees. The House of Refuge church, surrounded by flattened buildings, remains as a place for people to take shelter, true to its name. The church building, as well as the hotel across the street, are being used by YWAM Haiti as staging points to help a nation in need.
Snow and a group of local pastors are also hosting refugees in homes or churches. The church members are providing housing and can feed people for 2 US$ a day. Relying on lessons learned in previous disaster situations, Snow and his team are preparing to host the first wave of refugees for three weeks with a strategy that will enable victims to recover, receive medical attention and earn assistance to go home and rebuild their lives.
The earthquake followed close on the heels of 2008’s devastating hurricanes. YWAM Haiti was still working to rebuild flooded houses when the earthquake hammered the country. Snow said in spite of the new destruction, his team will continue their efforts to restore houses and buildings damaged in the hurricane.
Although they are there in times of crisis, YWAM Haiti has also been there in times of calm.
For years, the center has been helping girls trapped in prostitution find new plans for their lives, educating children at the center’s own Liberty Academy, working with inmates at the prison, hosting sports events and providing medical care. Liberty Academy is not currently open but plans to reopen as soon as the situation is stable. YWAM students have learned to serve others in areas such as agricultural development and health care, drug rehabilitation and biblical counseling.
But when crises come, YWAM volunteers are eager to respond. Many staff from St. Marc’s centre have not heard from their families living closer to the center of the quake, but they still jumped in to do everything they could to help. YWAM teams from other nations have also been mobilizing assistance. YWAM Santo Domingo, based in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, set out with a truckload of supplies soon after the earthquake and the YWAM MercyWorks centre in Tyler, Texas is helping coordinate relief efforts from overseas. Many other YWAM bases are offering prayer and support.
In the face of staggering need, YWAM teams are motivated by God’s love to help the Haitian people. It will be a very long road to restore communities in this devastated nation, but Snow and his staff are relying on supernatural strength.
“When I am weak He is strong!” says Snow. “If we help others within our ability we have done an awesome thing, but when we help others beyond our ability that is an act of faith that causes men to glorify God!”
