Barnabas Task

Haiti is messing me up.  It’s neither comfortable nor part of my daily routine. It won’t go away.  It is already the poorest country in this part of the world.  Unemployment is about 80 per cent.  Average wage is $2.50 an hour.  It lacks the infrastructure and moral compass for turnaround.  And now the earthquake.  It is a catastrophic and epic blind side that woke up the world.

I had other plans and goals.  I had projects and focus.  But the phone rang off the hook at our house.  I was scheduled to already be in Santiago, Dominica Republic.  What could I do?

That’s when friend Paul Allyn called representing more than 200 pastors in Santiago.  He asked if I could teach “Responding to Disaster Relief.”   An organization called Associated Churches which represents more than 150 churches in Fort Wayne, IN called and asked if I could represent them, setting up a possible relief effort in Haiti.  I have been in touch with my missionary friends and colleagues Charlie Finocchiaro and Dave Stone.  I am asking questions.

So I write tonight, the first of my daily posts from the DR. I hope to be in Haiti by Thursday.  I will evaluate, connect, assess, feel and probably weep.    I know what my role is as I go.  People want to help, but where and how will they do so?  Who do they connect to?  I want to be a pointer to help caregivers do what they do.  A Barnabas.

I know we will initially go to the DR/Haiti border to connect there.  Is it feasible to set up a Compassion Station there?  (Tents that serve a greater purpose of assisting an already overstaffed hospital in the area) Evidently, refugees are fleeing Port Au Prince by the thousands.  Will they come to the Dominican border?  If so, what could be done?  One part of Disaster Relief includes finding a niche where no one is and  “set up shop.”  Hear it.  They don’t need me in the capitol city right now.

I will travel as well to Port Au Prince if we can.  It is part of analysis.  Kati is with me. I wanted her to see and feel.  Pray for her.  She has a heart of compassion. I will ask a lot of questions, do whatever I can to serve others and make some connections for future trips.  What can I do from the DR side to serve my fellow man there?   This is what I know:

Immediate Response-A quick 24 response to attend priority needs to save lives.

Second Day Response-Normally to less accessible areas where there is no water, food, shelter, and clothing.  Security is an issue.

Third Day Response-Restoring lifeline systems.

Four to Five day Response-Collaboration of Health Trends.  Health professionals talk.  They look for trends and predictability.  They know before it happens too.  Partnerships are formed.

Short Term Response-One to six months of ongoing compassion.  Depending on the magnitude of a disaster, the first four above markers are functional and fluid.  Many in Haiti will not have been touched for the first time.

Long-term response-Six months to a year introduce construction, new systems of living.  Many NGO’s and relief agencies have left by now. You can’t predict this!  About 7 am in a restaurant recently, one remarked, “it’s going to be a long haul.”

Why outline this for you?  I want you to learn.  I want you to know that giving and praying must not let up, that somehow in this matrix and timeline there are people that will be touched with human compassion.  Somewhere in Haiti tonight, compassion will make a difference for the first time. Someone will die.  Someone will drink his or her last drop of water.   Someone will be saved from rubble.  It is relative.  We must do what we can do and jump in the cycle of giving hope.

I am all messed up.  Would you give to Barnabas Task?  We need your help now more than ever.  We are coming along side, pointing, encouraging, and getting dirty. As this was being written I connected a group of doctors and nurses that will be in Port Au Prince in February.  A doctor called me from Los Angeles to coordinate meeting me in Santiago.

Please know that your giving today is allowing me to do what I am doing.  It is making a difference.

Note:  Today, Kevin Delagrange, Kyle Norwood and Jose Lino (A loyal faithful worker for Barnabas Task) bought lumber and began cutting to make bunk-beds.  We bought mattresses as well. I finally purchased an ORANGE (the company) cell phone. I spoke to more than about 200 leaders in Santiago about Disaster Relief. The city is organizing well and has plans for short and long range plans.  I told them of the need for medical now and other needs later.  From the meeting came an obvious call to keep meeting.  There is a real sense I have of unity amongst the pastors.

Grateful!