Sullivan calls on churches for disaster relief funds to feed Haiti

JACKSONVILLE , FL—An urgent plea for funds to provide food for the impoverished nation of Haiti in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Noel is being issued by John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention.

Heavy rains from the storm caused massive flooding, killing residents, destroying homes and leaving thousands homeless and hunger rampant.

“Noel has devastated Haiti,” reported Sullivan. “The needs are enormous.”

In an e-mail letter sent to Florida Baptist pastors Nov. 15, Sullivan outlined the growing crisis and asked for contributions to underwrite the massive feeding project which has been mounted by the Convention.

“The Florida Baptist Convention has the infrastructure through the Confraternite’ Missionaire Baptiste d’Haiti (CMBH) to distribute food in every area of the nation,” Sullivan said. “We have seven Florida Baptist missionaries who are Haitians and have been trained in disaster relief, especially food distribution.”

For more than a decade, Florida Baptists have supported a partnership with Haitian Baptists as they gave structure and financial assistance to the churches there. The 88 churches that existed when the partnership began have now increased to nearly 700 churches “that have been started and nurtured by the Florida Baptist Convention,” said Sullivan.

This is the fifth time that Florida Baptists have undertaken a campaign to provide food to the churches and their communities after a natural disaster or economic crisis struck the impoverished nation.

In the first two weeks after the Oct. 29 storm lashed across Haiti, Florida Baptists, at a cost of $20,000, have distributed 75,500 pounds of rice to 4,680 church families and their neighbors. During the week of Thanksgiving another $8,000 worth of rice is being distributed to the hardest hit areas inaccessible during the previous weeks.

Sullivan dispatched Dennis Wilbanks, associate director of the Partnership Missions Department, to assess the damage immediately after the storm. “I needed an on-the-ground, face-to-face assessment,” said Sullivan.

As he traveled the country, Wilbanks met parents who had watched in horror as their children drown in flood waters; He saw homes and churches crumpled from the rising water. Many of the families lost their crops, which provided both their livelihoods and sustenance.

Wilbanks reported nearly 80 confirmed deaths and another 51 persons still missing; 71 churches destroyed and another 175 damaged; and the homes of 276 pastors and 943 church members damaged or destroyed. Throughout the country, nearly 35,000 homes laid in ruins.

“As I met with pastors on several occasions to hear their stories and the cries of their hearts, God was so merciful and gracious to provide peace and hope,” Wilbanks recalled. “I could sense their concern for their people, the people of their communities, and their families. I could sense their pain for not being able to fix it and offer hope to the hopeless.”

“When they saw me, they knew I represented Florida Baptists and said that God had not forsaken them because Florida Baptists were there to help.”

Financial contributions to disaster relief efforts may be sent to the Florida Baptist Convention, Business Services, P.O. Box 5579, Jacksonville, FL 32247. Please designate “Haiti relief.”