01.20.10
“Lord, in your mercy, send your grace beyond bounds upon our sisters and brothers in Haiti. Enable us to do your work of relieving their misery.”
Because of its many decades of presence in Haiti, The Episcopal Church and her Episcopal Relief & Development were able to respond at once after last week’s quake. TEC continues to post updates, especially at The Episcopal Life’s site: http://www.episcopal-life.org/ and on a new page at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/haiti.php.
Please consider some of the following about the Diocese of Haiti and its people as we continue in our prayers and giving for the relief and rebuilding of this land in turmoil.
The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is part of The Episcopal Church. Its website (in French, but translatable by Google) is http://www.egliseepiscopaledhaiti.org/. It was because of the presence of the Episcopal church in places outside the U.S., that in a recent General Convention, we changed our name from the “Episcopal Church in the United States of America, to “The Episcopal Church.”
With about 100,000 members Haiti is the largest and fastest-growing Diocese in The Episcopal Church. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/2008 Table of Statistics of the Episcopal Church.pdf.
According to The Episcopal Church Annual, there are about 115 congregations and communities of faith in the Diocese of Haiti. According to the Haiti’s Diocesan website, the church there is served by about 40 priests. By comparison, The Diocese of Spokane (in which we are located) has about 7,000 members in 41 congregations and is served by more than 70 priests (some parochial, some providing “supply” and other special services).
The Bishop of Haiti The Rt. Rev. Zache Duracin was left homeless in the quake. His wife was injured. He has been offered the opportunity to leave Haiti for respite in the U.S. but has chosen to stay. He is living in a “tent city” with others whose homes were destroyed.
In Haiti, the Episcopal Church operates more than 200 Episcopal schools with more than 6000 students. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/2008 Table of Statistics of the Episcopal Church.pdf.
According to a news article in Episcopal Life, TEC also operates “medical clinics; a renowned philharmonic orchestra and children’s choir based at the cathedral; agricultural, reforestation and other development projects and micro-financing efforts run in part with help from ERD; peace and reconciliation work, including the Desmond Tutu Center for Reconciliation and Peace and non-violence training provided by Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF).” (Source: http://ecusa.anglican.org/79901_118410_ENG_HTM.htm)
Donations can be made by check to St. Mark’s (Memo line: Haiti), at 111 S. Jefferson, Moscow, ID 83843. We are sending a check to ERD weekly. Last week alone we send $842.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.