INFORMATION
ON GIVING TO THE HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF
PLEASE
CLICK ON ONE OF THE THREE PHOTOS BELOW TO DONATE
Gifts
can be given directly online at Haiti
earthquake appeal
FROM
OUR PENN CENTRAL CONFERENCE MINISTER:
Friday,
January 15, 2010
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
All
of us are reeling from the pictures that have come out of Haiti
in the last 72
hours.
Such devastation is hard to imagine. As people of faith, we
are called
upon
to respond to this crisis and we know that, just as we have
done before, we
will
rise to this challenge. Congregations and individuals are already
coming
forth
with monetary gifts and offers of assistance. Gifts can be given
directly
online
at Haiti
earthquake appeal or
can be sent through Penn Central
Conference.
I urge you to consider giving through the Church because we
know
that,
with help from our partners at Church World Service, we are
able to get
assistance
where it is needed more quickly and at a much lower cost than
some
secular
agencies. It is tempting to want to consider gathering food
or clothing to
send,
but with all of the logistics involved, and without knowing
exactly what is
needed
most, it is probably best for us to give to the people who can
make the
proper
purchases.
UCC
pastor and blog writer Jared Rardin reminds us, however, that
we have long
known
of the poverty and injustice in Haiti . He writes a prayer calling
us to
shoulder
more than just a temporary response to the people of Haiti :
“O
God, hear the desperate cries of your Haitian people, and pour
out your
grace
upon them. But let us hear their cries as well, and mourn as
they mourn.
Take
our hearts in the wake of this horrid tragedy and open them,
soften them to
the
centuries-long plight of these good and generous people. Help
us to see
them
in the light of the suffering Christ, in whom so many of them
place their
stalwart
faith. Let there be an "aftershock" in our souls,
that we might change
our
ways and open our lives to their desperate need.”
Among
the ways you can respond are to decide to become involved with
our
Disaster
Response and Readiness Ministry Team, or with our Peace and
Justice
Ministry
Team. Perhaps you are not aware that one of the roles of the
United
Church
of Christ in the wake of such tragedies is to provide long-term
assistance
with
rebuilding. It may be that next year or the year after, we will
be sending
mission
teams to Haiti , just as we have sent them for nearly five years
to New
Orleans
.
In
the meantime, prayer and awareness are powerful tools. As a
congregation,
you
can follow the latest by visiting www.ucc.org/disaster
. There
you will find,
along
with updates from those who are on the ground in Haiti , a bulletin
insert,
a
very moving hymn, and a powerful pastoral prayer.
The
compassion of Jesus our Christ moves our own compassion. Together
let us
pray
for a caring world, but also a world that is more just. Let
us pray for a world
where
no children are hungry and no adults homeless or falsely imprisoned.
Even
as we pray together for Haiti , I will also pray for you, the
people of Penn
Central
Conference, as I always do. May 2010 be a special year of mission
and
compassion
in the churches of central Pennsylvania .
Blessings,
Marja L. Coons-Torn
Conference
Minister and President
